Graceful hands in ballet

How do ballet dancers make their hands look so graceful when they move?

The shaping of the hand in ballet is developed from a very early age, through simple tasks involving contact between the middle finger and thumb. For example, encouraging these two digits to ‘talk’ to each other, hold the ballet skirt or ‘pick’ stars from the sky or flowers from the meadow. This trains the thumb to lie quietly along the line of the middle finger, so that the audience isn’t aware of it during ports de bras.

The gentle, smooth action of the hand moving gracefully during arm movements can be developed by thinking of ‘stroking a velvet curtain’ - the pads of the fingers smoothing the soft cloth on the way down, and the backs of the fingernails disturbing the nap on the way up. Or imagine gently swishing water to and fro in a pool, or stroking a favourite pet.

When moving the arms through ports de bras there is sensitivity in the fingertips and the fingers are brushing through space without tension - and there you have the graceful, elegant movement that ballet dancers strive to achieve.

Try it with me! Beginner ballet sessions on zoom at a time that suits you, wherever you are in the world, ‘from my home to yours’.