Proper Arabesque

Happy fall, people! My favorite season!

If you've read my A Little More About Me page, then you'll know that I am an aspiring professional dancer, currently on hold. I got a stress fracture in my lumbar spine and have been MIA since May. And now I am so excited, because I have finally started minimal classes!

But that is beside the point. I am going to attempt to explain how to not get a stress fracture in the lower back via doing an improper arabesque.

In September, I had been having back pain, and when it was only getting much worse, in December, I had it looked at, and the doctor found a stress fracture in the fourth lumbar vertebra (L4). Basically, I had been taught a technique two different ways, confused them, and ended up laying a lot of stress and strain on my lower back.

What is a stress fracture?

There are cells in our bones that naturally break down and build up bone tissue constantly. A stress fracture occurs when there is excessive wear and tear on the bone, causing more break down than build up. If one is not careful to give extra resting time to rebuild the bone tissue, overtime, the rebuilding process falls way behind the break down, and a crack in the bone results.

I was performing an arabesque repeatedly with incorrect form, thus putting more stress on the bones than necessary. It was only a matter of time before a stress fracture would occur.

So how do I do an arabesque stress free?

I am still trying to figure that one out. Obviously, since I have been "out" for the past several months, I have not been able to experiment and find out what actually works with my body. But I have had quite a number of conversations with different people and read a bit by different people, so I will share what I have learned in my head, and hopefully, you will find some of it to be useful.

Square hips

Some teachers teach that in an arabesque, whether on the ground or in the air, the hips must remain "square" at all times, meaning that both hipbones should be level horizontally as well as side to side (one should not be higher than the other or in front of the other causing a twist). This is a very ideal position for the spine, because it is a very natural position, and as long as you use your core to lengthen your spine as much as possible, it will be in a pretty stress-free position.

Open hips

Some teachers teach that the arabesque should be "open," meaning that one hip can be in front of the other. Many times, a dancer will open the hip much more than necessary, resulting in not only an exaggerated twist, but also horizontally uneven hipbones.

Goldilocks

So ideally, the hips would be square, but realistically speaking, most people are not physically capable of achieving a perfectly turned out leg high in the air while maintaining perfectly square hips.

There must be a slight rotation in the hips.

(I say "rotation" and not "twist," because in a twist, one just twists the torso in its compacted state and the spine is apt to be crushed or depressed. In a rotation, there is a spiraling movement upwards, creating space between each vertebra.)

The slight rotation will allow for the leg to turn out, while keeping the spine as elongated and protected as possible. In fact, one should only rotate as little as needed to achieve a turned-out leg. So those few with abnormally perfect and beautiful turn out probably won't need to rotate at all.

The core

It is very important that the core be engaged to support and lengthen the spine as much as possible and create space for the arch and rotation in the back; and there should constantly be an upwards spiraling flow of energy. When there is not this engagement or spiral, it is apparent that the dancer has "collapsed" in his/her spine, he/she is "sitting" in the arabesque, and a lot of stress is being put on the compacted area.

It's like folding a towel. You can still fold it that third or fourth time when it's all wrinkly and is having a hard time staying aligned. But it is much easier to fold it when you take the time to smooth out the wrinkles, stretch the fabric slightly to keep it wrinkle-free just long enough to get that extra fold in.

You need to stretch your spine just so that you can "fold" it, and keep it stretched and "wrinkle-free" until you "unfold" it. This "stretching" is that lengthening job of the core.

The less rotation there is (and for most people there must be some for aesthetic reasons) and the stronger and more engaged your core is, the more protected your spine will be and the less stress laid on it.