Is dance natural movement? Because of the physical nature of the art form, and the ease of dancers to do the “impossible”, many people may think that dance is unnatural. Focusing specifically on modern dance, with some thoughts on ballet at the end, this post digs into the nature of this sport, and discusses the idea of what is “natural” in the human body, and is modern dance a natural phenomenon for humans to participate in?
What is natural movement?
In our culture today, “natural” automatically makes you think “better”. Natural foods, natural cosmetics, natural products have all been heavily marketed to us. Natural movement in the fitness industry is a huge trend as well. Leading the charge of finding natural movement is a fitness program MovNat, created by Erwan Le Corre, which incorporates natural movements such as breathing, ground movement, walking, crawling, climbing and more in their practice! I learned some of this work secondhand from my husband, and it felt literally “natural” to me because of my dance background.
Breathing and reaching and moving through the floor? Hello modern dance. I’m all about it.
For a dancer though, all of that stuff is the basis of our training. But for non dancers, believe it or not, they don’t spend a second of the day wondering how their breath can connect to their movement, or how to efficiently stretch a targeted area in the body.
So, this led me to dive into the topic of dance. Is it really a good example of natural movement?
Now, natural doesn’t necessarily mean easy. As I was searching for info on this topic I found this wonderful blog post that dives into this concept in relation to dance.
The author points out humans’ thought process of “natural” meaning “habitual/easy”. Yes, sitting in horrible posture maybe feels easier to you, but does that mean it is the natural state of the spine? No, you have just formed a habit and need to relearn the “natural”. Finding natural movement may be something that is difficult at first and we need to train towards.
Natural movement is movement that can be transferrable, functional and beneficial in everyday life, as well as optimizes our natural body design utilizing the anatomy at its full function.
Is dance a natural thing to do?
I’m no anthropology/history expert (which is why it is #danceSCIENCEapproved). But, as far as we know most cultures throughout history have a record of dancing. Dance is not just a thing that popped up one day in France when King Louis the 14th decided to start doing Ballet. We can see that in the iconography we find dance is depicted in many different forms. Also, in record from the Ancient Greeks, Ancient Egyptians, African tribes, Native Americans and even in the Old Testament in the Bible, there is dancing.
7 reasons Modern Dance supports Natural Movement
1. Movement through all the planes
There are three different planes of movement of the body.
Sagittal plane is movement going front and back.
Frontal plane is movement going side to side.
Transverse plane is rotational movement.
Non athletes primarily live their lives in the sagittal plane throughout everyday life. From sitting down all day at their desks, walking, bending over to pick things up etc. it is all movement done in the sagittal plane.
Dance, in contrast, not only goes through all of these planes of movement, but also combines these planes for even more complexity. The heart of dance, in my opinion, is the spine. Contraction, high release, lateral, spirals of the spine in modern dance are literally done by the first exercise. A développé (and every exercise you are doing front//side//back//side) of the leg is done in the sagittal and frontal plane and transverse plane in external rotation.
Dancers are exposed to so much movement variability that it keeps their bodies able to utilize a wide array of movement through all of the planes of the body.
2. Combining different properties of movement
In dance we call this “dynamics”. Fast explosive movements. Slow and sustained movements. Balance. Cardiovascular challenge. Holding positions without movement. We do it all! Of course, different styles emphasize different aspects- but generally dancers need to have a pretty good grasp on all different properties of movement to be a well rounded dancer.
3. Relationship with the Body
Mind/body awareness is a huge SKILL, and yes i say SKILL, that most people (even some dancers) are lacking today. People are just not able to tell where their body is in space. They are disconnected and can’t disassociate their neck from their shoulders from their ribs etc. Dancers are taught from such a young age to foster a relationship with their body. “How does this feel?” “Memorize this feeling and repeat it.” This brings an awareness with the body. Also, increased proprioception is linked to getting less injured, so if that isn’t incentive enough….
Increased proprioception could probably be praised about many sports, athletes, and even people in highly physical jobs. Having to depend on the body makes you more aware of it. I feel like this has been mostly lost from the shift of physical jobs (farming, building, walking everywhere) to the more “modern convenience” lifestyle. Physical activity is not just built into everyday life. Walking to and from the car, to the elevator, to sit for 8 hours and reverse simply does not foster a relationship that produces proprioceptive abilities with the body.
Dance training is such an amazing way to develop proprioceptive awareness of the body that everyday life is not providing us in this modern age.
4. Moving in and out of the floor
A big thing in natural movement is development. A baby’s first year of life is actually super important in developing neural and kinesthetic connections in the body setting the baby up to be able to MOVE the rest of their life. Some amazing research that I have been LOVING lately is “The Brain Dance” by Anne Green Gilbert. Seriously go to the website and check it out, especially dance teachers out there!
“the movements replicate neurodevelopmental patterns that help to wire the central nervous system in our first twelve months. These movements lay the foundation for sensory-motor development and life long learning. The BrainDance is a supportive exercise that can help to keep the brain and body strong and healthy throughout one’s lifetime. “
-Anne Green Gilbert
So cool. Ahh.
But anyways, a baby’s development starts on the floor. Even after their first year of life they are crawling, sitting, standing, walking, falling, and getting back up again CONSTANTLY. Are they complaining about knee/back pain throughout this? No, because moving in and out of the floor is a completely natural human thing to do when you’re taking cues from a pure human form not affected by patterns and habits yet!
All of this to say, floorwork is super important in modern dance! We maneuver through the floor by rolling and inversion work. Dancers understand the process of sending energy into the floor to produce force during jumps and turns. We are super comfortable with sitting on the floor in all different ways even if there are chairs available.
Ground connection is a huge focus in dance, and is super transferable in everyday life.
5. Being Barefoot
Traditional modern dance is done barefoot. Dancers are known for their articulate and strong feet, which obviously is super transferrable to everyday life when the feet go through so much wear and tear just walking around.
The bottom of the foot is a sensory RICH area, when you go barefoot, your brain is intensely interested in all of the sensations it is receiving. Dancers have strong feet because of 1. The emphasis on the feet in technique training, but also 2. Our nervous system’s exposure to being barefoot so much.
With people that wear shoes all of the time- they take one step on that gravel and back to the carpet they go.
There are many benefits of going barefoot and there are many negatives about shoes made that are overly cushioning the feet so the foot actually weakens.
I would say to embrace your inner hippie and try to be barefoot as much as you can walking on as many different surfaces as you can to help the feet be as adaptable as possible. It will help your feet to be more pliable and strong, helping improve your turns (who needs socks??), your articulation, and the pure strength of the foot.
Dancers’ feet are exceptionally strong, especially because of training barefoot.
6. Anatomically Functional
Horton technique is one of my favorite techniques because I just feel so strong and powerful when doing it. (When I’m not wobbling like a newborn baby giraffe that is.) Horton actually created this technique with anatomical function in mind. Flat backs for example, a defining movement of the technique, is actually an amazing activation of the Posterior Kinetic Chain strengthening the entire back line of the body. The PKC should even be more of a focus for people today, because of all of the sitting we do. Ugh modern society. Generally, the front of the body is tight and the back of the body is over-lengthened. If you have ever done Horton, you can really feel the back line of your body after class.
Flat backs are good because they teach us how to move the spine as one continuous unit. This is good for not getting injured as you pick up things- essentially a deadlift. Also in the technique, deep primitive squats, differentiating movement through the planes, leg swings and more! Check out some of their awesome work below. You may be inspired by not only the dancers’ amazing technique but by their throwback outfits.
7. Symmetry **
Life tends to be asymmetrical. In dance, everything you do on the right side is done on the left. Symmetry is super important in our training, and the idea of being “even” is emphasized in every class. Now, there is an asterisk by this because in training, symmetry is everything, but in performance, not so much. Because dance is also an ART form, not everything can be repeated once on each side on stage. Unless your dance was about symmetry?
Dancers strive for balance and symmetry and train the body halves to be comparable, even though in reality, perfect symmetry can’t be achieved.
8. Longevity
People that say your dance “prime” is when you are late teens/early 20’s are completely misguided. Growing up watching So You Think You Can Dance made me discouraged. I knew, in my preteen mind, I could never be that “good” when I am 18 years old. I thought after that I would have no more opportunities. WRONG. Dance is something that you can build into a long lasting career and participate in your whole life. Martha Graham’s last performance was in 1970 when she was 76 years old. Could you imagine the majestic-ness and wisdom that was on that stage? The most stunning dancers I have ever seen have been “old” but what they bring to the stage and to the art form is truly stunning.
There are not many sports that you can do until you’re almost 80 years old. Dance is a wonderful practice that you can do for your whole life.
What about ballet?
I read a blog the other day that talked about how ballet was unnatural because all the movements are done in turn out. If it is so unnatural why do we have 6 deep muscles on each side of the pelvis specifically for external rotation (turnout) of the femur?? Why is the strongest muscle in the body (glutes) also an external rotator? The body clearly is equipped for external rotation, so if ballet is actually unnatural, I will not be convinced with that reason alone.
Ballet technique training, I feel can be argued as natural movement. But I would have to say that personally I don’t feel like dance on pointe can be considered natural movement. There is not really a function of it in the history of human development, and can actually be painful and harmful to the feet.
I danced on pointe for about 7 years and enjoyed it. But, there came a “pointe” in college when I decided that my true passion was modern/contemporary dance. I really wanted to put all my energy and focus towards that and not risk getting injured doing pointe because it might impede my modern dance career.
BUT, should that discourage you from dancing on pointe? Not at all. I think everyone’s movement journey is different and if you are passionate about something, then nothing is stopping you! The body is highly adaptable, and can be enhanced to do whatever you want it to do. Whether that’s dance, or sit around and do nothing all day, the body will adapt to better serve the environment it’s in.
So, is dance natural movement?
I think aspects in dance are composed of natural movement, and dance is an amazing athletic and art form that provides the body with challenge, variation, and connection that can be transferred into everyday life. There are probably way more points that support dance as natural movement- do you have any to add? Also- would love to hear from ballet people- Do you see ballet as natural movement? Comment below and thanks for reading! More to come <3