The
“Tuck It Under” Phenomenon
by Vilia
(Valerie Cherry)
In recent years,
I've noticed that many teachers of Oriental dance are emphasizing a
necessity to tuck the rear end under to straighten the lower back, for
good posture. Regarding tucking and also, the subject of floor work
on a dance chat site. I attempted to answer a student's question, but
was unable to successfully submit my reply, due to a technical glitch;
so I’d like to share the benefit of my own experience with everyone
through the GIlded Serpent and perhaps, be lucky enough to reach that
same student as well.
I have been belly
dancing since 1976, and still perform occasionally. During my prime
dancing years, the part of the dance that we call "floor work,"
I considered my specialty. Unfortunately, many dancers don’t seem too
interested in doing it these days! I believe that they are missing out
on a part of the dance show in which it’s permissible to become introspective
and emotional, allowing the music to take you away.
When
performed well, the audience will become hushed and be transported
to that “place” with the dancer. They’ll appreciate not only the
physical strength it takes to perform the movements, but the change
in mood and depth of passion exhibited.
I’m glad that there
are teachers out there who are still teaching
this part of the dance. However, this particular student’s teacher had
emphasized a need to make the lower back touch the floor when
in the post Turkish drop position. My lower back never touched the
floor, and never could have, in that position. I'm sure her teacher
was only trying to help her protect herself physically, but I prefer
to think of the pelvis in more of a neutral position. That is, the
dancer should think of her navel pressing towards the floor. Even if
it doesn’t make the lower back touch the floor, this will cause the
stomach
muscles to tighten, which takes pressure off of her lower back. At
the same time, her pelvis will neither be tucked, nor hyper-extended.
Backbends and positions such as the one in the above photo are examples
of hyper-extension of the back. For protection when practicing, always
compensate with a forward bend, such as the one demonstrated in this
photo from Kevala.co.uk
Personally, that
post Turkish drop position did more to hurt my knees than my back.
I never dropped onto my knees; instead, I always broke the fall with
my hands split seconds beforehand. However splaying one's feet out to
the side has a tendency to "torque" the knees, and I'm paying
for having done that now. Yoga has a position (demonstrated in this
picture from yogabasics.com) where the foot is to the side of the thigh,
but the top of the foot remains on the floor, allowing the knees to
remain in a more natural position.Yoga
has a position where the foot is to the side of the thigh, but the top
of the foot remains on the floor, allowing the knees to remain in a
more natural position. If I were to do my career over again, I would
practice repositioning myself into that kind of more "joint friendly"
posture as much as possible.
I
believe that telling students to keep the pelvis tucked under when in
a standing position can be confusing for them, too. If you keep the
pelvis tucked under, it squeezes the buttocks muscles. The range of
movement for hip lifts and drops is reduced significantly, which is
not good for Belly dance. I’ve seen many awkward looking hip walks
that result from attempting to walk, move the hips and maintain that
“tucked under” posture, all at the same time. So I’ve always taught
my students to use the neutral position for that as well. I've found
that strengthening the stomach muscles, or your dance core is the best
protection for the lower back. I have found also that Pilates is wonderful
for teaching the neutral position that I recommend.
Some exercise routines
require the hips to be tucked under to protect the back. The hips naturally
tighten in ballet with the "turn out" required, and has less
to do with posture than it does with enabling the execution of the kinds
of movements and positions that ballet demands. Even Oriental dance
involves a couple of movements where the hips are tucked under briefly,
and when utilizing ballet movements within our dance, as many of us
do, by all means, let's tighten the hips. But let's also give Oriental
dance the respect it deserves, and not try changing it to Western standards
in an attempt to make it more acceptable to other dance and exercise
disciplines within our community. It's still possible to have good posture
and protect the back without resorting to something that hinders one
of the most important aspects of the dance - hip flexibility."
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