Alignment refers specifically to the relatinonship of the individual obdy segments to one another. Correct alignment essentially means ‘good posture’ and is defined by the various body parts in relative position to one another. Good posture and proper alignment are essential foundation to dance. Alignment defines the dancer before movement begins and can determine his or her ability to turn, jump, leap, and move fluidly through the space. A misaligned dancer doesn’t look ‘right’ and will have trouble with balance and advanced moves. Good posture protects the dancer from becoming injured, because when the body is properly aligned, there is minimal strain on the muscles and ligaments attached to the weight-bearing joints. Proper alignment can also delay fatigue and empower the dancer to challenge extreme skills.
Besides alignment, a dancer is affected by placement, or where the body’s weight is centered. Without visibly changing your position, you can shift your weight from the front of your foot to the heels. This weight shift affects the relationship of your body segments, or your alignment. Ideally, the dancer’s placement should be slightly forward from the ankle and over the ball of the foot. This puts the dancer in a ready position to walk, run, or jump.
Because dance is continuous movement, body postures will contiually change. A dancer needs to understand and achieve correct alighment so that a balanced state can be maintained throughout all the postures the body goes through.
Considering how the body maintains a vertical posture, we know that muscles do their work. The muscles that hold the body erect must resist the gravity as well as the pull of the muscle that opposes it. Gravity tends to misalign the skeletal framework at three principal areas: the ankles, the knees, and the hips. An unbalanced relationship between opposting muscles in any part of the body can also cause misalignment.
Then how to align consciously? Basic body structure is of course determined by the skeleton and there are visual guidelines for evaluating alignment- you should be able to see the line passes through the specific points, called alignment reference points, so as to create the line of gravity.
alignment reference points from the side view,
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alginment reference points from the back view,
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The reference points are important and are the most obvious for a beginner to pick up they look, however, the correct alignment should be from head to toe, and bearing in mind that the pelvis is the keystone of the skeleton, one should be alerted that it is always aligned well. There are tons of other tiny details when one advances. Now let’s take a look at another very important part of our body- the feet.
The feet are important because they provide the main base of support. In a static position, the greatest support is achieved when the weight of the body is equally distributed over the metatarsal arch (the ball of the foot), the base of the big toe, the base of the small toe, and the heel. All the toes should remain in contact with the floor to provide the wedest possible base of support. In addition, the longitudinal arch should be well lifted to prevent the ankle from rolling inward.
Now you should have a better understanding about dance alignments, I hope you enjoy dancing!
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