Hip Slide to the Side
In the Absolute Beginning program I give you an exercise of a straight across hip slide to the side. Bend your knees and sit on an imaginary trapeze bar. Slide your buttocks over the bar without lifting at the side. Keep your cheeks on the bar. I use the image of a child's Etch-A-Sketch in that you have two controls you are operating at once. Your hip is going to the side, but you are pushing or drawing it down at the same time to keep it PTF (Parrallel to the Floor).
Note the core pole line in the drawing. The hips have left that alignment but the sternum, clavicle, chin, feet and knees have not. The only way this can be accomplished is if there is plenty of slack built into the body with the bent knees, the use of the ankles and balls of the feet, and a tuck of the pelvis in basic alignment.
The Wedge Exercise
In this drawing I’ve included a hip belt to signify the hips.
This exercise is meant to teach dancers the difference between a hip slide and a hip rotation. Both movements are used in the dance, of course. Dancers often think they are doing a slide when they are rotating. Thus this exercise increases awareness and movement control.
Bend your knees and keep your core alignment intact.
- Begin by rotating your hips up and out toward the rib cage.
- Drop the hip down and out.
- Slide it back in, then do the same on the other side.
Repeat slowly and for additional exercises you can add speed and reverse the direction. All are very important.
The benefit to the dancer is an expanding awareness about the intricate mechanisms of her movements’ range and possibilities and the ability to distinguish between the moves.
