[jfengel]

I was really impressed at how graceful the machines were.

It's not the first time I've noticed that; drones can also be quite graceful. But the dynamic motion of that pendulum is such a hard problem, and as you note, the three year olds solve it with unconscious ease.

Never as gracefully, and there of course the machines have a huge advantage. I spend most of my brain power keeping the tense muscles very tense and the loose muscles very loose, for each and every one of those tiny stabilizer muscles. The machines move straight and smooth in a way I never will. I haven't mastered the simple art of standing there in first position, and probably never will.

(I am not, I would note, any kind of expert. I dance at the level of an 11 year old. Maybe a 10 year old. Which took me years to learn, and I'm very proud of it.)

[jacobolus]

I have never done any significant amount of dance, so am in no position to offer informed advice, but I wonder if explicitly thinking about every muscle is really the best way to practice. Focusing on higher-level goals and letting the sensorimotor system deal with the details might be more effective (and then figuring out how to observe yourself and deliberately working on correcting specific defects).

You might find the book The Inner Game of Tennis useful.

[jfengel]

It's how I learn. I start with the focus so that I learn the right thing, and then when I have it in muscle memory, I can forget it. And focus on the next thing, while continually checking back in. (The teachers will be sure to correct you if you don't.)

Ballet isn't something that feels right when you do it correctly. It's actually a deeply unnatural way to move. Not just pointe, but everything. The grace is an illusion layered on top of that.

You definitely do need to reach a point where most of it is handled by the sensorimotor system. But there will always be something you need to keep working on.