The Five Fundamental Positions: Dancing for Beginners
By: Kristel Chua
For every student who has had dancing for PE before, you would have at least heard of the five fundamental positions of the arms and feet. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s a technique almost always taught in dancing that involves mainly the arms and feet. Since I was in the first grade, the five fundamental positions of the arms and feet were always taught to us in the first term. I never really thought it was helpful, but when I think about it now, it helped me practice many aspects of dancing, such as timing, flexibility, and more!
There are many reasons to learn this. First, it serves as training for beginners. Performing the exercise helps improve memory as it provides five different positions for you to practice and perform step by step. It also helps practice timing and coordination in dance. Second, this technique is used in different kinds of dance genres such as ballet and folk dance. In some dances, many of the techniques used would utilize the five basic positions. Third, it’s an activity suitable for any age, as it doesn’t require too much energy, and it’s simple to perform after some practice.
The five basic positions consist of the first position, second position, third position, fourth position, and fifth position. To help you execute this, I will teach you and guide you on how to perform these five basic positions. First, I will be discussing how to perform the feet positions of the five fundamental positions. Next, I would be discussing how to achieve the arm positions. After practicing both, you can then perform the steps for both the arms and feet together.
Feet Positions
First Position
For the first position, form a V-shape with your feet by bringing your heels together to touch while keeping your toes away from each other.
Second Position
For the second position, move one foot sideward. Your feet should be parallel to each other while maintaining a distance of about 12 inches.
Third Position
For the third position, bring your foot’s heel to touch the arch of your other foot, with both feet turned outward.
Fourth Position
In the fourth position, put your foot forward while the other foot still retains its position. The distance between the two feet should be about 12 inches.
Fifth Position
In the fifth position, bring the heel of the foot in front to touch the toe of the other. Both feet should still be pointing outward.
Arms Positions
First Position
For the first position, raise your arms into a circle in front of your chest. Your hands should be aligned in front of your chest with both arms slightly curved, and your fingertips should be at least 1 inch apart.
Second Position
For the second position, open your arms sideward at shoulder level.
Third Position
One arm is raised above your head, while the other arm maintains the second position. The arm that was raised should be slightly curved as well.
Fourth Position
In the fourth position, the arm in the second position would be raised forward in front of your chest again, similar to how it was in the first position. The arm that is lifted above your head will still maintain its position.
Fifth Position
For the fifth position, both arms should be lifted above your head, slightly curving. The posture is similar to that of the first position but raised above the head instead.
After practicing each separately, you can now try to perform both the arms and feet positions simultaneously. To summarize the steps, for the first position, your arms form a circle in front of your chest with an inch distance between the tip of your fingers, while your feet form a V-shape position. For the second position, both your arms and feet open sideward. For the third position, one arm is raised upward while the heel of one foot touches the arch of the other. For the fourth position, the other arm is brought to the front, and the foot moved is also brought to the front. Lastly, for the fifth position, both arms are raised upward, and the heel of the same foot will go back to touch the toe of the other foot. It’s important to remember that you shouldn’t be too tense when performing these exercises. Thank you for reading! I hope you were able to understand the information given and execute the steps well.
