Today, I am not only presenting an uplifting photo to you this week, I am going to go into a bit more detail......
Take a look at the picture below. She's not in a 180 degree angle arabesque, a perfect split, or lifting her leg to her ears. She is in a simple position, with her legs low, and arms poised in an angle. Look in front of the mirror, and try her position. If you have little or no ab strenght, you will a) not be able to do this at all or b) the position will look awkward.
As you can see, the purple represents positions using the core muscles (abs) and the red represents positions using other muscles, such as the deltoids, rectus femoris, etc.
Let's look at the lifted leg. While the leg muscles are used for height, the core muscles are working to hold it there without slipping down. Both play an important part in ballet.
Take a look at the torso. You can see the purple spot in the middle, representing the core muscles. Right outside, you can see two lines around the body. Creating this slant in the body takes skill - and strength.
The arms are holding themselves in place, but also creating weight, putting more pressure on your core muscles.
If you feel that you may have weak or no strength in your core, visit pre-pointe week, if you already haven't. Girl who are already en pointe may do these exercises, too. Especially the crunches.
Let's look at the lifted leg. While the leg muscles are used for height, the core muscles are working to hold it there without slipping down. Both play an important part in ballet.
Take a look at the torso. You can see the purple spot in the middle, representing the core muscles. Right outside, you can see two lines around the body. Creating this slant in the body takes skill - and strength.
The arms are holding themselves in place, but also creating weight, putting more pressure on your core muscles.
If you feel that you may have weak or no strength in your core, visit pre-pointe week, if you already haven't. Girl who are already en pointe may do these exercises, too. Especially the crunches.
