ballet?

Hi Daisymama,

I did ballet for many years, and it is my impression, (I hope Christine will add to this), that the main differences are the lack of the tucked under tailbone as you mention, not "turning out" the feet and legs, and not pulling up the knees.

The Whole woman posture emphasises the feet facing forward, with softened knees. The pulled up rib cage is the same as I used to do in ballet I believe, though with a more softened stomach than in ballet, whilst not completely relaxed!? Does that make any sense at all? I hope I am on track here!

Michelle.

Hi Daisymama,

I started ballet very late in life (16) to become a professional dancer, but I loved it very much and took classes on and off for years. My experience of teachers, and that of dozens of other American women I’ve talked to who also studied ballet early on, is their constant instruction to tuck the buttocks under.

The ww posture was developed during a period of about a year when a confluence of factors in my life transpired to help me see what was needed both to prevent and to treat prolapse. One of those was beginning Bharata Natyam, or classical Indian dance lessons, an ancient dance form that is very “balletic”. The principal difference is that the sacrum is allowed to take its natural alignment, which to many classically trained ballet dancers (and PTs, yoga teachers, Pilates teachers, etc.) looks hyperextended. When I asked my teacher about this she replied, “In Bharata Natyam you’re allowed to have a butt.” After the very first class my prolapse was noticeably improved and I received a huge “Ah-ah!”

I continued to have tremendous pain in my neck, which was unrelieved by weekly physical therapy sessions. I studied the work of F.M. Alexander and integrated what he taught about the natural way to hold the human head and shoulders.

Observing how my own footprints had rotated inward to point straight ahead with my new posture, I also began teaching women to always walk with their feet pointing forward to reinforce all other aspects of the posture.

In searching for answers as to why ballet teaches such an unnatural alignment of a critical area of the body, I began reading all the ballet literature I could get my hands on. And I discovered something very important.

During the early years of the 20th century, it became very obvious to American dancers that the “Russian School” had some crucial element that no one else had. It was a certain strength and stability that allowed them achievements never before thought possible – plus a grace and beauty that was incomparable in the world.

I started reading the work of Old Russian masters – and their students – and was amazed to learn that “tucking” was actually a thing to be ABHORRED amongst these teachers. Here are a few of their views:

“Do not allow the buttocks to push or tuck under.” John White – student of the Agrippina Vaganova school of dance.

“Tucking under is probably the most common mistake among dancers. In an effort to achieve a straight back, in the vain hope of disguising a larger than desired posterior, in the strain of lifting a leg, the response more often than not is to tuck under. Unfortunately, this posture has extremely far-reaching negative results: it shifts the pelvis from a centered, balanced placement atop the femoral head; it inhibits the muscles around the hip joint, which precludes free outward rotation in that joint; it affects the rest of the spinal verticality, setting up areas of resistance that must be overcome before movement is possible; and it displaces the weight of the body, causing the knees to absorb a great deal of strain.” Anna Paskevska

“When you tuck every day, you are systematically destroying the most sensitive joints in your body – your knees and back.” Gabriela Darvish – student of the Vaganova School in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The Whole Woman Workout borrows several elements from classical ballet and classical Indian dance. I would say the greatest difference from ballet beyond pelvic alignment is a consistent returning to neutral head alignment. Although we move our head in all directions it is always brought back to maximum extension through the crown whilst the shoulders are held down and the upper back broad. Never do we rotate the head/chin up, as you will see ballet dancers do both at the barre and while performing. We are not so much concerned with stage presence (although who knows – perhaps a Whole Woman Troupe is in the future!) as with pulling, stretching and reinforcing the body into its natural shape. All of this is carefully written out – with music – in the new edition of Saving the Whole Woman.

:-) Christine

My ballet teacher who was pretty well known in the UK back then, used to walk down the barre and wack us on our behinds to make us tuck them in more! I always had a hard time maintaining a flat spine in the thoracic region while trying to tuck it all in, and move around, now I know why! :)