Before we go on to explain the connection between body awareness and dance physiology, it is necessary to explain the body, of all things. Dance uses the body as the medium of the art form, "whereas a painter can leave his brush and canvas in a room ...a dancer can never disengage from the vessel through which he or she creates art.[1]" A dancer cannot disengage his or her body, after class, at rehearsals, or at the performance whether thinking about dance or not, he or she is living in his or her art medium [1]. Therefore a dancer should be fully acquainted with deep self awareness and appreciation of the body. Whether dancing or not a dancer has to watch every step he or she takes which can be the main disadvantage of dance as an art form because it requires much attention. For instance, the 'Mona lisa' portrait can be guarded day in and day out for security but a dancer as both the artist and the medium of art form has to be aware of the body and meet the requirements of a dancer.
In order to maintain and preserve one's art form for as long as possible, a dancer must take the necessary steps to care for his body. According to the Physiomotive website[2], exercise scientist have found the pulse rates of dancers to be more than 200 beats per minute at the finish of a hard routine, they also measured the sweat rate of the dancer to be three pints an hour. Dancers have very high levels of blood lactic and very high 'oxygen debts' because of the nature of their actions. It has been noted that "the oxygen debt capacities of dancers have been found to be very high ....does collerate highly with anaerobic performance[2]." All these observations indicate high levels of exertion that have to be monitored by the dancer. As a result of these circumstances, dancers should demonstrate considerable strength,power, flexibility, endurance and very low levels of body fat. Also this aspect of dance puts limits to the length of time an artist can fully pursue his craft. A dancer can only dance as long as his or her body allows him, failure to observe heart rate might result in heart attacks, which are however very rare to professional dancers.
Wellness is another aspect of body awareness which is worth noting. According to Katie's dance physiology blogspot, wellness "...is the dynamic process of becoming aware of taking responsibility for and making choices that directly contribute to one's well being and that of the common good. It is the integration of the body,mind, spirit and the ongoing development of one's own meaning in life." In other words a dancer has to take responsibility for and making choices that directly contribute to one's well being and always be alert of the activities that might be detrimental to the development of his dance skills. Integration includes cultural, vocational, spiritual, social, physical, intellectual, environmental and emotional wellness. For instance it is not wise for a dancer to be involved in a violent activity, since it has the potential to affect his or her body negatively.
A dancer also has to take note of his or her body image all the times since it is the medium of expression as the art form of dance. In other words, a dancer has to watch what he or she is eating, in order to maintain their body image. It is more preferable for dancers to eat light food than junk food. There is a certain body type and aesthetic for each type of genre of dance. It is generally agreed that a dancer should be slim or near to that margin of weight, this does not mean to say fat people can't dance."The inability of a dancer to watch what he eats is viewed as a reflection on his character and lack of self control.[1]" being conscious of what you eat is an investment in your health, energy levels and overall wellness.
Therefore, a dancer has to eat a balanced diet with all the necessary nutrients namely proteins, carbohydrates, fat, vitamin, mineral salts and water. The dancer has to take note of the calories or non-calories that a foodstuff has, to avoid a likely weight gain. The accumulation of fats in the body encourages weight gain which affects performance quality. The Katie's blogspot actually notes " of all activity groups, dancers are among those with the lowest levels of fat. This is a deliberate effort on the part of some dancers, but for all it is a consequence of the entire lifestyle which the dancer involves." Women by nature have more body fat than men therefore they gain at a faster rate than man. It is advice able that dancers should exercise vigorously in-order to keep their bodies in check.
Another aspect of body awareness is joint flexibility. The dancers has to be aware of the extent to which his body can make movements in order for him to introduce new movements. Thus by exploring movement a dancer has a opportunity to create new styles and variations into his dance form. Dancers demonstrate a progressive, mainly slow, flexibility work. " Among the most important of all routine training for dancers is of course coausiting of stretch and extension work of the most careful kind in terms of gradual increase in severity[2]."
Exercise helps the body parts develop their movement quality and actions. The dancer should make use of the improvisation or exploratory exercises coming up with new and different movement possibilities rather than relying on the same movements. For instance, one can explore the movements of the scalp and elbows on the floor. This allows movement possibilities in the frontal plane or in a transverse plane. The physiomotive website article also notes that "flexibility is not just a passive movement at a particular joint, good flexibility requires considerable muscle strength throughout its range of movements." Thus flexibility is related to other aspects of dance physiology and body awareness.
A dancer has to be aware of his or her aerobic endurance in order to dance effectively. "Aerobic endurance refers to the ability of the lungs, heart, blood and blood vessels to deliver oxygen to the working muscles[2]." Dancers should have high aerobic endurance because they use more oxygen. "Dancers frequently elevate their heart rate to maximum or near maximum levels." Because the heart beat rate is always maximum when a dancer is training it, the size of the heart, the number of tiny vessels in muscles and the volume of blood in the body increases. The result is more oxygen being delivered to working muscles in a given time. Therefore, exercise is essential for the dancer.
After the aerobic endurance comes anaerobic endurance, it involves metabolism on the part of relevant muscles. Anaerobic endurance "....literary means without air and it refers to the ability of the muscles to work for a short intense periods without oxygen at all ...[2]" Anaerobic energy is vital in cases where the rate of exertion exceeds a particular threshold when engaging in routines, this results in a metabolic penalty that produces lactic acid which causes fatigue in the muscles of the dancers. Dance classes and rehearsals are more anaerobic, this is because they are more demanding than performance. When in dance classes and rehearsals, "dancers increase both the rate of production and removal of the fatigue substance lactic acid. They also learn to sustain the severe, subjective discomfort of high blood levels of lactic acid. After using up all aerobic energy, anaerobic energy begins to be utilized, that is were fats come in to play.
"A well choreographed dance will allow for appropriate recovery times following intense anaerobic work[2]." An active rest rather than standing still or lying down after the effort is more beneficial to the dancer. This is because is an active rest, the dancer should keep moving to maintain the blood flow and help flush out offending substances like lactic acid.
Dancers should also be aware of their muscle strength. "Dancers have a high requirement of leg strength as do high jumpers and long jumpers, for very similar reasons[2]." A series of jumps, and other movements are repeated continually in a long performance. As mentioned earlier, practice and classwork are even more demanding just as training is to the athlete. There is also a requirement of upper body strength which is primarily needed to perform lifts which should look or seem effortless. Mechanically the dancer has to be able to lift his dance partner regardless of how long it may have to be sustained. "The main principal underlying the acquisition of strength is that the weight lifted or the force exerted in training must be very close to a person's maximum.[2]" thus dance requires a considerable degree of local muscle endurance and this is developed by repetitive exercises.
However, it is not enough to have muscle strength without obtaining muscle power to enable a higher jump or a faster action. The legs in most cases are supposed to contract unusually fast, this combination of strength and speed is called power. According to the physiomotive website[2], one might call power 'fast strength'. They also discovered that it has been calculated that about seventy percent of a muscle's power comes from it's strength and speed, and that of the remaining thirty percent is provided as elastic recoil energy, by the elastic components of the muscle, tendons and ligaments.
In conclusion, a dancer should be aware of the above mentioned physiological factors in order for him or her realize his or her full potential. But however, failure to meet the requirements of exercises and dance as an art form might lead to de motivation, stress or even the decision to abandon the art form altogether. This mainly due to pressure from peers, trainers, and choreographers who at most times have strict requirements for dancers. However, regardless of the possible problems presented by body awareness it is to the benefit of the dancer to be aware of the above mentioned physiological factors.
WORKS CITED
1." Dance Physiology" n.d.
2. " Dance Art and Physiology." n.d.
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