The Importance of the Eyes in Dancing

If you have one eye that is slightly weaker than the other, then your head will naturally turn or tilt a bit to compensate (find a new centre). This will put some extra strain on your neck, which might put your shoulders out. This could then affect your back or hips. Then your legs could be under extra strain. Next thing you know, you have troubles with effective foot placement, and balance. All this because of one of your eyes!

You can see now how balancing the eyes can improve your symmetry, and your dancing. So it’s good to know some eye exercises that develop your symmetry if you want to improve your dance.

Exercise 1

1. Take a pen and hold in front of your face (about 30cm or a foot away)
2. Now move the pen in a circle around the perimeter of your field of view (that means take the pen to point where you can almost not see it)
3. Keep your eyes pointing forward
4. You will possibly find that the pen can go further to one side than the other
5. Just move the pen around for about 30 seconds

Exercise 2

1. Take a pen and hold in front of your face (about 30cm or a foot away)
2. Now move the pen in a figure 8
3. Keep your eyes pointing forward
4. You will possibly find that the pen can go further to one side than the other
5. Just move the pen in this motion for about 30 seconds

These exercises will help to balance your eyes. This will then give your more symmetry, and your body will move better. If the description is unclear, then there are images in a free e-book at the website in the signature below.

Here are some other things that you can do to improve your eye balance that I got from other sources on exercises for better dance.

• Stand in front of a mirror and see if your eyes looked balanced. By noticing this consciously your body will naturally start to adjust itself.
• Imagine a beam of light vertically leaving the top of your head. How do you need to adjust your body to ensure that the beam leaves from the very top of your head? Thinking about this will also make your body align itself.
• Place your hand over one of your eyes. Imagine that eye and the muscles around it relaxing so that you can feel the eye resting in its socket. Now take that hand away and see how different that side of the body feels and moves. Repeat the exercise with the other eye.

Source by Clint Steele