Скачать или смотреть Better Posture for Stronger Stage Presence: One Quick Tip for Belly Dancers

Hi dancers,

Here's something little from me to help you in your dance practice this week. I know times are tough right now and people are hurting, so I hope you can find some solace in dance.

Often what I see when dancers try to correct their posture is that they either lift the chest, or pull the shoulders back, but don't seem to do both! If we leave the shoulders forward, or the chest down, that weight in the front of the body is going to make us just roll back into bad posture again.

When you think about rolling the shoulders back and down, focus more on the "down" portion of the movement. I talk about feeling a contraction underneath the armpits. The latissimus dorsi (if you do lat pulldowns in the gym, you'll know this!) helps depress (pull down) the shoulder blades, and that's what I'm contracting when I talk about this feeling. Of course, we don't want the shoulder blades too far forward, but we don't want to squeeze them back too far either, as this won't be comfortable, nor conducive to flowing movements of the arms and chest! So practise strengthening those lats, and explore keeping your shoulders down, but the back "open," so to speak.

As for the chest: Sometimes I see dancers lifting the chest too much, so the ribs stick outward. Think of the lifting point as coming from just below the collarbones. It's kind of like you elevate the chest out of the body a bit, without arching. The ribs should stay stacked over the hips.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you've got any questions, and happy dancing.

Shimmies,

Siobhan Camille of Greenstone Belly Dance

Want to learn belly dance online? Due to the current social distancing recommendations in the Netherlands, our classes have shifted online! Visit https://www.greenstonebellydance.com to find all the details.

Music: Siobhan's Tabla (Exclusive Tabla Solo for Siobhan Camille) by Yassir Jamal. Siobhan Camille holds the copyright to this music, and all contents of the video.