114 Dance Anatomy and Kinesiology
because the goal is preparation for movement and
an aesthetic of “energy” or “presence” versus relaxed
standing, this alignment generally involves more
muscle activation. Such greater muscle activation is
consistent with many different directives commonly
given by dance teachers such as “reach the head up
toward the ceiling,” “lift the spine toward the ceiling,”
or “lift and lengthen the spine.” But this positioning
would still ideally entail spinal curves of appropriate
magnitude that are balanced in the sagittal plane
and can be thought of as a neutral base alignment.When one is actually dancing, the spine is dynami-
cally changing its position—often in multiple planes
that encompass combinations of flexion, lateral flex-
ion, extension, and rotation; but the skilled dancer
should be able to quickly reestablish this neutral base
alignment when the choreography utilizes an erect
position of the torso.
However, some styles of dance may also involve
slight differences from this “neutral” base align-
ment. For example, the aesthetics of some schools
of flamenco and ballet may involve greater “lift and“Lift and Lengthen Your Spine”
T
he cue to “lift and lengthen your spine” can
be interpreted from an anatomical perspec-
tive as referring to the use of muscles to counter
the tendency of gravity to slightly “collapse” the
normal sagittal curves of the spine (A). With well-
coordinated contraction of the spinal muscles,
the curves can be slightly decreased and the
length of the spine very slightly increased. How-
ever, the challenge of this cue is that because the
curves of the spine go in different directions, a
complex co-contraction of muscles in different
regions of the spine is necessary to achieve the
desired effects. For example, if too much con-
traction of the abdominal muscles occurs, it will
decrease the lumbar curve but increase the tho-
racic curve, pulling the front of the rib cage too
far down and creating a “collapsed” versus “lifted”
look. In contrast, if excessive thoracic extension
is used, it will tend to bring the shoulders and
upper back behind the gravity line and again fail
to create the desired “lifted” look.
Sometimes it can be helpful to use supplemen-
tal cues, for example the cue of imagining a line
of energy starting with the front of the bottom of
the pelvis, going under the rib cage (along the
front of the spine), and out the top of the head
(just behind the middle of the top of the head)
as seen in the figure (B). For dancers that still
appear “collapsed” in the chest, thinking of lifting the top of the sternum up toward the ceiling can
facilitate desired positioning. For dancers who still tend to shorten the low back (lumbar hyperlordo-
sis), thinking about letting the low back “lengthen” and reach down toward the floor, or imagining
having a small weight hanging from the coccyx or having fingertips on the back of the sacrum that
pull the sacrum slightly down toward the floor, while still maintaining the “lift” on the front of the
body, can be helpful.