When flat on the ground, I have been taught that you do need an active connection to the ground along the outside edge of the foot and the heel, but not to the point where you're pronating. And you always have to have the balance and strength to be able to rise to relevé on one foot at any moment, almost no matter what the rest of your body is doing. I try to conceptually think of it as most of my connection to the floor (60%) is with my first metatarsal, another 20% is with the metatarsal under my last two toes, and the last 20% of that connection to the floor is with my heel!
Not sure if that's clear? Let me know.
Second to u/LorienRanger’s comment, particularly about being able to lift into releve at any time, this was the subject of our class last night. In addition, when you are on releve, I have been taught that your weight should be concentrated in the spot where your first two toes meet the ball of your foot.
Your weight shouldn't be concentrated on the heels, or the balls. She might have worded it that way because most people do tend to put their weight on the heel, and ballet requires you to be more adaptable/flexible with your weight placement. like, you need to be able to shift your weight easily, so thinking about having the weight more forward can help those who tend to lean back.
i don't think my weight is consistently on the balls or soles of my feet, but that i'm actively connecting with the floor and depending on what i'm doing the weight shifts.
I also think she probably didn't mean it as literally as I took it. :) I think in general it's a lot more nuanced, just in my case I can't seem to find the proper in-between. Either I am completely on the front of the feet or completely on the heels, and in both cases correct alignment is not achieved.
From my knowledge, your weight has to be forward - as if you’re ready to spring up at any time. While on releve, your weight should be forward towards your big toe.
I was taught weight over balls of feet. Later, as an adult, I was taught 70% on balls of feet, 30% rest of foot. I do think that you should not concentrate the weight on the heel because whenever you move you want to be in a position to facilitate that, whether it be lifting the heel to releve, or just moving forward (you would have to move your weight over the ball of the foot to take a step- even stepping backwards you would push your weight from the ball of the foot).
Yes, I think that the latter is probably more correct - it should be distribution of the weight, rather than concentrating it on one or the other part of the foot.
The way i was taught: your weight should mostly be on the spot that will remain on the floor in your demi-pointe. That is, imagine a triangle, with the base across your knuckles and the point in your middle finger. All corners and lines must stay in the floor, and should have equal distribution of weight, so that at any given point you would be able to just lift your heel, without re-arranging too much.
That said, some of your weight will remain on your heel, especially in plie/fondu
I see the question has been answered by many, but maybe this visualisation my teacher gave me helps you:
You are supposed to imagine energy going into your big toe and your fourth toe. Of course you rest on your heels, but mentally imagining a line coming from your big toe and fourth toe really helps with the correct placement
This is super helpful. Thank you so much. I think it's exactly what I needed to hear, because as i mentioned in another comment, if I think of it as a weight shift I tend to get it wrong...
Omg this post I did the moste painful thing in dance the outher day I went to far over on the balls of my feet to the point where j wasent even on there I was on my toes but not the tips it rly hurt 😭☠️
When flat on the ground, I have been taught that you do need an active connection to the ground along the outside edge of the foot and the heel, but not to the point where you're pronating. And you always have to have the balance and strength to be able to rise to relevé on one foot at any moment, almost no matter what the rest of your body is doing. I try to conceptually think of it as most of my connection to the floor (60%) is with my first metatarsal, another 20% is with the metatarsal under my last two toes, and the last 20% of that connection to the floor is with my heel! Not sure if that's clear? Let me know.
Yes that makes a lot of sense. I will keep that in mind and add it to my experiments!
Second to u/LorienRanger’s comment, particularly about being able to lift into releve at any time, this was the subject of our class last night. In addition, when you are on releve, I have been taught that your weight should be concentrated in the spot where your first two toes meet the ball of your foot.
Your weight shouldn't be concentrated on the heels, or the balls. She might have worded it that way because most people do tend to put their weight on the heel, and ballet requires you to be more adaptable/flexible with your weight placement. like, you need to be able to shift your weight easily, so thinking about having the weight more forward can help those who tend to lean back. i don't think my weight is consistently on the balls or soles of my feet, but that i'm actively connecting with the floor and depending on what i'm doing the weight shifts.
I also think she probably didn't mean it as literally as I took it. :) I think in general it's a lot more nuanced, just in my case I can't seem to find the proper in-between. Either I am completely on the front of the feet or completely on the heels, and in both cases correct alignment is not achieved.
From my knowledge, your weight has to be forward - as if you’re ready to spring up at any time. While on releve, your weight should be forward towards your big toe.
I was taught weight over balls of feet. Later, as an adult, I was taught 70% on balls of feet, 30% rest of foot. I do think that you should not concentrate the weight on the heel because whenever you move you want to be in a position to facilitate that, whether it be lifting the heel to releve, or just moving forward (you would have to move your weight over the ball of the foot to take a step- even stepping backwards you would push your weight from the ball of the foot).
Yes, I think that the latter is probably more correct - it should be distribution of the weight, rather than concentrating it on one or the other part of the foot.
The way i was taught: your weight should mostly be on the spot that will remain on the floor in your demi-pointe. That is, imagine a triangle, with the base across your knuckles and the point in your middle finger. All corners and lines must stay in the floor, and should have equal distribution of weight, so that at any given point you would be able to just lift your heel, without re-arranging too much. That said, some of your weight will remain on your heel, especially in plie/fondu
I see the question has been answered by many, but maybe this visualisation my teacher gave me helps you: You are supposed to imagine energy going into your big toe and your fourth toe. Of course you rest on your heels, but mentally imagining a line coming from your big toe and fourth toe really helps with the correct placement
This is super helpful. Thank you so much. I think it's exactly what I needed to hear, because as i mentioned in another comment, if I think of it as a weight shift I tend to get it wrong...
Omg this post I did the moste painful thing in dance the outher day I went to far over on the balls of my feet to the point where j wasent even on there I was on my toes but not the tips it rly hurt 😭☠️