Biomechanics and dance training myths: Susan Haines takes the butt seriously
Western's Director of Dance, Susan Haines, specializes in bridging current research in biomechanics with dance training - a cornerstone of technique classes offered in Western's Dance program.
In her series for Apolla, "Butt Seriously, Dancers Need Glutes!", Susan asks "can a focus on proper muscle function overtake our society’s obsession with form and shape?"
Embarrassing or not, the dance field needs to deal with all this “junk that has accumulated in the trunk” from training myths, media pressure that we either have too much or too little back there, and Insta images of the so-called #perfectbooty.
Her articles describe how kinesiology and biomechanics can re-examine the training myths that may be preventing dancers from understanding how to find functional strength and honor the butt as a site of power, literally and figuratively:
For dancers that always feel tightness in their hip flexors, and hamstrings that don’t response to stretching or rolling out, you may need to wake up your glutes and check your pelvic alignment. But instead of feeling like you have been doing something wrong, remember that our bodies are doing the best they can to make movement happen for us.
