Move of the Week – Proper placement for ballet, the basics

Here’s a basic exercise that dancers of any level can do at home to practice placement for ballet taught by our Beginner Ballet and Cardio Ballet instructor and pro dancer Jennifer.

Start with one hand on the barre, standing tall, find your natural rotation into first position. As you plié and relevé keep your pelvis in neutral and your shoulders right over your hips.

As instructors, we typically see shoulders forward and hips back in plié and then students often throw their shoulders back as they relevé, which causes them to fall backward. Make sure you are lifting your abdominals and engaging your back throughout the plié and the relevé to keep your spine in proper alignment. It should feel like you could balance a cup of coffee on your head the whole time!

It’s important to use the rotator muscles in the back of your thighs and your inner thighs to turn your knees out over your toes as you plié. This will ensure proper turnout and safe joints and also ensure that your hips are going straight down in plié and not tucking or arching Practice this exercise daily to feel stronger and better placed in your ballet classes!  

Join Jennifer for Beginner Ballet on Zoom & in Central Park on Mondays at 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT and Cardio Ballet In-Studio and on Zoom Saturdays at 11:00am ET / 8:00am PT.

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