This floor bar developed by the New Yorker ballet teacher Jean Hamilton was transmitted to me through the American performance artist and teacher Mary Overlie. As in any floor bar the ballet exercises are executed lying on the floor instead of standing up on the legs. This offers the tremendous functional advantage to relieve the torso and the legs from their habitual erection using the plain floor as a helpful reference. Enriched with anatomical information from alignment oriented techniques, Ideokinesis and Body-Mind Centering this floor bar offers a concise series of movements to research the interplay of muscles, bones and joints. After the training on the floor we improvise through all spatial levels tasting the generated quality of alignment and muscular strength in our individual dance vocabulary.

A sequence of precise and reduced exercises lying on your back and front side, sideways and in shoulder stand is activating specific muscular chains and muscle coordination. As our mind is dialoguing with our muscles and bones and our perception is directed to the inside, we teach ourselves the ability to let every bone and every joint speak. In this process we discover how often we do “anatomical nonsense”. Why do I tense the chaw muscles wanting to straighten the knee? Why does the lower chest area around the kidneys close when I am turning the leg out? Why do I lose the activity of the pelvic floor pointing and flexing the foot?

Central to the floor bar is the action of the tail and the pelvic floor anchoring the continuous and even action of the whole spine from the bottom to the top. This ongoing inner movement from down to up organizes the torso allowing the legs to move freely in the hip joints. In the deep muscle layers in the pelvic floor, in the stomach, in the spine, in the hip joints and in the shoulder girdle we develop strength and articulation while essentially releasing the more superficial layers. Fundamental movements such as the turn-out of the legs, the straightening of the knee, ankle and foot moves are trained with our attention emphasizing the involved lengthening muscles. The organs support the torso with their fullness going softly along with the breathing and the moving muscles. Generally the floor bar guides us through a process of coordinating our breath flowing, our muscles work and our joints free for moving the bones.

Due to the clear shape of every exercise learning and re-patterning may happen efficiently. As aesthetics are not reflected in this training I consider it as a great tool for dancers of any dance technique or dance style. People who want to improve their body organization for whatever reasons may invigorate their alignment and gain more strength and flexibility.