Ballet Technique: Vocabulary, Mechanics, Stressors, & Modifications

All dance forms require mastery of alignment and stabilization during drastically different types of postures and movements (e.g. relevé, battement, floor and kneeling work, back hinges, etc.). In order to develop effective injury prevention and treatment strategies, it is important that health care practitioners understand the vocabulary and biomechanics of exercises and combinations specific to each technique. The goals of this lecture are to expand the practitioner’s understanding about ballet, improve the level of communication between clinicians and dancers, enable the practitioner to structure a more functional progression following injury or surgery, and develop biomechanically sound technique corrections or modifications following injury.