There is nothing more beautiful than a port de bras used expressively with hands that finish off the line and fingers that tremble with energy. There is nothing more unappealing than stiff hands in unnatural positions with fingers that are either completely tense or droopy. It is much easier to teach dancers when they are pre-school to use their hands in a soft or accented movement. In the Royal Academy of Dance pre-school syllabus very young dancers are taught to reach and pick objects out of the air such as flowers or stars and then they are also taught "sharp" hand movements which really have to be used in an accented way. I have found that those exercises really help the young dancer with the different concepts of how the hands and fingers should work. I have, in fact, used those same exercises in a more mature way for many of my beginner teen and pre-teen dancers just to help them understand how important the hands are in dance and what a difference it will make in their overall technique.
East Indian dancers and many styles of dance from the Far East use their hand positions to tell a story and to watch their dancers using their hands so expressively is truly magical. Jack Cole who originated much of the Jazz Dance form used many of the hand positions typical to Asian dance when he choreographed Kismet on Broadway. Matt Mattox, who I had the pleasure of studying with right out of high school and for some years after, carried on the tradition of using the isolations and hand movements originated from the Jack Cole technique. Matt's dancers and, of course he himself, were always extremely dynamic and expressive dancers. Even in the Ballet world it is not always that you will find dancers with expressive hands and fingers but the ones who do complement their port de bras with a beautiful use of the hands are always the ones that rise to the top.
There are a number of ways to get your dancers to be able to use their hands and fingers in an expressive way. Here are some of the exercises that I use to help them understand how they can use their hands in different ways.
1) Sitting cross legged have the dancer reach up or out to pick something out of the air using a visual to help them stimulate their imaginations. Use the thumb and the 2nd or 3rd finger to grasp the imaginary object. Alternate the arms and then do it with both arms together.
2) Have your dancers bring a small rubber ball to class. They can either sit or stand with hands in front of them, palms up. Gently squeezing the ball, and then slowly releasing the fingers so that the hand is open and the fingers are stretched. Repeat 4 times with each hand and then repeat with a more rapid action.
3) Sitting cross legged place the heel of both hands together, slowly press both hands together all the way to the finger tips and then finish by making a small circular motion with both hands, then bring them back to the original position. Repeat 8 times.
4) In a standing position have your dancers make a fist and throw their hand sharply outwards until the fingers are completely spread out. Repeat 4 times with each hand and then repeat using both hands. They will have fun with this if you also do it with partners and encourage them to use the arm movement at the same time as changing the levels and directions of their bodies.
Try these simple exercises in class to help your dancers to become more aware of how to use their hands and for them to understand what a difference it will make to their use of port de bras.
