Ravinia Steans Music Institute 2019

“It’s more than just keeping our arms strong and well. It’s an entire body experience. …We ask a lot of our bodies, and that’s even more reason to be preventative.” – M E L I S S A W H I T E that, you open up a new spectrum of possibilities.” Performers often build up bad habits and then injuries, he says, because they neglect the use of their feet, sitting bones, and lower back, which are “the places of power in the body. A lot of musicians try to get power from the arm and the neck and they hurt themselves.” Even in a sitting position, the placement of the feet is important. But what does power mean, and how is it used? For some musicians, expressive movement is part of their persona. But Vardi says that if young musicians think they need intense body movement to play intense music, “you’re limiting yourself. You’re forcing that on your system.” Hagit adds, “It is a very complex system, and IQ is not sufficient. If you expose your system to possibilities, the most efficient one will pop up.” When they teach at Ravinia or elsewhere, “We provide more options to the student. Then it’s their decision; it’s their muscles.” Nelson likes to record his clients playing with body motion and without, and when he plays it back for them, he’s found they almost always like the stable version best. Some audience members may like watching a musician gyrate and gesticulate, but Nelson said that plenty of subtler visual communication is possible—“but you can’t turn people into statues or robots either.” Whatever technique people use, White says, all of them stress body alignment, “because of the way gravity works on our body and the asymmetri- cal way we stand or sit.” Every school of mindful motion works to bring people to be aware of a neutral posture. For anything, certain principles apply. The natural position of the body is symmetrical in all planes—meaning that if the head is leaning forward, the neck can be strained. Everyone should keep the lower spine straight when sitting. Pianists should keep their elbows at a 90-degree angle and wrists in a line. And the correct height and position of the music stand also makes a difference, just as with, say, a computer monitor. Any repeated movement, whether musical or athletic or thumbs typing on a phone, can bring on symptoms and pain from overuse. But, Nelson adds, there are no absolutes: “Someone can have the worst alignment and muscular use but have no symptoms, because of DNA, luck, or God knows what.” He reminds musicians to use the least force necessary for a task. Coffee drinkers don’t hold their cup like it’s a 10-pound weight, and a musician who holds an instrument that way is asking for trouble. And after an injury hap- pens, recovery may involve learning a new way to sit and to play. “If people can’t hold their instrument, they’ll try anything,” Nelson says. “It’s a question of belief and desire and putting in the time.” David Lewellen is a Milwaukee-based journalist who writes regularly for the Chicago Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, and other classical websites. COURTESY OF INTERMISSION RAVINIA’S STEANS MUSIC INSTITUTE 47