Port de bras — carriage of the arms — never came easily to me. I’m still awestruck by dancers who do it seamlessly.
My shoulders aren’t naturally stable, and the lack of control tracks all the way to my fingertips. I had to work hard to make my arms look even remotely graceful, and it’s the first skill to go when I’m out of practice.
I’ve been pre-filming exercises to space out my exertion and standing time so I can teach without fainting. (Hello to my fellow long haulers and dysautonomia pals).
Watching myself on camera made me realize my port de bras needs a tuneup. I know I’m not the only one, so let’s talk about the foundations of port de bras and how we can improve it.
Ballet’s origins lie in European Renaissance court dances, which have older roots in folk dance. Dancers walked and wove complex patterns around each other — kinda like the ballroom scenes in Pride and Prejudice.
We normally rotate our bodies and swing our arms in opposition to our legs when we walk, but when passing people at close quarters, it’s often more practical to turn your shoulders to one side – that’s your épaulement.
The original ballet dancers REALLY wanted to show off their fancy outfits, from their lacy collars and sleeves down to their shiny shoes. So they exaggerated their épaulement, incorporated hand and foot gestures, and transformed communal dances into storytelling performances.
Which is ultimately what we’re still trying to do — mostly the storytelling part, but feel free to dress up for online beginner ballet.
Back to modern day ballet — aside from dressing the part or carrying an emotion or character in your mind, how can you dial up the grace of your ballet arms?
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Plug in your shoulders — make sure your arms are beautifully centred in their sockets.
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Coordinate ALL your port de bras muscles — the muscles moving your shoulder blades, spine, and ribs work best when they work together!
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Use your eyes with intention — épaulement looks in the direction of your front shoulder. When you use your eyes expressively (that starts by really looking at something and continues with the emotional cues of music and character), épaulement unlocks breathtaking dancing.
In online beginner ballet we’re building épaulement into the foundations of our dancing. Come learn it from scratch or tune up your technique like a pro!