Dancers are always so consumed with movement that very often they completely forget to take deep breaths when they are dancing. It is common for dance students to become red in the face, short of breath and easily fatigued all symptoms that can be caused by the lack of good oxygen intake.
Incorporating not only breathing exercises but also definite patterns of breathing during dance classes will not only give more artistry and musicality to the movement but also build stamina for the dancer. You can start at the barre in ballet or in the center for jazz, contemporary and other dance forms; the key is to start somewhere. In Ballet, guiding the dancers to take deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth will start to get them in the habit of using their breath control. I find that it is helpful to my students if I give them definite counts to breath in or out on their exercises. They may feel a little strange at first but they will soon become accustomed to it and will form good breathing habits. In other forms of dance where the warm up is done in the center you can do exactly the same type of exercises and adjust the breathing to whatever suits the movement. Your students will thank you for it in the long run once they have developed the breath control so vital to any dancer.
When a dancer performs they need to be able to breathe efficiently and look elegant while doing so. There needs to be a balance between thoracic and diaphragmatic breathing. Unlike singers who primarily breathe from the diaphragm in order to be able to push the air out in a controlled way to make beautiful sounds. Dancers need to be able to control the use of their arms from the upper chest and back and so this area needs to remain free to support the movement of the arms. Dancers lift from their rib cages and really need to focus their breathing into the lower chest which will enable them to breathe deeply but without bulging out their diaphragms. A good way to help your students to feel where they need to breathe is to have them lie on their backs on the floor with the shoulders relaxed onto the floor, breathe in through the nose for four counts and out through the mouth for four counts really focusing on the lower diaphragm expanding and then relaxing back on to the floor.
Any step that requires good balance is going to benefit from good breath control. So often I watch young dancers struggling with pirouettes. Their mouths are clamped shut, there is tension in their neck and they are unable even to control a single pirouette. The minute they start to breathe correctly everything starts to improve. There are two schools of thought on how to breathe for pirouettes. The most predictable way is to take a deep breath in as you releve onto the supporting leg. The theory with this is that you will fill the lungs with air and they will support you as you turn just as water wings would if you were in the water. The second theory is to breathe in as you plie and breath out as you releve and then turn, by emptying your lungs you are making yourself lighter and more lifted in the ribs. Quite honestly I have used both ways but I have come to prefer the second way because of its effectiveness.
Many dancers have difficulty with making their port de bras both beautiful and full of shape. So much more can be accomplished by using the breath to elongate the arm movements and to really feel them from the chest and back. Give your dancers some exercises in class that include the use of breath control with spinning movements and spatial awareness. Let them explore new ways to breath and by all means get loud! I encourage my students to make noise as they breathe out so that they can really experience the power of what breathing correctly can do not only for their health but for their movement in general.
Last but not least, in order to be successful with jumps whether they are big or small you definitely need to remember to breathe consistently. If your students are taking short shallow breaths they are not going to be able to last very long when they are exerting themselves with any jumps. I always encourage my students to breathe in on their preparations and push the breath out as they go into the air. It really seems to help them get more power with their movements and more air time so that the leaps are controlled and yet appear effortless. Nothing is uglier than to see a dancer do this huge preparation to go up into the air only to have it go nowhere! Very often these dancers will be found not to be breathing deeply enough and when they discover how to take those breaths find that their entire approach is different and works so much better.
As with any discipline try to make the learning experience fun, your students will appreciate it and will be amazed with the results that happen just from simply learning to breathe correctly.
