Essential Alignments

ESSENTIAL ALIGNMENTS

This article describes the most fundamental physical relationships of the body for a dancer. Alignment is often an underlying cause of many dancer woes, more so as we age. Misalignment that wasn't properly corrected in our earlier training comes back in the form of pain, inflammation and injury later in our careers. This can be corrected. First we must become aware.

Become aware of misalignments.

Let Joint Alignment: Leg joint motion is hinge movement. Alignment problems show up as you bend and straighten the joints.

Alignment of the elements of the foot are the most important of all for a dancer. This is an issue of how we place our weight over our feet as we move. Foot training is needed for any dancer to strengthen the joints of the toes and ankles. If foot training is missing then everything else is harder and riskier and misalignment has a louder voice.
Many let their feet turn out farther than their knees: (If you are sitting upright with your legs apart, are your feet further apart than your knees?) If this goes unchecked in a dancer then future knee problems are assured. Retrain your body to work properly.
The plane of the leg: Another way to understand this is that the joints of the legs should always move in the same plane. Place an imaginary sheet of plexiglass through the center of all the leg joints. Do not allow the ankle to bend in a different plane than the knee.
Knees not forward of ankles: We don't ever want the knee to be farther forward than the foot as we bend. Check from the side in a mirror as you lunge forward. Don't let your knee be in front of your foot. Always try to have the knee directly over the foot (base of the 2nd toe). Misalignment here so dangerous for the knees, so much so that if unattended, serious injury is assured.

Spine Alignment:

The sacrum: The position of the sacrum while either standing or sitting is crucial. It determines everything else about the spine and the torso. If it is out of position, everything is off. For example, if you are sitting and the back of your waist is touching the chair then the following happens: the sacrum curls under, the abdominals disengage, the chest collapses, the head falls onto the chest. The spine collapses.
The neck and head: Similar power goes to the neck and head. If they are forward then the entire spine suffers. When the head is forward of the rest of the body then the chest collapses and the abdominals disengage. The lower back has to work too hard as a result and gets compromised.

Side to Side Alignment:

Scoliosis: Because everyone by definition has legs of different lengths, we all suffer from curvature of the spine to a small extent. Known as scoliosis, the curvature referred to goes from side to side as you are looking straight ahead at the spine. A common way for scoliosis to display is when you have problems with the arm on one side and the hip on the other.
Always an excellent self correction: Throughout the body, alignment between the right and left tells a detailed story. It is always productive to try to bring the 2 sides to equality no matter what the underlying condition. Sometimes that is not possible and more elaborate adjustment is necessary but the concept is a good one to always keep in mind. Make your sides equal.

Seated position is used extensively to correct alignment, not because these exercises are for those older but because it is by far the easiest way to isolate and correct misalignments.

The most fundamental alignment: The foot and ankle.

If something is wrong here, the entire dance experience is challenged, ultimately often showing up as injury.

Foot Alignment: Draw a line from the ball joint at the end of your 2nd toe and the center of the back of your heel. That line delineates the entire foot. Weight should be equal on both sides.

Ankle Alignment: A pronated foot means that you are placing more weight toward the inside of your ankle. When supinated the outside of the ankle is stressed.

Correcting foot/ankle alignment:

Seated foot releves: Sitting upright with both feet flat on the floor, hip distance apart with your knees right over your ankles, move the right foot back about 12" with the heel down. You should feel a stretch in the back of the heel and calf. Check to make sure the toes are pointed straight ahead. Lift the back heel up to position your foot on the ball of the foot. Place your heel down and up, adhering to a neutral ankle moving along the center line of the foot. Best done in front of a mirror to really see how you move through your ankle. Once you understand your natural tendencies, make the movement correct and repeat as necessary to build strength using the right alignment.
Plie/releve: The best of all alignment exercises is the most basic of all from ballet. This can be done with the feet in 1st position turned out or in 1st position parallel. Bend, straighten, releve, heels down. As you repeat over and over, imagine the plane going through the center of both feet and legs and stay rigidly to that line. Hold onto something while learning.

Seated 90 degree alignment.

Seated alignment: The body looks a lot like a chair itself.

Straight line from the top and back of the head through the neck and spine and down onto the chair through the center of the pelvic floor.
Thighs at right angles to the torso.
Lower legs at right angles to the thighs and parallel to the spine.
Feet at right angles to the lower legs.
Ankle in neutral position. Straight line from heel through second toe with both foot lines parallel to each other.

In this position, the waist is away from the back of the chair and the abdominals are therefore automatically engaged. Alignment here is best practiced in front of the mirror, from the front and from the side. When you sit this way the weight of the body falls naturally straight down and it takes very little effort to sit up straight. In this position, alignment issues are really easy to become aware of and resolve. As soon as we stand, the positioning of the body becomes far more complex and alignment is much more challenging. So this "chair" posture is excellent to practice so your body grasps these elemental rules easily.

Seated lower back alignment:

Seated second position: Sit upright in a sturdy chair with both feet flat on the floor, hip distance apart. Check in a mirror to make sure your legs are parallel to each other. Imagine that your legs are like the covers on a book. Open one leg out to the side and then the other. Check in a mirror to make sure your knees are over your ankles. The common mistake is to have your feet farther apart than your knees. Bring your feet in so they are right under your knees.

The resulting position, legs apart, spine upright, is the most beneficial position for your spine. Often lower back tension and pain will disappear when seated this way. Tilt forward and place you elbows on your knees for the best resting position possible. Keep your spine straight with your head in line with the spine.

The spine:

Spinal Alignment: The spine aligns in two dimensions, forward and back and side to side. Because of leg length differences, side to side spinal adjustment is always necessary to some degree. If there is a big difference in the lengths of the sides it is diagnosed as scoliosis. But the spinal alignment we have the most trouble with is forward and back. Bad habits, poor instruction, overweight all result in spine stress that can result in dance injury.

The spine has four natural curves forward and back:

The neck curves backwards: This curve is exacerbated by poor spine habits like leading with the head, slumped shoulders and deflated chest. This curve is restored to natural health by bringing the head back.
The chest curves inward: That curve intensifies with poor posture. It is rectified with increased upper back strengthening.
The lumbar spine (middle back or waist) has a natural backward arch. Inadequate abdominal support causes overuse of back muscles resulting in increased arching. Lumbar arching is also considered attractive in some dance styles. Longterm lumbar overarching is responsible for much serious spine injury. Increased abdominal support is in order.
The sacrum (lower back) is shaped to curve slightly under. Perfect alignment for the sacrum means holding it released in an upright position. Engaging the lower abdominals supports holding the sacrum in a vertical position.

Seated spinal alignment: It's very easy to align the spine while sitting. Just bring your waist forward so that it is not touching the back of your chair with both feet flat on the floor.

How to align your spine while standing:

Head back: Chin slightly tucked.
Shoulder blades down and together.
Belly in, pulling up.
Let your sacrum release so that it is positioned straight up and down: Check that it is not arched back or collapsed forward by looking in a mirror sideways.
Keep your knees soft: This should be the first thing you check when you check your posture. Straight knees are responsible for much trouble. Release the knees and the entire spine takes its proper position.
Weight centered over the ball joint of the 2nd toe of each foot.
Look straight ahead as you walk.

Effective Exercise: One of the best ways to learn good standing alignment is to walk with grace deliberately. Walk slowly, practicing all the elements. Start simple and add elements as you get better. You can even balance a book on your head. Yoga standing balances are fantastic as well.

Wonderful spine resource: One of the fascinating things about human anatomy is that the causes of problems can often be less obvious than expected. For instance you may feel pain in your foot that is really caused by inflammation in the spine. One common example of that happens with sciatica where the cause of the problem is in the middle or lower back but the symptom is in a different location altogether, in the leg. Anatomy of the Spine explains how to use dermatomes to increase understanding of spine use and misuse. It is a very helpful way to frame what are often complex and chronic spine issues.

Anatomy of the Spine

The most important tips:
> Keep your knees released.
> Keep your lower back upright.
> Knees and ankles need to be aligned while in use.
> The center of the foot is at the base of the second toe.

Here are 2 great ways to use these ideas:

Rehabilitate problem areas of the body by concentrating on the proper way to use it as you practice exercises. One fabulous example, if your lower back hurts while doing undulations, pull your abdomen in to prevent your lower back from arching.
While dancing, in class, rehearsal or performance, whenever you feel unsteady or particularly challenged by the movement you are doing, concentrate on the proper way to use that part of your body. For example: if I want to execute a turn well I will focus on the center of the foot turning. Not only is balance improved but ankle or foot injury is avoided.