Center Port de Bras, Explained: Why We Do It and How to Get More From It
Port de bras exercises show up in children's classes far more often than in adult ones. That's a missed opportunity. Ballet arm shapes are hard and persnickety, and I think there are more adult dancers who want to get every detail right than we realize. A dedicated port de bras exercise gives them the time to do it.
A quick note before we start: different schools number and name these shapes differently, but the shapes themselves are the same. I'll use fifth low, first, second, and fifth high, you can translate in your head accordingly.
What Port de Bras Practice Is Actually For
The arm shape is virtually the same no matter which position you're in. I'm going to say that again because sometimes it doesn't make sense the first time: the arm shape is the same no matter what position you're in. It's the arm's orientation in space that changes. Plus, that shape is also a weird shape, and it's hard to hold. Practicing port de bras on its own gives you three things: time to practice the shape itself, practice in different orientations, and (the hardest part) practice on the pathways between positions.
Fifth low is the easiest position because you aren't working against gravity, then first, then fifth high and second, which are both tricky. (We're not touching arabesque arms in this post.)
Why Do It in Center?
The big advantage of center is that you can use both arms at the same time. Plenty of people are one-side dominant, usually the right. Often the dominant arm will travel from position to position with the tempo of the music, while the non-dominant arm lags a little or rushes ahead. You can only see this discrepancy when both arms are moving at once, and getting them to move together as a team is part of whole-body coordination.
Center port de bras is also a gentle way to start finding your balance without the barre. You're standing still, so you're unlikely to lose your balance like in a turn combination. The exercise gets skipped a lot, I think because in advanced classes it saves time to fold port de bras into the center tendu and adagio---which also help you find your balance before you start moving through space. But when exercises get combined, the arms never get a dancer's undivided attention. For advanced dancers this is totally fine but a lot of students benefit from chances to focus on the arms before they're asked to combine the arms and legs.
Artistry Tips for Port de Bras
Port de bras touches several elements of artistry at once. Here are three worth playing with:
Line. Ballet arms curve just enough to make the arm look straight in second, to frame your face in fifth high, and to create a visual base of support in first that shows off your décolletage (and your necklace, if you're wearing one). I'm not sure when or why the arm shape became consistent across all the positions, but the curve is doing real design work.
Eye-line. "Follow your fingers with your eyelashes" is good advice when you're getting used to using your eye-line. In a slow port de bras exercise, you also have time to move your gaze from your fingers to your audience and back again. That's a small balance challenge, and it teaches you two uses of eye-line: directing your audience to notice something (your beautiful arm shapes) and connecting with your audience (when you look right at them). Getting the movement familiar in your body makes it easier to do in front of actual people.
Somatic awareness. This might be the most useful of the three, because it's such a strange arm shape and so hard to maintain. Two things help:
First, I'd like to share my favorite way to help you find the arm shape. I learned this years ago from a wonderful teacher named Cindy Ricaldi.
Be a mouse. Bring your wrists up to your mouth and let your fingers wiggle around like your whiskers. (You see this action in any classical ballet with mice or rats, like Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty.) Your elbows will be flexed and hanging downward. Hunch through the back of your shoulders and let your shoulders be near your ears.
Be a chicken. From the mouse shape, keep your wrists folded and flop your arms open to the side, like a spatchcocked chicken. Your elbows are still bent, fingers still floppy. Arch in your upper back and let your chest come forward.
Be a dragon. From the chicken shape, rotate inwardly in your shoulder to bring your elbows up to the ceiling. These are the pointy mid-part of your dragon wings. You elbows are still bent, wrists and fingers floppy. Your torso will be in correct ballet alignment.
Be a dancer. From your dragon shape, bring your palms out to the side and rotate them forwards towards your audience. Your fingers stay relaxed. Ta da! Ballet arms.
Second, if your teacher doesn't give a separate port de bras exercise or many corrections on arm shape, try this on your own. Lie on your back, knees straight or bent, whichever is more comfortable. Bring your arms to first position and notice your shoulder blades on the floor. Slowly move your arms to fifth high, then second, then fifth low, keeping the shoulder blades' contact with the floor as consistent as you can the whole way. I usually do eight reps, then reverse the pattern. (Second, fifth high, first, fifth low.) Lying down takes balance out of the equation, so all of your attention can go to what your shoulder blades are doing and the tactile feedback from the floor helps isolate the movement to just the arms.
I write more about line and somatic awareness in Artistry Inside Ballet Technique, Volume 1, if you want to go deeper on either.
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