98 Dance Anatomy and Kinesiology
“Pull Up With Your Abs”
T
he cue to “pull up” or “lift” is often used in conjunction with the abdominal muscles (e.g., “pull
up or lift with your abdominals”) in response to seeing a dancer that is excessively arching the
low back and anteriorly tilting the pelvis. A desired anatomical interpretation of this cue is to contract
the abdominal muscles such that the inferior attachment onto the pelvis is the moving end, rotating
the pelvis posteriorly and decreasing lumbar hyperlordosis to achieve the desired neutral position
of the pelvis and normal curvature of the lumbar spine. However, some dancers misinterpret this cue
as one directing them to pull up the superior attachment of the abdominal muscles onto the rib cage,
requiring contraction of the thoracic spinal extensors versus abdominal muscles and resulting in “rib
leading,” or undesired backward movement of the upper back. Dancers can be assisted in achieving
the desired intent of “pulling up” by standing with one side to the mirror for visual feedback and using
one hand to maintain the lower anterior rib cage in its desired neutral position while the other hand
is placed on the low abdomen to encourage the use of the abdominal muscles to lift the pelvis to a
neutral position as shown in figure 3.24B.DANCE CUES 3.1
as pliés (figure 3.25D) and rises to more complex
dance movement such as turning and jumping.
As strength, flexibility, and kinesthetic awareness
improve, the conscious effort required to maintain
ideal alignment should decline or disappear. There
is evidence that shortened muscles may be more
readily recruited in movement patterns (Pitt-Brooke,
1998); so restoring balanced strength and flexibility
between the abdominal muscles, spinal extensors,
and hip flexors should allow neutral alignment to
be achieved more easily.Kyphosis
Kyphosis (G. humpback) is characterized by an
abnormal increase in the thoracic curvature as seen
in figure 3.23B. This excessive curvature can be
rigid in nature as a consequence of various diseases
or structural abnormalities, while in other cases
it is more flexible and functional in nature. The
latter more functional version is commonly seen in
sedentary individuals who sit with slumped posture,
adolescents who carry heavy school backpacks, and
athletes such as swimmers and weightlifters who have
a strength or flexibility imbalance (or both) between
anterior and posterior shoulder muscles (discussed
in chapter 7) or spinal muscles. Dancers also some-
times exhibit mild kyphosis that is associated with
weak upper back extensors or inadequate thoracic
extensor activation and the tendency to let the upper
back collapse and rest on passive constraints (fatigue
posture). This also sometimes occurs in dancers whoperform abdominal work in a small range of motion
(tending to create tightness) without stretching the
abdominal muscles or balancing abdominal exercises
with back extension exercises utilizing a full range of
motion. As with lumbar lordosis, postural kyphosis is
common in young children and adolescents; about
25% of adolescents have kyphosis-related difficulties
(Hall, 1999).
In terms of correction, in normal standing and
sitting the gravity line falls in front of the thoracic
curve, tending to produce flexion of the thoracic
spine (particularly in females with larger breasts).
This tendency must be countered by consistent low
level activity in the thoracic extensors, such as the
longissimus and multifidus muscles of this region
(Levangie and Norkin, 2001). Hence, strengthen-
ing the upper back extensors and using cues such
as “lift the upper back up toward the ceiling” to
encourage activation of these muscles are keys for
prevention and improvement of kyphosis. However,
considering the range of extension is so much lower
in the thoracic region than in the lumbar region, the
challenge with upper back exercises is to stabilize the
low back by firmly pulling up the inferior attachment
of the abdominal muscles, while the focus is on the
relatively small movement in the upper back. The
exercises in figure 3.26 use the back of the chair to
help the dancer focus on isolating movement to this
upper back region for strengthening (figure 3.26A
and table 3.4H [p. 137]), stretching (figure 3.26B),
and practicing correct alignment (figure 3.26C).
When kyphosis is accompanied by a forward position