Modern Dance Warm-Ups: Flat Back

Video Transcript

"Hi my name is Chell Garcia-Trias and I'm a modern dance instructor in Austin, Texas. I'm going to be showing you how to do some flat back exercises the way that I would do them in modern dance. So, the way I'm going to start is in parallel position and your feet are just parallel to each other about an inch, maybe two, apart. And I'm going to turn sideways to show you this from the side. I think it will be easier to see what's happening. First I'm going to drop my shoulders and my head to where my back is curved and then I'm going to bend my knees while I flatten my back. And you can lift your arms up on top of your body, above your body, or to the sides. Then I'm going to straighten my knees and my back is still flat. I'm reaching through the crown of my head and through my tail bone and my back is flat and then I'm going to stand up with a flat back. I'm going to drop it again, curved spine, bend my knees while I flatten my back. Stand, straighten my legs, and then stand all the way up. If I wanted to do it in first position, I would bring my, well I would open up my toes, bring my heels together, and then I would curve my upper body, bend my knees while I flatten my back out, make sure you toes are right on, your knees are right on top of your toes, straighten your legs and come up with a flat back. So those are some really nice flat back exercises to warm you up before you do your modern dance routine."