On Moving Joy Studios Facebook page we introduce the plié (“plee-ay”) —a basic and universal warm-up to help strengthen the legs, core, and back, and prepare the body to move in all sorts of ways. There are many ways to do a plié—and modifications are always being created for different styles of dance and fitness—but the basics are always the same. Ready to give it a whirl? Then stand up and try out these steps to do a basic plié:
1. First, notice your posture—is your head crunching forward? Is your back hunched or overly-arched? Take a moment to lengthen your spine and neck toward the ceiling (a tip is to imagine someone is lightly pulling a string that is attached to the top of your head up, like a marionette). Remember, there is naturally a slight arch to your lower back, keep that natural curve, but don’t accentuate it. Imagine your tailbone is heavy and dropping towards the floor – you may feel your deep abdominal muscles engage to accomplish this. Maintaining this posture throughout the entire exercise is important to getting the most out of your plié.
2. Stand with your legs hip-distance apart, with each leg beneath a hip joint. Do not lock your knees!
3. Position your feet so that they are parallel, and check that all ten toes are facing forward (this may feel strange—true parallel is an unnatural position for many people).
4. Now, for the bending! Maintaining your posture, initiate a slight bend of your knees from the pelvis. This means that instead of just bending your knees, that you start the downward movement from your hips (if you’re still keeping your alignment nice and strong, you should be able to feel a central feeling in your pelvis). As you bend your knees slightly, let your knees track over your feet—a good way to check that you are staying in parallel. Your knees will come out in front of you, while your pelvis moves down (this is different than a squat where the knees stay over the ankles and the pelvis reaches back).
5. Straighten your legs to return to the starting position and posture with the marionette string pulling up and unlocked knees. Then repeat!
Pliés are usually slow, steady, and rhythmic. It’s best to take the same amount of time to bend as it does to rise each time. A relaxing and fun way to start is to put on one of your favorite songs that has a slower beat, and bend and straighten to the beat of it.
Yes, there are a lot of elements to think about when doing a plié – who thought that just bending your legs had so many hidden details? And with so many variations of it, which use different foot and leg positions and can add arm positions and movements, mastering the plié takes a lot of effort (many professional dancers still struggle with perfecting it). But even a basic plié, which we just went through, can contribute to toning legs, abs, and even improving your every day posture.
So turn on your iPod and plié away, and you’ll be dancing!
