The Perfect Balance

Work in ballet is a balancing act. In order to be successful you must have the perfect combination of effort and ease. Too much ease and your technique falters, too much effort and you become stiff, dull to watch, and possibly even further out of alignment. It's true that in order to improve in ballet class, you must work your buns off. But, can you work too hard? I absolutely think so. I have found through personal experience that, although the consequences of not putting enough effort in can be bad, the consequences of having no ease and no release can be equally devastating. It's important to remember that what makes ballet so beautiful to watch is the grace, the freedom of the movement, and the alignment and shape of the body.

I find that when I begin to push harder, I actually end up losing the alignment that I was searching for. Often I hold my breath thinking that if I somehow exert as much effort as I can, that my leg will magically lift higher in perfect alignment in my hip socket. It takes effort to lift your leg or to do a plie, but I've found that making space in the body, lifting, and breathing with the movement makes ballet, in general, more bearable and painless. The more I push my hips forward to keep my tailbone underneath me, the more tension I create in the hip flexors. Instead of pushing and pulling and contorting, I've found lifting, creating space in the joints, and adding breath into my extension to be much more beneficial. Hard work is vital and focus is very much a part of the work involved in ballet. You must always be aware of your body, you must try in order to succeed, but if you tip the scale just a little too far towards effort you fall just as hard as if you had tipped the scale towards ease.

physical and mental rigors

I feel that “work” in any dance class Ballet or any other is about the physical and mental rigors that that each individual must create for themselves in any class that they are taking. In class you must be both mentally and physically engaged to progress your training. If you simply are passive in class without thought or consideration about what your body is doing how do you know if you are using the right muscles to perform actions? Without a thought how could you know if your hips knees and feet are in alignment under your shoulders? You need to know where every part of your body is within space. Your mind is moving from focusing on your pelvic alignment to thinking about the correction you were given about how you spot your turn. This rigor of using both your physicality and mentality continues outside the studio as well with outside training (conditioning) and working on personal corrections.

As we begin a new school year, new classes and new teachers, my goal is to work on adding more of that outside training. I feel in class sometimes that I take two steps forward and three steps back at times. If I work on strengthening my body particularly my core and rotators I feel that I would be able to progress faster in class and not have to have the same correction more than once.

Elyse Morckel

Effort vs. Efficiency

Work in ballet feels much different to me than the work in my moderns classes do. Often times in a modern class I feel as though to be successful I should push harder, reach further, release my weight more here and then find the momentum there. The movement does not look the same on everyone, but that does not mean that they were not all successful with the exercise. This is not quite the case for ballet. Not only does a ballet class require the intense concentration and physical rigor of other dance practices, but it is also an extremely specific and codified technique that requires one to find the small deeper muscles in order to properly carry out the movement. I developed a few bad habits at a younger age, and now struggle to commit minor adjustments to my muscle memory. However, these minor adjustments are critical to my success in ballet. Not to mention the strength and control of these muscles, gained in ballet class, inform and improve my work in all other technique forms.

I often have trouble finding the balance between the proper amount of work and giving way to stylistic choices. Of course, work isn’t necessarily always about effort, because there are times when I feel that I am applying more effort, yet somehow doing worse. This is because I am adding unnecessary tension, and there is nothing artistic about that. My main goal right now is to learn how to work more efficiently. Then, I will have proper placement, strength, and the freedom to add a bit of my own spice. Although, as we all know, this is the work of a lifetime.

Hard Work

I feel like whenever I think of "working" hard physically, I have an image of being drenched in sweat, grimacing with pain, and every muscle in my body clenching. (Anyone who watches me can probably recognize the grimace.) However, I think work in ballet entails much more than physical pain and discomfort. Ideally, there probably should not be any physical pain, and the discomfort level should be minimal. On a physical level, I think work is simply the muscular effort that goes along with practicing the steps and the positions and making them a part of one's body. For example, working hard physically might mean an engaged center with an upward pelvis, rotators constantly turning out as much as they possibly can, the inner thighs engaged, and the spine lengthened. Working hard physically would also mean keeping these body parts and ideas active in actual motion, when the class becomes more about dancing than static positions. However, I think work has a mental quality attached to it that is immensely important. Mental work includes the simple concentration of class: being present in the mind so that a person can execute the steps correctly. Even more importantly, however, to work mentally would include taking the effort and time to think through how the important concepts concentrated on in class work in one's body; doing the steps is one thing, but knowing how they will benefit us is another. Mental work includes the capacity to execute a step and identify the successes and shortcomings of it, in order to make the next execution higher in quality. So, it is important to be present in ballet class, as well as in dance in general, both in the mind and body. I think the physical work we do with our bodies requires the (possibly even harder) work of the mind to make the experience more successful.

Work in Ballet? Whodathunk?

Work and Ballet go as hand-in-hand as peanut butter and jelly. You really can't have one without the other. When I step up to the barre to start class I am already working. Work in ballet is as much physical as it is mental. Mentally you are trying to process and focus on all the things you have learned about alignment and technique up until that class; while physically you are trying to make it happen. For example, when you prepare for the first plie combination you should already be thinking about your body alignment. Is my pelvis tucked under? Are my abdominals engaged? Is my rib-cage closed? Am I in my personal turn-out with my rotaters working and tracking my knees over my toes? Is my weight in the center or my feet and not too far in my heels or toes? Etcetera Etcetera! For the first combination of the class this may seem like a lot, but you haven't even moved yet! These questions are not just for one combination, but the entire class. I find that I am constantly asking myself these question all throughout class and asking more as the combinations increase in difficulty. On the other hand you are not just thinking about these questions but also applying them physically to your body. Finding the correct muscles to use is sometimes much easier said than done. When you tendu front, there are a lot more things going on physically than one would think. You first start by shifting your weight over to your standing leg while not only pushing into the ground but also lifting up. At the same time you have to rotate the working leg from your inner thighs while presenting your heel and keeping a lift underneath your arms. With this amount of work needed for a simple tendu, just imagine the physical work load needed for much more complicated steps. As you can plainly see ballet is just as much mental work as it is physical. It may sound tedious and not worth it, but on the contrary it is one of the most rewarding and worthwhile practices a dancer can take part of. Without ballet, other styles of dance are near impossible and cannot truly be perfected without ballet technique. Personally, the work required for ballet is not only entirely worth it but also an amazing challenge. Being a style that is almost impossible to perfect, I know I can always walk into a ballet class and know that no matter what the difficulty or level of the class I will always leave having improved my technique and with numerous things I still need to work on. While some people call this work, I call it a crucial and necessary step to furthering my dance career.

Ballet State of Mind

Ballet work is multitasking. It is a daily struggle for perfection. You have to come in focused and ready to work hard. These are constants and are embraced by most of the students in our class. Something missing though is the particular mindset I utilize when approaching a ballet class. Yes, work is striving for proper alignment and muscle use, but it is also a state of mind where you tell yourself you look beautiful and you are capable. There is also a degree of acceptance that some things won’t be happening today. Our bodies reset every day, meaning they may not be on the same page as our heads or where they were the day before, so something that went great yesterday could be the hardest part of class today. But by opening our minds to this and allowing our bodies and mind to catch up eventually, the act of taking class can feel less like actual work. It can be something you genuinely enjoy. Getting rid of the expectation to be perfect all at once, you can embrace the process and getting to know your body. Not to say you are working any less, it may actually allow you to work better because there is nothing negative floating around in your head. There is a point also where you have to trust your body to do the right thing so you can enjoy the feeling of dancing and moving. A positive, open mindset will make ballet class and the never- ending work involved a much more satisfying endeavor. And for me, it is an integral part of how I work in ballet class.

To me, everything about ballet class is work. Whether it's a simple demi plie or a grande jete every move requires it's own set of skills and has the ability to better us as dancers. Sometimes, on things I think I know how to do, I find myself not concentrating on getting the most out of the exercise; so for me part of work in ballet class is staying aware of all that goes into a movement so I can get the most out of it. Work in ballet also means multi-tasking and being aware of everything that's going on around us. Am I working my turn-out? Am I too close to the other dancers? Am I staying with the music or rushing this? We have to constantly be asking these questions as well as others and making the corrections that logically follow. Another part of work in ballet class for me, is focusing on my own improvement and not the other dancers. At times it can be tempting to look at someone else for the next move or compare myself to them, this means I have to work in challenging myself to remember the exercise and focus solely on my own body and what it's doing. To sum it all up, work in ballet class is expecting nothing than the very best from yourself and constantly working towards perfection and it's a product for our desire to dance. Work in ballet class shouldn't be and isn't work to us, but rather a way to reach our dreams and do what we love.

Work in Ballet Class

I think "work" in a ballet class is different for everyone. Everyone has their own weaknesses and stregnths and everyone must work harder on different individual aspects of the dance form. For example one person might have problems when doing petit allegro so they must work harder during that part of class. Where as another student may have problems following the tempo of the music so they must concentrate their efforts on that aspect of the class. Bottom line is that everyone must work hard in class. I also believe that in order to be a hard worker in class one must also work hard out side of class. There is not enough time in a single ballet class to work on everything that a ballet student must work on. Therefore they must have the discipline and the willingness to work outside of class as well. What I mean by this is that they must stretch outside of class in order to improbe flexibility, they must do exercises to improve their muscilarity and endurance, they also should practice combos out side of class that they were having problems with during class, etc. Working hard in a ballet class also takes hard work outside of the class. The ability to work hard is a life style and therefore effects all facets of ones life, including other dance forms.

Working Together

Concentration, endurance, strength, and flexibility constitute "work" for me in a ballet class. Each component must be continuously pushed at all times in order for the dancer to get better. One cannot work solely on flexibility durring class; flexibility requires the other components for the desired growth. Each component needs the other... that is the struggle and joy of class. Struggle because that is hard to accomplish and joy because it feels really good when it is accomplished. Bat'mas (please excuse spelling) are a great example of this concept. In order for the leg to reach the highest extension (flexibilty) on must concentrate on the exercise, continue in the midst of muscle fatigue, and hold correct alignment (strength), the leg will then get to its highest and the dncer will get stronger. They all work together, and one cannot succeed without all of them.

The Continuous Cycle of Multitasking

Ballet in my opinion is a beautiful and continuous cycle of multitasking. Even during simple exercises in ballet class my mind and body are constantly thinking and doing a million different things at once. When I think I am doing something somewhat accurately there is always another task that needs to be done. For example, I tend to hyperextend my knees in ballet. While I am concentrating fully on engaging my muscles properly in order to prevent this from occuring, I convert the issue to my arms or back being out of allignment. As frustrating as this may sound, ballet always presents a challenge to me as a dancer. The constant strive for perfection without ever reaching it intrigues me. The idea that ballet is arduous for everyone in someway is almost comforting to me as a dancer. The idea that I am not alone in my struggle gives me a positive outlook in the classroom. I hope to reach my full potential as a dancer in this class with all of you lovely dancers by my side! We can struggle together and inspire one another along the way! The continuous cycle is neverending, and that is why I think ballet is beautiful.

"Work"

In a dance class I think it is mostly internal work. It is up to the dancer to challenge him or her self in order to achieve what it is they would like to accomplish. We listen to the instructors and then do the work by translating what they tell or show us on to our own bodies. I work on remembering to keep my hamstring over my working leg, engaging my abdominals, relaxing my shoulders, working my inner thighs as well as musicality, dynamics exc. I feel that the fundamental work comes mostly at the bar and then we are challenged to apply everything to the center while working on movement, transitions, traveling and much more. Work in ballet is very different for me than in other classes. In modern or contemporary I work on finding moments of release, staying grounded, finding alignment after distorting it, moving in and out of the floor exc. However I go about the work in the same way in every class; by picking specific things to focus on for each combination so as not to become overwhelmed.

Welcome Ballet 2!

Welcome dancers! This is the first, and will most likely be the last, message that I post to our new blog, On Ballet. It is your new home for tinkering with ideas and issues related to ballet, and, since we're using a blog format, your peers and the internet community will be able to benefit from your discussions. Challenge each other, use each other as resources, and use this platform as a way to better understand both ballet and yourselves as students of ballet. Your first post, and your first comment on someone else's post, should both appear here by Monday, October 3, at 5:00 p.m. Have fun!