Tips and Tricks for Dance

~Technique part One~

Hey there guys. It's me. (The picture is too. I wasn't stretched when I took this picture. And I was at school getting ready for dance festival, so yeah)

In this chapter I will be showing you how to improve your technique even further and get beautiful lines, etc. And This is going to be the start of a little series of technique related stuff. YAY!

(Basically just a more detailed version of the last technique chapter)

~Posture~
• Go to a mirror and stand with your feet in first of parallel first. have your arms at your sides.
• Remind yourself of the correct posture you should have whilst dancing (actually, have this posture everywhere so that you never get lazy and just think you don't have to stand correctly in dance).
if you don't know what the correct posture looks like, here's a quick quide:
* Chin up, no looking at the floor or your feet, or you'll end up there. No jokes, it's happened to the best of us.
* Shoulders should be down and back, but not too far. it should feel comfortable and not too forced.
* ribcage closed. Pretend there is a ribbon or a safety pin holding the two sides of your ribcage together.
* Abs engaged. This means no slouching, ever. You may have the perfect upper body, but if you don't engage your core and you go to do a leap or a turn, it will throw you off big time. Trust me, I learnt the hard way...(Comment if you want an embarrassing dance stories chapter)
* Hips forward and squared. I've mentioned this before, but my ballet teacher once told me to pretend I'm wearing really tight skinny jeans (The ones you can barely move in). It actually helped me with this.
* Legs straight with knees relaxed and not locked. For when you are turned out, remember your turnout comes from your hips, not your knees, and if you try to force your turnout, it can damage your knees. Remember, knees directly over your toes when doing a plié.

• Now that you have corrected your posture, bring your arms to bras bas.
* Your shoulders should not lift at all when you move your arms, everything but your arms should stay exactly where they were before.
* There should be a smooth line going all the way down your arm and off your fingertips. Your wrists should be relaxed, and your fingers too, but keep everything neat. If your hands are too rigid, give them a little shake to get rid of some tension. Your arms should be rounded gently, and your pinkie finger should touch the middle of your thigh (or wherever your teacher says).

• Next, move to first position.
* Once again, keep your shoulders down and only move your arms.
* There should be a line from your shoulders the your fingertips, and your arms should be pretty much the same as they were in bras bas. Your fingertips should be in line with your belly button (another thing my dance teacher told me).

•Demi second now.
* This is basically a mini second position.
* Arms should basically just straighten a little at the elbows, but still keeping curves and soft.
* Keep the line flowing of your fingertips, and make sure it doesn't get broken.
* My dance teacher told me to imagine a river flowing down my arm.

• Second position.
*Keep your arms rounded, but not that much.
*Remember to keep the line flowing.
*This is a hard one to explain, but yeah. (I'll attach a picture of what the positions should look like when I get to a computer.)

• Third position.
* This is basically one first position arm (but at about the same height as the other arm, maybe even slightly lower.) and one second position arm. That's about as good as I can explain it.
* Keep the line flowing.

• Fourth position.
*One fifth position arm and one in second position (That's what I've been taught for 10 years, so correct me if I'm wrong.)
* Is the line still flowing? If not, fix it NOW.

•FIFTH!
* Still make sure the line is flowing and your shoulders (or anything else except your arms) haven't moved.
*Idk how to explain this really. Someone help please.
*Watch this space*

Thanks for reading, don't forget to vote and comment on this chapter with any requests or concerns you have and follow me if you'd like more cool dance content and more! *Thumbs up*

No seriously, I'm thinking of making a series of dance related books (including this one and the dance dictionary I am in the process of writing). So I would appreciate any ideas for other dance related books I could make.

Love you all,
Xx Emmy xX

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QOTC: Do you do any other sport besides dance?

AOTC: Does quidditch count?!?! (Not muggle quidditch, geez. I'm not a muggle I'm a witch and I go to HOGWARTS!) Comment if you love Harry Potter!!!