Core

"Practice like you have never won. Perform like you have never lost." - anonymous
        Many people do not think of dancers as being strong and muscular; they think of them being small and dainty. However, dancers are some of the most muscular athletes you may come across even if they don't look like it. Football players and dancers both have to have a lot of core muscle to perform well, but how they build that core muscle is quite different. Football players core muscles are built outwards and bulge to create the six-pack affect. This is very effective and efficient for them, although, it is not for dancers. Everyone has multiple abdominal layers, and what dancers do is focus on the inner abdominal muscle, and build from the inside. Even though a dancer might not look like they have a six-pack they still might have a stronger core than football players.
         This is an effective way for dancers to build muscle because your core is also your back and your sides. The studio I attend (The Dancers Edge) likes to think of your core like a cereal box, there are all sides including a top and a bottom and if you take one side out of the box all the cereal will spill out. If a dancer doesn't properly use all the sides of her core simultaneously her/ his alignment will be all out of whack causing an issue in her/ his dancing.
          I have been taught that to properly engage your core as a dancer you must complete three steps.
The first step is to tighten your abs, however while doing this you must think of sucking your belly button into your spine. This does not mean just suck in, you should be able to breathe easily while completing this step.
           Next you have to also engage your gluts and hip flexors, your hip flexors should be pulled up, decreasing the curvature in your spine.
          The last and hardest step is to separate each vertebrae and lengthen up, while doing this you must pull your shoulders back and down and let your head grow a few inches taller.
         By engaging your core the proper way like this you are ensuring great alignment and lowered shoulders through out your movement and technical steps. On top of all of this it also gives your movement more power to add to your performance.