5 Ways to Perfect your Arabesque

For many young dancers (especially after watching a ballet performance) having a perfect arabesque is one of their dream skills!

While everyone’s body has different capabilities, improving technique and flexibility are certainly a great stepping stone to acquiring that perfect arabesque.

Here are five tips for achieving a beautiful arabesque:

1. Don’t forget to warm up! Warming up the muscles is important to prevent injury and allow for more flexibility of the muscles in the legs so that they are able t o lift to their fullest potential.
2. Work on keeping your hips square. You might think your leg looks so much higher with your hips twisted to the side, but a true arabesque maintains correct alignment. To maintain square hips, work on improving flexibility in hip flexors.
3. Use your glutes! Your glutes are responsible for lifting the working leg as well as maintaining the turnout of the supporting and working leg in the arabesque.
4. Work on turnout. Arabesques are almost always executed in a turned out position so it is important to think of maintaining turnout on both your supporting leg and working leg in the air.
5. Don’t forget about your arms. Your arms are equally as important as your legs in making the arabesque look well executed. Don’t forget to stretch through to your fingers and work on keeping shoulders pressed down to finish off your lines.

Dance Factor is a Wollongong-based dance studio, offering classes in all styles for all ages and abilities. If you are interested in enrolling or trialling a class or have any general enquiries contact info@dancefactor.com.au.