Hands and Fingers

[Guest GetThePointe32]

I have a preoblem with my hands and fingers, the are always stiff and the fingers are close to eachother. My teacher has been trying to help me with it (she calls me mittens) but every time I think that my hands are loosend up they really arent! Any help on how I could relax more?

 

[Victoria Leigh]

Relax the wrists! It's impossible to keep the fingers stiff if the wrist joint is relaxed. Just shake them out frequently, before and even during combinations, especially at the barre, until it becomes a new habit to leave them free. Support the arms from the back muscles and don't "hold" the wrists. The hands should fall into a nice position all by themselves.

[Guest GetThePointe32]

Ok! I will try that! Thank you Ms. Leigh!

[Dancing on my toes]

I also have a problem with stiff hands and fingers. I don't know if you have the exact same problem though, but for me I straighten my fingers instead of lightly curving them. My teachers have been helping me with this and always tell me to feel life coming out of my finger tips and it has helped a little. But you just have to think about your hands in every combination, eventually it should become a habit.

[Victoria Leigh]

No, actually the idea is to NOT think about them! If you are carrying your arms correctly, and moving them from the back muscles, then the wrists can remain relaxed and you won't have to think about your hands at all. The worst thing to see is someone who "holds" their hands in some sort of set position.

[Mel Johnson]

The trick is to break a straight-hands habit by getting the wrist to relax. But then you have to get mobility into the hands, and that's almost like rehabilitation. You don't want dead fish on the ends of your arms, or dying ones, that flip every which way. There's a happy medium.

[mohnurka]

Wouldn't you want to think about dancing through your hands? Expressing yourself through your hands... I understand what Ms. Leigh said about "The worst thing to see is someone who "holds" their hands in some sort of set position." Of course, when someone's hands are as if frozen into the position, it's quite sad to watch... So, wouldn't it be more of thinking "through" the hands, not about them?

[Victoria Leigh]

Yes, Mohnurka, that is right. The energy and the music should flow through the hands and out through the fingernails! And, if the wrists are relaxed and the arms working from the torso (back muscles specifically), this is quite possible.

[mohnurka]

In my opinion, many people tend to forget about arms and hands. Almost every dancer worries about feet and legs and pointe, but some forget about arms. And few things are as frustrating as "dead" arms/hands, those that are clawy, etc. However, arms and hands are definitely an area that can improve greatly given the person works hard at correcting the problem. Edited December 28, 2004 by mohnurka