“The more the teacher can help students understand the structure and functioning of the human body, the more responsibly and effectively he or she can help them improve their performance and avoid injury.”

(Hamilton, T. 54)

This article was originally part of my MFA in Dance research methods work in 2012, and continues to be relevant to my teaching over a decade later. Though not currently such cutting-edge somatic or pedagogical techniques, the conversation continues about how to best educate dancers to honor the tradition of classical ballet while also supporting the whole dancer in a contemporary setting as artist, individual and person in society.

Abstract

This paper takes the approach of critical pedagogy to investigate practices in integrating somatics into teaching ballet technique. Critical pedagogy, as defined by Henry Giroux, is “the educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive action.”  (Giroux, 2010) 

Teachers too can approach pedagogy critically, with the aim of empowering students to think critically and make connections, applying knowledge to all areas of their lives.  I explore ways in which integrating somatic concepts into ballet technique training can be accomplished, including benefits and possible drawbacks, and appropriate applications of somatics in different settings (private studio, professional company, and university) so that teachers interested in combining the wisdom of ballet technique and somatic systems are aware of choices and resources available.  

Somatic approaches include, but are not limited to, Alexander Technique, Bartenieff Fundamentals/Laban Movement Analysis, Feldenkrais, Gyrokinesis/Gyrotonic, and Ideokinesis.  In current practice, it is more common to see modern dance classes use such concepts and exercises, whereas ballet practitioners may have to take separate classes and workshops and make their own connection between ballet technique and the body/mind connections fostered by somatic practice. However, some teachers such as Anna Paskevska and Cadence Whittier, well-known ballet professors and authors, acknowledge the value of such knowledge for ballet dancers, and propose connections between somatic practice, as education for the body, and ballet technique. I argue that an effective and versatile approach is to develop students’ facility with somatic concepts in the context of ballet instruction itself.   

Intro to the History of Somatics and Ballet Technique

Brief History of Ballet Education

A detailed discussion of ballet technique’s 300 year history is beyond the scope of this paper, but I would be remiss to omit altogether the development of ballet education, some innovations and influences on the technique, and major players in systematizing the form of classical movement.  In this paper, I look at ballet’s history with an emphasis on pedagogical approaches.  

Ballet was first a courtly dance form, and as such required no specialized training. 

Anna Paskevska, author of Both Sides of the Mirror, notes that “It is unlikely that the lords and ladies at the European courts prepared themselves for their balls and masques with arduous exercises, although they may have flexed their knees or even kicked their feet while waiting for their entrée.  But they probably did practice some of the steps they were to perform.” (47) 

As the classical  style of dance spread from France to Italy and Russia, it became codified and gained technical virtuosity .  Near the end of the seventeenth century, the first professional dancers came on the scene, combining the vocabulary of court dances with acrobatics. August Bournonville is credited with the first syllabus of dancing, which was expanded upon by Christian Johansson. 

Enrico Cecchetti, an Italian, is the most commonly known ballet technique theorist, and other schools of thought regarding technique include Vaganova (after Agrippina Vaganova, a Russian), the French school, and the Royal Academy of Dancing (Britain).  National schools of dance and ballet companies were formed, such as the Bolshoi in Russia, and professional ballet companies began touring the world, causing ballet to be widely practiced.  

Though the structure of the ballet class is the same everywhere, certain principles of instruction, tenets, progressions of steps and finer points of technique differ from school to school.  (Paskevska 1992) In the present day, a plethora of different styles of ballet classes are available, including some which strictly follow a traditional syllabus, some which combine aspects of different ballet traditions (French, Russian, etc.), and some which incorporate the teacher’s knowledge of other movement forms, such as other dance styles, yoga, Pilates, etc. 

My Perspective

Ballet dancers may or may not have detailed training in how the body works, and even if they do, it is largely left to them to connect this knowledge to their technique practice. As a teacher, I feel that my students benefit when basic movement principles (based on anatomical truths) are woven into technique instruction, setting students up for success wherever they may go, whether that be a professional career in dance or another field.  

As a student of Bartenieff Fundamentals during my MFA program, I felt such concepts filled critical gaps in my conception of human movement potential, and helped me identify disconnections in my technique.  

My own ballet training since the age of 5 has included some limited instruction regarding anatomy and using muscles properly (safely and efficiently) in movement, but the type and depth has varied widely, depending on the background experiences of my ballet technique teachers.  

Each instructor did their best based on their knowledge, and as a curious and ambitious student I sought out supplementary training such as Pilates and “body conditioning” as well. Though my ballet training was broad-based, including renowned teachers from around the country and concepts from yoga and Pilates, (and gyrotonic?) I didn’t receive formal education in anatomy, kinesiology, and movement fundamentals until graduate school.  I was a ballet major in high school, but at that level anatomy and somatic training weren’t offered.  

If I had chosen to major in dance as an undergraduate I would have hopefully been exposed to anatomy, kinesiology, movement patterning and/or somatics then, however if I had joined a company, I most likely would have to rely on my own initiative to receive supplementary training in techniques outside of classical ballet.  

I have found myself wishing that I had a more complete anatomy/kinesiology/movement patterning education sooner, possibly preventing injury and deepening my understanding of efficient movement during my formative years in dancing. 

The Current Situation: Choices Faced By Ballet Dancers and Teachers

“In this age of diversity and versatility, the need for a well-grounded technical base is extremely important.  Technique can be very simply defined as the ‘how to’ of any skill to be mastered.  It is an acquired ability that takes time and effort congruent with the complexity of the skill to be learned.” (Paskevska 2005 p. 105)

We have higher expectations of dancers than in the past, with ever increasing technical virtuosity and physical demands.  

“As the skill level within the professional ballet world continues to rise, ballet dancers are pushed to achieve impeccable technical skills—higher extensions, longer balances, more powerful ballon, and greater turnout—and as the desired aesthetic look of the dancer continues to change, these dancers are also driven to achieve the proper body proportions needed to succeed in the professional world,” (Whittier 2006) therefore it is necessary for dancers to educate themselves by various means to ensure that their bodies and minds are up to the challenge, and in an attempt to prolong their short careers in performance.  Ballet technique teachers too are taking it upon themselves to broaden the scope of their instruction to include concepts outside of traditional approaches.  

This rarified form of dance that we call ballet, considered by some to be “unnatural,” does benefit immensely from the dancer’s (and the teacher’s and choreographer’s) understanding of fundamental principles of movement, scientific findings and innovations in training.  How are today’s ballet teachers going about educating their students about the body and it’s most efficient use, as well as classical ballet technique?

Ballet teachers are challenged to help students produce correct execution in the first place, then apply principles learned in the basic combinations to ever-increasingly more complex challenges.  Sometimes we can remember learning a step from our own teachers, and how their descriptions and coaching worked for us.  If we can’t recall our own learning process, or seek other methods than our teachers employed, observing other classes and reading about other teachers’ approaches helps expand our scope of options. 

“Depending on curricular emphases, financial resources, personnel, and long range institutional goals, ballet has expanded creatively as well as functionally, shaped in part by new generations of teachers.  Many ballet teachers have studied and practiced other dance techniques, anatomy/kinesiology, composition, improvisation, Labananalysis, T’ai Chi, and body therapies such as Feldenkrais, Rolfing, and Alexander.  These experiences allow them a wider range of options to draw upon when teaching ballet technique.” (Penrod 1981 p.23)

With so many concepts and skills to impart to students, ballet teachers are challenged to keep students at the forefront of pedagogical consideration, focusing on the students’ needs and their short- and long-term goals in ballet.  Teachers must balance the students’ goals with their own short- and long-term goals for the students, asking what gaps exist in their technique, what themes are emerging, which pedagogical choices are and are not working.  

This paper presents only a few possibilities for enhancing the teaching of classical ballet, focusing on the appropriate applications of somatic techniques.

Literature Review

Current literature in somatics and ballet pedagogy includes books, journal articles, conference proceedings, and video recordings.  Most recent work is included in journals and magazines such as Dance Magazine and the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance and in conference proceedings such as Global Perspectives on Dance Pedagogy.  

In my research, I spoke to ballet teachers here in Honolulu and in other parts of the United States, and read books on ballet technique, dance pedagogy, the role of dance in education, dance anatomy and kinesiology, and somatic techniques.  Many somatic approaches are available as resources to dancers, but there exists a gap between somatics and their application to ballet technique and ballet technique instruction.  

Published works that I discovered describes specific somatic practices and relates them to general physical well-being, injury recovery, and even modern dance, but only infrequently to ballet.  For example, a couple of newer resources co-authored by Rebecca Nettl-Fiol detail modern dancers’ use of a variety of somatic approaches, one of the text focusing specifically on Alexander Technique, with some inclusion of ballet as well.

The topic of somatics and ballet technique is important because ballet dancers, students and teachers of ballet technique can benefit from knowledge of these techniques, as it can enhance understanding and performance.   My point of view is that of a classically trained ballet dancer who also participates in modern dance and other techniques, and I seek to apply all of my knowledge and experience in the context of teaching ballet technique.

[Note to Amy: I still need to further summarize the literature, evaluate the literature, show relationships between studies, and show how the published work relates to my work]

Methodological and Theoretical Framework

This paper takes the approach of critical pedagogy to investigate practices in integrating somatics into teaching ballet technique.  Critical pedagogy, as defined by Henry Giroux, is “the educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive action.” (Giroux, 2010) 

Teachers too can approach pedagogy critically, with the aim of empowering students to think critically and freely, judging knowledge by its own merits and applying it in their lives as they see fit.  Somatics and ballet technique also form the theoretical framework.

The Role of Tradition in Teaching Ballet: Two Perspectives

There is some controversy in the field of classical ballet as to pedagogical approaches. Some professional ballet teachers advocate strictly following an established teaching method, while others encourage pedagogical innovation. Two strong voices within the literature have emerged in my research regarding the topic of tradition  versus innovation, those of John White and Anna Paskevska.  

John White: strict adherence to one method

John White warns against excessive experimentation and innovation-for-its-own-sake in ballet instruction.  Too much felicity undermines the system of learning to dance, developed over hundreds of years and with its own wisdom of progression, argues White.  White encourages choosing an approach (Vaganova or Cecchetti, for example) and studying it deeply, devoting a lifetime to it (p.12) rather than bouncing around picking and choosing whatever suits your fancy at the moment. Addressing teachers’ license in instructing ballet classes, White states that “Ballet teachers need to work within a proven syllabus of instruction principles.  However, a syllabus is only an outline of the material to be covered- what, how, when.  The teacher’s experience and judgment fill in the blanks with artistic nuances and colorations required to create the complete text.  This learning process helps students find their way up the steep climb to mastery of the technique and the art.” (White 2009 p. 12)  He goes on to further admonish, 

“In a futile attempt to elevate classical ballet instruction to accommodate modern concepts of art and public taste, we are beginning to see a multitude of ballet teaching theories that can best be described as the Mish-Mash method. M&M involves a little of this and a little of that. It is a stew that attempts to circumvent proven methodologies in order to speed up the process. It emphasizes technical tricks to make the product (dancers) more exciting and marketable.This innovative teaching approach is the product of uneducated teachers cherry-picking through established methods to formulate novel ‘best-of-the-best’ systems.  They borrow certain concepts of proven methodologies to form the basis of new or experimental ideas…” (White 2009 p.9)

Yet, even within proven classical systems, there is room for varied descriptive language and innovation- Vaganova herself was constantly revising and improving her system based on new learning. (Source!) 

Anna Paskevska: beyond tradition

In her third book, Ballet Beyond Tradition, (the first two were Ballet: an eight year course and Both Sides of the Mirror) Anna Paskevska states that 

“Many dancers draw on somatic and body/mind techniques in their training.  The term ‘somatics’ can be broadly defined as the body perceived from within, that is, a subjective apprehension of the effect of movement on one’s body…There are a plethora of somatic techniques that are available as resources for dancers—including yoga, Pilates, Alexander Technique, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Body Mind CenteringTM, Feldenkrais, and the work of Irene Dowd and Eric Noel Franklin in Ideokinetics.” (Paskevska 2005 p. 4)

However, Paskevska chooses to focus on the concepts underpinning Limon (modern) technique in the book, because they “are the most applicable to my purpose because they deal with quality of motion as contrasted with neuromuscular repatterning, which concentrates on alignment, freedom of the joints, and flexibility…the emphasis of this work is on quality and nuance, and presupposes a thorough knowledge of ballet technique.” (Paskevska 2005 p.4)  Paskevska asserts that “When ballet is taught with due consideration for the physical, cognitive, and intellectual development of children, the technique provides the vehicle to learn physical control through the acquisition of vocabulary.” (Paskevska 2005 p. 105)  Physical control is a hallmark of ballet technique.  Just as ballet technique training can provide physical control that can then be applied to other physical pursuits, other training forms that develop physical control, such as somatics, can support mastery of ballet technique.

Paskevska also alludes to developing analytical capabilities with regard to ballet:

“Learning to dance is not the same as learning steps.  Steps are used initially to instill patterns of movement and later test the proficiency of the neuronal connections through the evidence of the exactness with which they are performed.  Through practice, in addition to the acquisition of a broadened vocabulary, several attributes that may be present in a nascent form are developed: a keen spatial awareness, response to rhythmic patterns, and an ability to see and therefore reproduce movement accurately. With practice and proficiency also comes the ability to distinguish the subtleties in movement, hear the rhythmic patterns more precisely, and perceive one’s position in space in more nuanced ways, leading to analysis and judgment about the quality of one’s response.” (Paskevska 2005 p. 107)

Somatic Concepts in Ballet Technique

My opinion, plus others’ advocacy within dance, opinions of other kinesiology professionals, etc. (ergonomics, anatomy/physiology texts…) 

• Potential and demonstrated benefits: what is the cost to the dancer who never has this type of instruction?
• Injury prevention- through attention to muscular patterning, and correcting inefficient movement habitsGreater expressive potential- through awareness of intent, transitions, quality of movement, knowledge of movement choices
• Versatility- transferability to other dance styles, larger movement vocabulary for composition, greater professional hireability
• Understand logic of ballet technique- make full use of concepts in dancing and in teaching

Types of Somatic Concepts Available

There are many somatic approaches available for use by ballet teachers, including Alexander Technique, Authentic Movement, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Bodywork, Continuum, Eutony, Feldenkrais Method, Gyrotonic Expansion System/Gyrokinesis, Ideokinesis, Laban Movement Analysis, Phenomenology, Pilates, Postural Integration (PI), Progressive Relaxation, Qigong, Rolfing (Structural Integration), Rosen Method Bodywork, Skinner Releasing Technique, Strozzi Somatics, Trager Approach, and Yoga.  In this section, I define and briefly discuss the methods which I have observed and have a history of application to ballet technique instruction.

Alexander Technique

Popular for postural correction, undoing muscular patterns which lead to tension and injury, especially with musicians, dancers.

Rebecca Nettl-Fiol, Luc Vanier (Wozny 2012): “[Vanier] sees ballet as a conversation between two spirals that, when activated, create a sense of ease. ‘There is so much in ballet that is based on the spiral, or epaulement, which creates and oppositional tension that is freeing.’”  “Corrections take a different form as well. ‘Instead of doing something else, it’s more about stopping something, rather than adding something.’”  “The Alexander Technique can bring a student back in contact with their capacity to reason out what is going on.  Sometimes, all you need to do is allow a dancer to ask themselves ‘What is going on?’ for them to wait for results (inhibit) and be curious (direct) in the activity, for the problem to go away by itself.”

Bartenieff Fundamentals & Laban Movement Analysis

Irmgard Bartenieff, a physical therapist and student of Laban, developed a set of basic principles which she considered to be fundamental to all human movement.  Rudolf Laban developed systems of movement analysis and notation, which became influential worldwide, and are particularly popular in modern dance and higher education.

I will refer to the article “Laban Movement Analysis Approach to Classical Ballet Pedagogy” by Cadence Whittier (2006)

Peggy Hackney’s video, “Discovering Your Expressive Body,” along with her book, “Making Connections,” elucidates how to apply Fundamentals to dance technique.  Hackney asserts that “Through systematically exploring our articulate body, we gain an understanding of fundamental movement principles that can help to mobilize and integrate our articulations at the body level and in so doing, we develop more clarity in our artistic expression.”  The principles of total body connectedness are: breathing and hollowing support, leg lengthening without locking, alive verticality through the central axis of our bodies, internal support by hanging from the femoral joint, vertical support while rolling down the spine and hanging, standing and releve, lower body mobility, upper body mobility, diagonal connections lower to upper, movement with three spatial pulls, weight shift and propulsion, and body-half action.

Fundamentals is my primary area of interest in terms of somatic approaches applicable to ballet, but this paper has turned out to be more about the variety of options and generally how to present them, rather than specifically how to integrate ballet and Bartenieff Fundamentals.  That would be a nice follow-up paper perhaps. 

Feldenkrais

Dance teachers who apply Feldenkrais principles in their technique classes include Tessa Chandler, Barbara Forbes, and Peff Modelski (Wozny 2012).  “Moshe Feldenkrais created many powerful lessons dealing with how our eyes govern our movement.” “Chandler also applies Feldenkrais’ concept of the elasticity of moving back and for the between micro and whole-body movements…Feldenkrais’ walking lessons also influence Chandler’s approach to using the feet.” “Novelty, as in non-habitual movement, is central to the work.” “It’s the Feldenkrais motto of ‘learning through inquiry’ that distinguishes her use of the method in her classes…” Movement as skeletal action

Gyrokinesis/Gyrotonic

Developed by Juliu Horvath, who began as a swimmer and gymnast before becoming a ballet dancer with the Romanian State Opera Ballet.  

Idiokinesis

An approach to the improvement of human posture and body movement, in which visual and tactile-kinesthetic imagery guide the student toward healthier form.  Employs the use of images as a means of improving muscle patterns.  Visualizing the movement only with the mind’s eye (either as movement within the body or in space), without any perceivable sensation of muscular effort, primes neural pathways and reprograms unnecessary and unwanted muscular tensions. Sweigard, for example, evolved “nine lines of movement” that could be visualized in “constructive rest” to create better mechanical balance in upright standing posture. (Source!)

Pilates

Pilates may be the best-known somatic technique for ballet dancers, as it enjoys widespread use as a supplementary physical training regimen, with ballet schools and companies also offering classes. Joseph Pilates, who was born in Germany in 1880 and later moved to New York City, developed a system of exercises with equipment or on a mat, designed to “eliminate all physical limitations.” (Ungaro, p.8)  

Pilates’ system is a great benefit to dancers, particularly ballet dancers, developing strong and flexible musculature, and is built on both Eastern and Western traditions (he created the system with concepts such as breath control, mental focus, and athletic training).  In her book, Pilates: Body in motion, Alycea Ungaro defines the practice: 

“Pilates is exercise.  

It is a physical training regimen based on the body in its most natural state – in motion. Pilates is an art form, similar to martial arts or dance, in that it must be worked to perfection on a daily basis.  Pilates is a physical science.  It is a technique so precise and concentrated that its results remain with you forever.”

The book The Body Eclectic includes interviews with professional dancers on their use of somatic techniques, in it dancers report that Pilates is “one of the best at strengthening,” (p.98) “it’s a form of conditioning; it doesn’t do anything for quality. However, it might allow dancers to extend their qualitative range of movement as they extend control,” (p.197) and they use it for such purposes as recovery (from injury), pelvic alignment, affect on use of external rotators, hamstrings. One dancer reflects that “In retrospect, I must admit now that my frequent battles with injuries in my dancing/choreographing career have been a blessing in disguise. It has led me to seek alternative techniques and modalities that have so deepened my body’s awareness of itself,” (p. 206) “I had a plyca and cartilage that had to be removed because I was injured at a young age, which was good in a way because it led me to study somatics.  At that time it was Pilates, later on other things.”

Applications of Somatics in Ballet Pedagogy

It is important to consider the impact of the context of the teaching situation on pedagogical delivery of conceptual material, including somatics.  Ballet teachers must consider what function ballet technique has for the student, and what developmental levels are being taught.

Look at training methods of elite companies, as well as other realms. In the broader educational sector, K-12 and university levels are “buying-into” these concepts, also modern dance frequently implements them.  One factor in deciding how to deliver ballet technique content in class is the age and developmental stage of students.  Anna Paskevska points out that analysis not useful in dance education until after 14 years old (cites Piaget), and asserts the value of dance class as mimicking before that age.  

K-12 Education

General education and younger ages, students who likely have several hobbies, sports, possibly in context of school day, more likely after-school program.  Students may emerge from ballet training (when it is available) in K-12 schools to pursue further training on the path to professional dancing, or they may use the physical and mental skills developed towards other movement forms and other subjects in higher education and in life.

Private Dance Studios

Private studios serve young dancers, aspiring pre-professionals, as well as recreational dancers of all ages.  The emphasis of each studio is a bit different- some focus on competitions and performing in a variety of styles, others strictly on ballet training with the goal of producing professional dancers.  Many of the aims and outcomes of dancing at a private studio are the same as in K-12 education, but there may be more of an emphasis on professional preparation, competition, and performance.

Dance Conservatories

Conservatory training is a stepping-stone to work as a professional dancer, tends to be younger students for ballet training, since they can enter a company at 18.  My high school alma mater, North Carolina School of the Arts, fits this description, as do other well-known schools such as the School of American Ballet (SAB- New York City Ballet’s school), the Julliard School, and many others.  These settings explicitly cultivate professional dancers, and some are highly competitive and rigorous in their training.

Ballet Companies

Treating and preventing injuries, maintaining technique, developing strength, warming and preparing for rehearsal and performance.  Professional dancers often have to take the initiative (and make the financial investment in adjunct techniques to supplement their practice, but sometimes ballet companies will provide their dancers with somatic training. (Source!)

Higher Education

Non-conservatory institutions of higher education, such as teaching and research universities and colleges with dance departments, train modern dancers, some ballet dancers, and actors, as well as future teachers, choreographers, administrators, critics, dance researchers.  In his article “Ballet in Higher Education,” James Penrod tells of how ballet is taught at the university level, often to modern dancers as an adjunct technique and compositional/choreographic tool, as well as to actors and athletes:

“…to make ballet technique more meaningful to students, some teachers are using a different descriptive terminology and approach to teaching technique.  Using concepts from Labananalysis or Alexander, for example, students are encouraged to experience the movements as an internal rather than goal oriented process to learn postures, positions, and steps that are unified as an expressive whole. (Penrod 1981 p.23)

“It is a tribute to the vitality of the form and to the malleability of its principles that ballet can enhance individual growth and body awareness and can create a discipline and concentration which complement the freedom of some other movement forms.” (Penrod 1981)

Applications and Approaches for Ballet and Somatics

This section will discuss existing ways ballet incorporates somatic concepts and techniques, with regard to teaching approaches and converging disciplines, and their relative merits according to me and others.

Injury Screening/Prevention

Articles about this include “A Somatic Screening Procedure Using Bartenieff Fundamentals” by Sandra Kay Lauffenburger, in Preventing Dance Injuries.  Lauffenburger proposes that dance teachers receive training in Bartenieff Fundamentals (or enlist the help of someone who is trained) in order to thoroughly screen students for muscular patterning disconnections that combined with the type of strenuous exertion that ballet requires, could lead to injury.

Separate/Supplementary Technique

Historically, somatic techniques have mostly been used by dancers and teachers as a supplementary technique, and taking separate classes on somatics is probably the most prevalent way dancers become of aware of such approaches.  Ballet dancers may be referred to a teacher of Alexander Technique, for example, for physical therapy after injury or to maintain their professional edge.  Dancers apply their somatic education, strength, and balance to their dancing, but are left to make the connections and continue to practice the somatic approaches themselves.

Descriptive Tool/Imagery

Another very common approach, based on my experience and research, where teachers use a variety of descriptions of technique concepts (or choreographers in rehearsal) in order to connect with all of the students in a class and provide further insight.  

“Movement is often thought of in imagistic and metaphorical ways during a technique class—the legs reach beyond the ground like the roots of a tree… This creates a more dynamic interaction between their bodies and the movement pathways that their bodies create in the space.” (Whittier 2006 p.126)

Concepts and Exercises in Context of Ballet Technique Class

Whittier also discusses other ways to implement Laban/Bartenieff concepts in ballet class, such as Dynamic and rhythmical sounding, Reflective responses to movement, Movement experimentation, Creation of movement exercises, and further applications of LMA Shape Theory and Shape Flow Support. 

An emerging trend, particularly in higher education, where teachers aim to balance exploratory concepts with sound technique training.

Opposition & Potential Drawbacks

I have made the case for the value of including somatic concepts and practices in ballet, but John White is not the only dissenting voice to integrating somatic education into ballet instruction.  When ballet teachers consider adding exercises, explanations, and explorations to an already full lesson plan, an important consideration is what might be the cost. 

One concern when you bring something new in, is that something must go to make room for it- what might be lost?  Ballet teachers have to exercise caution and not focus simply on their own favorite areas of technique, pet steps and visualizations.  However, I think it can be a false dichotomy to set the goals…

In designing lessons and a course of study, ballet teachers are informed by students’ ultimate goals of learning ballet technique.  Precision of execution, body safety, expressive artistry…

Conclusion

Many in the field of ballet believe that educating the dancer in not only the traditional approach to technique, but also the somatic underpinnings and fundamental movement principles governing all human movement, will improve technique, prevent injury, and enhance expressiveness. However, even if the student is in higher education and has exposure to these concepts, it is left to them to transfer the ideas discipline-to-discipline (kinesiology to ballet, Bartenieff Fundamentals to ballet, etc).  

Ballet teachers have many considerations to make with regard to the most effective approach to ballet technique instruction, and one possibility is to implement somatic approaches that facilitate efficient movement. I propose that an effective and versatile approach might be to develop students’ facility with somatic concepts in the context of ballet instruction itself.   

There are various ways to integrate somatic knowledge with ballet technique which I have explored here, each suitable to different audiences and purposes. Each teacher ultimately decides how best to present their content, and each dancer is also responsible for obtaining the fullest technical and artistic education possible. Both technical and artistic ends are served by awareness of what options are available, and what somatic approaches and delivery styles work best for different audiences and purposes.

Works Cited 

1. Bales, M. and R. Nettl-Fiol, eds. 2008. The body eclectic: Evolving practices in dance training.  Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
2. Bartenieff, I. with D. Lewis. 1980. Body movement: Coping with the environment. New York : Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.
3. Giroux, H. 2010. Lessons from Paolo Freire. Chronicle of Higher Education. 
4. Hackney, P. 1989. VHS. Discovering your expressive body: Basic concepts in dance training utilizing Bartenieff fundamentals with Peggy Hackney.  Pennington, NJ: Dance Horizons.
5. Hackney, P. 2002. Making connections: Total body integration through Bartenieff Fundamentals. New York: Routledge.
6. Hankin, T. 1986. The Technique Class: How can we help students to dance?  The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.  
7. Johnson, L. A contemporary approach to ballet training for university dance majors. Global perspectives on dance pedagogy: Research and Practice. 
8. Lauffenburger, S.K. 2005. A somatic screening procedure using Bartenieff Fundamentals. Preventing dance injuries, edited by R. Solomon, J. Solomon and S. Cerny Minton.  Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 29-36.
9. Paskevska, A. 2004. Ballet beyond tradition. NY: Routledge.
10. Penrod, J. 1981. Ballet in higher education.  From Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.  
11. Ungaro, A. 2002. Pilates: Body in motion. New York: DK Publishing.
12. Whittier, C. 2006. Laban movement analysis approach to classical ballet pedagogy. Journal of Dance Education, v6 n4: 124-132.
13. Wozny, N. 2012. The Somatics infusion. Dance Magazine. (Issue? May 2012)