Tag: sickling

Some elements of dance technique are purely a matter of aesthetics. Others are a matter of preventing injury, and some are a combination of both. Teaching dancers to avoid sickling is a great example of one of these dual-purpose technical concerns.  If a dancer is in the habit of sickling their feet in non-weight-bearing positions, […]

The ankle joint can only move about 25 degrees outward and 35 degrees inward from a neutral position. Why does that seem hard to believe? Because in a dance context, these minute motions have huge aesthetic effects. They can punctuate the line of an arabesque, elongate a tendu—or indicate a lack of training. In a […]