"He lives most life whoever breathes most air."
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Last week’s post addressed the importance of breathing when we exercise and how muscles
cannot work efficiently without oxygen. Many
dancers, however, often forget to breathe or use their muscles in ways that
hinder breathing.
When
dancers focus on tightening the muscles of the torso or pulling their centers
inward, they hold the diaphragm tightly and prevent it from contracting
completely. When the diaphragm cannot
contract fully, the lungs cannot fully inflate, and the dancer begins to take
shallow breaths and use the muscles of the shoulder area to attempt to make
room for the lungs. Shallow breathing is
inefficient and results in a lack of oxygen and a build-up of carbon dioxide in
the body.
Dancers who
do not breathe efficiently will find that they might have difficulty learning
and retaining combinations since the brain is not getting an optimal amount of
oxygen. Additionally, dancers may
experience muscle cramps due to a build-up of carbon dioxide. Holding one’s breath can also result in
increased blood pressure, which can cause headaches.
Dancers
should focus on lifting their torsos and using the image of lengthening their
abdominal muscles rather than contracting them inward. By doing so, they will be allowing the
diaphragm to do its job and be able to breathe more easily.
Dancers
also need to work on remembering to breathe throughout class. Tension, created when trying to execute steps
correctly and remember combinations and corrections, can also hinder breathing
or cause shallow breathing.
Breathing
tends to be more of an issue in ballet class than other classes like modern
where teachers often ask to hear audible inhalations and exhalations. Although it is untraditional, it can be
helpful for ballet teachers to also request audible breathing from their
students during warm-ups. Another idea
for teachers to employ is asking the dancers to use their voices when
moving. Singing a familiar song during
warm-up sautés forces dancers to breathe.
Additionally,
teachers can actually cue breathing during warm-up exercises: exhaling into a plié and inhaling when coming
out of one; inhaling before a cambré forward and exhaling when reaching the
floor, inhaling on the way up and exhaling into a cambré back.
Yoga
classes or incorporating yoga into a dance conditioning class will also help
dancers to be aware of their breathing and encourage them to use breath to keep
themselves dancing efficiently and in a healthy way.
