Mirrors in the Studio: Do They Help or Do They Hinder?

            “Mirrors,' she said, 'are never to be trusted.” ― Neil Gaiman

         Mirrors – you will see them lining the wall of every dance studio you enter. Dancers are taught from a young age to fight for a spot in the studio where they can see themselves.  Teachers use the mirrors as a teaching tool  - they allow the teachers to face the mirror when demonstrating a combination, while being able to watch and monitor the students at the same time. Teachers teach dancers to use the mirror to determine if their legs and arms are in the correct positions, to determine if they are dancing in unison with other dancers, and to help determine where they are in space.

            Mirrors are a valuable teaching tool for dance. But, is it possible that dancers can rely upon them too much?

            Constant reliance upon the mirror can cause dancers to grow too mirror-focused. When this occurs, dancers tend to stare at themselves constantly rather than use their heads as part of their instrument to complete lines or to spot appropriately during turns.

            While some may argue that mirrors are invaluable tools for teaching combinations in class, several studies have actually shown that better learning occurs without the use of the mirror. Moreover, reliance on the mirror can also cause dancers to watch others when executing combinations. If the dancers are able to see others all the time, the mirror becomes a crutch, and dancers may not learn the combinations completely for themselves.

            The mirror may also become a crutch for balancing. Dancers typically rely heavily upon somatosensory information to help them maintain balance when executing movements and combinations. Somatosensory information is feedback that is received during physical activity from our muscles and joints. This information helps us determine where our bodies are in space and is also known as proprioception. Over-reliance upon what a dancer sees will compromise the dancer’s ability to develop his or her proprioceptive sense of balance.  A recent study published in the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science had dancers perform exercises in class with their eyes closed. The researchers found that when vision was limited, dancers were forced to rely upon proprioception, and balance  improved. 

            It is important for dance educators to consider all of these factors and also to remember why they are training dancers. The ultimate goal for all dancers is, and should be, performance, yet the ways we sometimes train dancers does not prepare them what they will encounter when they step out onto a stage. 

           

            There are no mirrors on stage for dancers to determine if their bodies are in the right positions, no mirrors to assist them if they forget what step comes next, no mirrors to help them determine where they are in space and no mirrors to provide visual cues for balancing.

            Mirrors can definitely be used effectively as a teaching tool in the classroom. They can be used to teach dancers how to spot, they can be used when teachers are trying to monitor the progress of the class, and they can help dancers place their bodies into correct positions when learning poses or movements for the first time. It is important, however, to remember that training needs to be specific to the desired goal. Incorporating exercises into class that are executed with the eyes closed and covering the mirrors are both valid ways to achieve this end. In addition to covering the mirrors, having the dancers use different “fronts” in the studio is also valuable. Having to re-orient themselves to face a different direction, forces dancers to constantly be aware of where they are in the space and is a perfect way to prepare them for dancing on different stages and in different venues.

Spotting & Why It Works

"You have to trust your body to take care of you." - A.J. Langer

         

 Dancers are taught to “spot” at a young age.  Hours are spent teaching this concept, visual aids are hung in studios, and many theatres have a spotting light at the back of the theatre for dancers. 

Spotting involves staring at a fixed point while the body is turning to prevent dizziness and loss of balance.  Clearly, experienced dancers believe it is a valuable tool since it is passed on through instruction, and it must work since dancers performing multiple turns on stages are able to continue dancing without pausing to regain balance or falling over.  What are the physiological reasons that spotting works?

The body uses three systems to establish balance – the proprioceptive system, the visual system, and the vestibular system.  

Proprioception is the body’s awareness of its position and movement in space.  There are sensory receptors located in the body’s muscles, tendons and joints that respond to changes in pressure and send messages to the brain letting it know where the different parts of the body are and how they are moving in relation to other body parts. 

The visual system helps determine where the body is in space.  Within this system is the body’s optical righting reflex.  This reflex helps ensure that we remain upright by working to keep both eyes on the horizontal plane. 

            The vestibular system helps the body maintain balance through the anatomy of the inner ear.  This system gives the brain information about the body’s position during movement.  The ear canals are filled with fluid and lined with cilia, or tiny hairs, that are sensitive to the movement of the fluid.  When the position of the head shifts during movement, the cilia send signals to the brain to activate the muscles that keep the head vertical.

            When a dancer is turning, obviously the body’s position in space is constantly changing, and the proprioceptive system cannot be relied upon to help establish balance until the turn is perfected.  Once it is perfected, the body's "muscle memory" (you can read more about that here)   can aid in helping the body to sense that it is balanced.  In the meantime, the body must rely upon the visual and vestibular systems.  Both of these systems involve keeping the head in a constant position that is upright and on an even horizontal plane.

            Staring at a fixed point keeps the eyes focused on one image.  If a dancer were to simply look at everything around him or her while turning, the brain would definitely be confused by all the input, but that is only a part of the equation.

It is imperative that the head be kept in a steady, level position while turning to prevent dizziness from occurring and to prevent the body from trying to “save itself”.  When the head tilts too much to one side, the visual system senses the horizontal shift, and the vestibular system signals the brain to force the body to right itself.  When this occurs, the dancer will either begin to hop to save the turn or fall out of the turn in an effort to re-establish the body’s vertical position in space.  It is important that dancers be trained to simply turn their heads while spotting and to eliminate any tilting motions.  Waiting to quickly rotate the head back to the focal point until the last possible moment will also ensure that as little movement occurs as possible.  By adding these two concepts to the idea of staring at a focal point, dancers can improve their turning technique immensely.

Our bodies have mechanisms that are useful and necessary to provide equilibrium and keep us safe on a daily basis.  It is important for dancers to understand these mechanisms so that they do not fight against them but, instead, use them to their advantage to improve technique and promote safe, healthy dancing. 

Improving Balance

            “BALANCE – The ability to equally distribute weight and remain upright."                                                        Merriam-Webster Dictionary                                                                                                     

            Balance, equilibrium, steadiness, stability – a goal for a happy life and a necessity for a dancer. Balance is regulated by our body in three different ways: through our eyes, through the vestibular system of our inner ear, and through sensory receptors in our muscles that provide proprioception. 

            We constantly use our eyes to determine where we are in space, and this optical sense is the body’s most dominant way of establishing balance.  The optical righting reflex helps ensure that we remain upright since it works to keep both eyes constantly on the horizontal plane.

            The vestibular system helps the body maintain balance through the anatomy of the inner ear.  This system gives the brain information about the body’s position during movement.  The ear canals are filled with fluid and lined with cilia, or tiny hairs, that are sensitive to the movement of the fluid.  When the position of the head shifts during movement, the cilia send signals to the brain to activate the muscles that keep the head vertical.

            Our body also uses proprioception to determine if we are balanced.  Proprioception is the body’s awareness of its position and movement in space.  There are sensory receptors located in the body’s muscles, tendons, and joints that send messages to the brain, letting it know where the different parts of the body are and how they are moving in relation to other body parts.  The sensors in the muscles respond to muscular contractions, those in the tendons respond to changes in tension, and the sensors inside the joints respond to changes in pressure while those in the connective tissue surrounding the joints respond to the speed of a moving joint.

           

            These three systems work together and communicate with the cerebral cortex in the brain.  The cerebellum controls coordination and stores learned information about muscular actions that can restore balance.  The signals that the systems send to the cerebral cortex are integrated with the information stored in the cerebellum, and the body is able to right itself when it is thrown off balance.

            When one of these systems does not operate correctly, the body must rely on the other two systems.  If an inner ear infection disturbs the vestibular system, the optical reflex and proprioception must be depended upon to maintain balance.

            The proprioceptive sense is vital for a dancer.  A dancer must be able to “feel” the difference between a parallel position and a turned-out position and needs to be able to sense how high a leg is being held.  When turning, dancers need to be aware of the position of the gesture leg, and dancers need to be aware of the position of their arms.  Mirrors can be used as a tool when dancers are first learning a skill, and the eyes and vestibular system can be used to establish balance when the training is at the beginner level.  However, as dancers grow more advanced, learning skills like tilts and advanced, inverted jazz turns, it becomes difficult to rely on these two senses, and when a dancer performs onstage with lights, the optical sense is taken away.  Reliance upon the proprioceptive system becomes a dancer’s lifeline.

            Since this system must be relied upon so heavily, it is important to help students develop it in the studio.  Although the mirror can be used effectively as a tool, dancers often become dependent on it.  Having dancers perform combinations facing away from the mirror forces the dancers to rely on their proprioception to determine where they are in the space and what positions they are in.  Another way to work on the proprioceptive sense is to ask the dancers to perform stationary combinations with their eyes closed.  When this idea is first introduced, the combinations can be simple port de bras exercises and then progress to exercises that include développés, grands battements and even jumps.

            Our bodies come equipped with three systems meant to help maintain balance, yet we often do not use all three effectively.  Dancers can improve and strengthen their technique and performance skills vastly when they are aware of, learn to use, and practice training the proprioceptive system.