Dec 28 2010
Muscle memory
Part of my new dance cross-training is to do some ballet. Rather than wait for 2011 to roll in, I’ve decided to start changing or adding patterns, behaviors, whatever whenever I see fit and can afford to do so.
Monday I attend beginner ballet at an adult-only studio. I hadn’t been there in about year, due to time. It is amazing how much my body has changed in a year. Most notably is the muscle memory I’ve acquired from Bharatanatyam. If you are not familiar with Bharatanatyam, one of the basic postures is called aramundi. It is where the heels touch and the toes and knees are bent and turned out from hip rotation. The ballet first postion foot position is identical to aramundi, as well as the turn out. The only difference is that in first position in ballet, you stand up.
All last night, I ended every exercise in the deep bent aramundi, vs. the straight-legged first position. I didn’t realize why until I was thinking about it later that this is an artifact from Bharatanatyam; you are expected to end every adavu or short combination in aramundi. Students are scolded for leaving the posture at the end. I didn’t realize how much muscle memory I’ve obtained with Bharatanatyam already. I’m curious how cross-training will change my dance skills in Bharatanatyam now. While I cannot afford, time-wise, to dedicate myself to ballet the way I have with Bharatanatyam and Middle Eastern dance, I do want to gain some proficiency. However, I don’t want to lose my Bhartanatyam skills, even though the adavus are really about training your body and mind to perform complex pieces, so the dancer may leave the aramundi position for something straighter-legged.
What are other people’s experiences in cross-training?
for me, the first two months of cross-training were strenuous in a way that I ended up being too relaxed in my pelvis during ballet, and too firm in tribal fusion. I was doing everything backwards. after realizing it, (and after an injury I suspect I got because of my misplaced postures), I just thought to myself that it doesn`t make sense. why would I train so much and so hard if I don`t get the best out of both worlds. it took me a couple of sessions to fix my posture, and I did it: now, when in ballet, I`m in its posture that is keeping me strong and safe, when in tribal, I`m in its posture. my dance vocabulary increased significantly, I pick up new things faster, not to mention the increase of my stamina and strength.
my advice is to go for it,
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Aleksie Reply:
December 30th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
I figure that it’ll be good to do a lot of cross-training, to really understand body mechanics. I feel like doing both Bharatanatyam and the various forms of Middle Eastern dance have helped a lot; learning a “Western” dance is something I thought I should perhaps learn.
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I love cross-training for dance, particularly across disciplines. I think training to different types of music is important for hearing it, and often you work slightly different muscles. Equally important can be working muscles you don’t work in a particular type of dance–for example in the particular type of folk dancing I most often do, we are always jumping on the balls of our feet, and letting your heel drop is poor technique. Needless to say, this results in very tight calf muscles. By cross-training in dance forms that are more flat-footed, I can still dance and work on my strength and stamina, but with less pressure on my calves.
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