GRACE BRIEFLY
This article summarizes a far more detailed description.
Please refer to "GRACE, a new dance form" for more information.
GRACE is a new perspective on dance technique. It is a style of movement which is good for the body, especially good for the joints.
GRACE is a sense based approach to movement. It is distinct from other dance forms. It is primarily based on feeling and awareness.
Why is a new dance form needed? The condition of our joints determines more about our wellbeing after the age of 50 than any other factor. It determines whether our lives are full of pain, stiffness and even surgeries like joint replacements or years packed with vitality and satisfaction and enjoyment of life. The difference is often determined by the state of the health of our joints, especially our knees and our lower back.
Unfortunately, traditional dance technique, and in fact most fitness modalities, stress the joints, increasing tension, compression, overuse and duress. In and of itself, that is not a problem. It’s to be expected that we as dancers use our bodies strongly. The problem is that there is often little time set aside for rest, release and reversal of the stress engendered. Over time the stress becomes chronic, ultimately leading to serious issues later.
GRACE technique does the opposite: It expands the joints. It increases the space in the joints instead of compressing them. This in turn increases circulation and nervous system response through the joint, resulting in a decrease inflammation in the surrounding tissues, improving overall joint health.
The following benefits are in addition to advancing joint health:
Qualities of the technique:
Unfortunately, traditional dance technique, and in fact most fitness modalities, stress the joints, increasing tension, compression, overuse and duress. In and of itself, that is not a problem. It’s to be expected that we as dancers use our bodies strongly. The problem is that there is often little time set aside for rest, release and reversal of the stress engendered. Over time the stress becomes chronic, ultimately leading to serious issues later.
GRACE technique does the opposite: It expands the joints. It increases the space in the joints instead of compressing them. This in turn increases circulation and nervous system response through the joint, resulting in a decrease inflammation in the surrounding tissues, improving overall joint health.
The following benefits are in addition to advancing joint health:
- Your dance technique improves: Whatever style of dance you embrace improves with a longer line to the body due to an elongated spine. Stretching through the joints and fully engaging the body make for a more dynamic performance. And your stage presence blooms.
- Your body is safer: You are less injury prone. Damage to the spine is averted. One of the most prominent reasons why is that compressed joints are far more prone to muscles spasming and causing additional problems. When this happens to the muscles surrounding the spine, root nerve inflammation can ensue with potential for herniated disks, sciatica, scoliosis, spinal stenosis and degenerative disk disease.
Qualities of the technique:
- GRACE supplements what you already do. It does not replace it.
- Physical training is not a addressed. You will need to develop strength and agility through other means.
- The elements of GRACE can be applied to any fitness modality. A particularly effective way to implement GRACE is while walking. Practicing the different elements while taking an evening walk, for instance, is an excellent use of the technique.
- GRACE ideas can be used together or independently.
- Much of the theory behind GRACE come from other sources like ballet, aerial yoga, weight lifting.
The elements of GRACE: Each of these is described in detail in the full article.
- Awareness.
- Joint release.
- Improve proprioception, particularly of the feet.
- Stretch through the joints.
- Engage the body fully.
- Do not stop at the end of combinations.
- Suspend the spine from the nape of the neck.
- Form your energy along your body’s natural path.
The last 2 are especially powerful.
A spiritual component makes this approach far more dynamic, ultimately even transformational. Plus there is an unexpected benefit of lifting mental stress and depression.
Please keep in mind that, to me, spirituality encompases any system of beliefs which envisions a power greater than ourselves at work in the universe.
GRACE technique is partly based on the concepts of release and suspension. Joint release through suspending the spine from the nape of the neck leads to a process of sloughing off stress, tension and past trauma. The result is the establishment of nerve pathways which are more direct and efficient. Deliberately defining those pathways by forming the energy along them becomes a process which is spiritual in nature. A process beyond ourselves, beyond our ego.
Our stage presence is magnified: We become more present in our dance, especially in performance. The ideas that underlie this dance style result in you being more aware of your body as you dance. Full body engagement, in particular, heightens your senses, not in the past, but right now. This is the ultimate goal of many spiritual paths. "Be Here Now". This is the essence of stage presence.
Mental health improves: An unexpected side effect of this approach in particular is that our mood improves. Our mental stress lifts when tension and past trauma dissolves because of increased joint buoyancy.
GRACE technique is partly based on the concepts of release and suspension. Joint release through suspending the spine from the nape of the neck leads to a process of sloughing off stress, tension and past trauma. The result is the establishment of nerve pathways which are more direct and efficient. Deliberately defining those pathways by forming the energy along them becomes a process which is spiritual in nature. A process beyond ourselves, beyond our ego.
Our stage presence is magnified: We become more present in our dance, especially in performance. The ideas that underlie this dance style result in you being more aware of your body as you dance. Full body engagement, in particular, heightens your senses, not in the past, but right now. This is the ultimate goal of many spiritual paths. "Be Here Now". This is the essence of stage presence.
Mental health improves: An unexpected side effect of this approach in particular is that our mood improves. Our mental stress lifts when tension and past trauma dissolves because of increased joint buoyancy.
We come to understand that our essential Self is not defined by our stresses or past trauma. They become more things that we "wear", an outer layer instead of the essence of the heart that beats beneath. This approach is hugely consequential with counseling, substance abuse treatment and mental health strategies in general.
Developing the ability to visualize is an important part of the GRACE process, as is awareness.
GRACE is a mind/body mechanism in that the mind is used to improve the acuity of the senses. The main way this is accomplished is through visualization. Visualization underlies the entire GRACE process, particularly the ability to imagine that your spine is suspended from the nape of your neck. Visualization is a skill that is amazingly effective in creating healthy physical habits and it is used extensively throughout GRACE.
GRACE study also involves becoming more aware of how dance affects your body. This is a powerful and ongoing technique. Increased awareness places us in a far stronger position. We do not have to simply accept the effects of training on our body. Instead, we can change our behavior to reduce or reverse stress whenever we encounter it.
One of the steps in the GRACE process is to set up a foundation for how you want your body to move.
The GRACE process is unusual in that we can establish ground rules that we want our body to observe. One of the most important instructions can establish is to not allow yourself to move in a manner that injures you. This seems simplistic and fantastical but the effects are actually quite stunning. We injure ourselves by how we train and practice, sometimes overtly, sometimes indirectly. We can change that dynamic by trusting in our abilities to, for instance, protect our spine while dancing. But this "wishful thinking" needs to be consciously reinforced in our imagination.
We can design any instructions we like: Another ground rule we might establish is to routinely keep our rib cage lifted and our lower back straight. We could ask that our at-rest posture no longer slumps. The possibilities are endless.
We can design any instructions we like: Another ground rule we might establish is to routinely keep our rib cage lifted and our lower back straight. We could ask that our at-rest posture no longer slumps. The possibilities are endless.
Published June 16, 2026.