Tips for Balancing

Sarah, at Breaking Ballet, has a nice video with tips on improving your balance in ballet.

Balance challenges happen in ballet because we're doing movements different from what we're used to in every day life.  In ballet, we're working from a turned out position; we're rising up onto demi-pointe (the balls of our feet); we're shifting weight from one leg to the other; we're transferring weight entirely onto one leg; and we're lifting or moving the working leg.

If you decide to follow any of Sarah's recommended exercises (particularly the lunge exercise) please be very careful and only do as much as your knees can handle.

Here are some other tricks that can help you with your balance:

• Centering your weight over your supporting foot/feet is key to keeping your balance.  To do this, envision a plumb-line that runs from the top of your head, down through your body, and into the floor at the center of your stance.  Keeping that plumb line straight and true will make balancing easier.
  
  
• When you feel off balance, notice which direction you are falling.  Chances are your weight is centered too much in that direction.  Adjust by shifting your weight a little in the opposite direction.
  
  
• When you are struggling to maintain a balance, check how solidly you are holding your core (abdomen, lower back, hips, buttocks and thighs).  If your core is "loosey-goosey," it will be difficult to balance.
  
  
• Don't sink into your heels or hips.  Though doing so may make you feel more balanced, it hampers your ability to move.  Keep your weight lifted out of your hips, and forward over the balls of your feet.
  
  
• Don't lock your knees; rather keep them energized and pulled upward.  A balanced position is not static or rigid; on the contrary, it can be quite dynamic and small "adjustments" in your knees and ankles is normal.
   
• Ballet students are often instructed to "lift up" through the torso, to steady their balance.  But often this results a slight backwards arch of the chest, which actually throws you further off balance.  Instead, think of maintaining tautness between your belly-button and collar bones.  (Some ballet teachers refer to this as "zipping up.")  This will subtly shift your center of weight forward while tightening your core.
  
  
• Try making your legs feel "rooted."  Visualize energy flowing from your core, down your supporting leg(s) and into the floor.
  
  
• Use your arms!  Second position ballet arms (both arms held out the sides) creates the same kind of "balance pole" effect that tight-rope walkers use.  Arabesque arms (one or both arms extended forward) help to cantilever the weight of an arabesque leg extended behind you.  Fifth position arms (both arms curved above your head) help you feel lifted throughout your entire body.