Tip of the Day: Dance Technique and Alignment, How to Fix Open Ribcage

Q:  How do I get my  students to start keeping their ribcage closed when working on body alignment and dance technique? 

A: An open rib cage is a common dance technique problem many dancers face when learning advanced and more mature movement.  Here are 2 tips that will hopefully get your dancer on the track to improvement


1.  Alignment Exercises: Have your dancer lay on the ground, face down with legs straight and together.  Let the fore-head rest on the hands while looking straight into the floor, keeping the natural alignment of the spine.  To start the exercise, have the dancer relax and just let her body lay in a natural state.  Next have the dancer rotate the hips from the glutes and inner thighs, while scooping out the abdominal muscles to create space between the floor and their stomach. Also, have them think about pulling up the front of the hips.   Hold this exercise for about 10 seconds at a time and repeat many times to get the feeling of total alignment.

2.  Simple Corrections: Sometimes the problem can be fixed by simple corrections.  One of my favorite and common corrections I give is to concentrate on holding the arms from your back by keeping them slightly in front of you, especially when in 2nd or 5th position.  Keep the shoulders down and open by engaging the abdominal muscles. I imagine as if I have wings in the back of my shoulders and I am trying to show the audience the wings from the front.  "Show me your back."

I hope these tips give you and your dancer ideas to work towards improvement and body alignment to enhance dance technique.


Written by Shannon Thomas