hips

[Odette]

Ok I am sure this has been covered before, and I have tried searching but anyway I'm sorry-couldn't find anything. For most people I am sure for most of their dancing lives they took in the information given to them, acted on it but didn't really think about much about it. I have been thinking recently about the actual mechanics of performing movements in terms of muscles, bones etc. Also during this time I've been observing a lot of dancers myself included. We are all experienced and have been very well trained however I have been noticing a lot of lifting of hips in attitudes,developees etc. I have been taught from a very young age that whilst it is permissible to open the hip and indeed necessary, lifting the hip is 'strictly forbidden' however this is where I am confused. Is it never permissible to lift the hip?? I have fairly good extension I am stiffer at the moment than usual due to injury recovery and cannot do the splits. I have also been taught to use the turnout I have to the best of my ability, same goes for my extension I also am a strong dancer but I have noticed in myself that the hip has a tendancy to lift ever so slightly also when the hip is open, should they look square. Sorry this is a very rambling post-I hope I have got my question across but it seems that cheating and poor technique are rife even at the top level

-just look at those fifths!!

Thanks for any help!

[Victoria Leigh]

Odette, you are right, there is indeed a great deal of "cheating" going on these days. I think a lot of it stems from the very acrobatic emphasis in much of the new choreography.

 

It's not okay, however, it is certainly being done. You are correct about the hips opening, for arabesque and attitude, but not lifting. While they cannot be "square" if they are open, the dancer appears square if the upper body is placed properly. Technically, no, it is not permissible to lift the hip.

[Guest Nadezhda]

What exactly is the difference between opening and lifting the hip? I know what lifting the hip is, but I'm not sure about the opening. :confused:

[Victoria Leigh]

Nadezhda, if you stand totally square and try to lift your leg in arabesque, your own derrière is in the way ;) Seriously, it's not possible for most people, even those with exceptionally good rotation, to lift the leg in back, WITH ROTATION, without the hip opening to some extent. Many, many years ago it was taught that the hips must be square, however, the turned out arabesque was not there and this did not seem to matter at that time. (Take a look at pictures of Pavlova, for instance.)

 

If you lift the hip, the pelvis is tilted. If you just open it, it's not tilted but just slightly twisted sideways in order to allow the rotation, especially after you go above 30 or 45º.

[Guest Nadezhda]

Aha! I get it. Thank you very much, Ms. Leigh. I am taught Russian technique and they constantly remind me to keep my hips square (not to twist them to the back) to the maximum when doing battements or degages derierre.

[Victoria Leigh]

Nadezhda, I have it on prime authority from a Vaganova/Russian expert that the teachers are told not to tell the students that the hip can open, however, they recognize that it is going to happen naturally in terms of achieving rotation.

[ConstanzaElisabeth]

my teacher insists that one must never allow one's hip to open at all in arabesque, but he doesnt seem to realize that this is quite impossible physically, especially for me. i wasted a year trying to find that position, and i say wasted because all of my efforts in arabesque made it impossible for me to execute any combination in class that included tehm with any thought to anything else. i finally asked my other teacher to help me figure out how i was supposed to do arabesque, and she placed me where i was to begin with!

[Snow Maiden]

At my school we are taught never to let your hip lift in extensions a la seconde and devant. Of course, your hip has to go a tiny bit when you have a really high extension in second, but anyway. At summer intensives, I have noticed that people do let their hips lift quite a bit in second. Their hip also lifts in retioré. They seem to force the turnout in the working leg, so maybe that's part of it?

[Mel Johnson]

You've hit the nail on the head, Snow Maiden.

 

Forcing the turnout on either the "supporting" or the "working" leg, or both, will produce a lifted hip. Of course, we know that both legs are "working" all the time, so those terms can be a little misleading, but at least we all agree on what they mean.