The Test

                                                                                     Photo submitted by Katelyn Chargois

Guest Writer: Katelyn Chargois, LCCB Principal

One teacher and 15 minutes later everything I know about dancing changed.

As a dancer, I am told all the time: tighten the core, work the hamstrings not the quads, keep your weight in the balls of your feet, but it was never cut down into enough detail for my mind and body to actually comprehend. I didn't know that the very basics of my placement were all wrong. This is how one teacher explained it for me:

Stand in parallel 6th position and turn your feet out to 1st position. If you didn't fall on your face right then, it’s because you shifted all your weight. When you stand in parallel 6th position you are in your perfect ballet position—with your weight forward. Tighten your core and don't move anything, except your feet to 1st position. Keep your weight in the balls of your feet just like 6th position. You should feel your hamstrings and your bottom engage. This is your perfect ballet position. This information is the difference between a good dancer and a great dancer.

Just like Lady Holly says, ‘I’m giving you the answers to the test.’ All our lives we were given the answers to the test: tighten the core, work the hamstrings but not the quads, and keep your weight in the balls of your feet, but we were failing the test.