The Cabinet

Arm span

Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man from the 15th-century Renaissance is not unknown to us. The man in this drawing is said to have ideal body proportions with an arm span equal to his body height. But are those really the ideal human proportions? Ideal body proportions are relative, after all. Beauty ideals change in time and space, don’t they? During the European Renaissance, for example, noble ladies shaved their foreheads to make them appear taller. In various cultures, long necks are considered particularly beautiful. In Thailand, for example, there are the Longneck women of the Padaung hill tribe who lengthen their necks with a brass ring every year. In ancient China, women’s feet were bound to make them a lot smaller. Lotus feet were found to be very attractive, especially because they also influenced the way of walking. This beauty ideal has its roots in the ancient Chinese dance world at the imperial court in the first century AD. It was also in the dance world, namely in Western ballet, that Romantic ballerinas started wearing pointe shoes at the end of the 19th century. These skin-coloured ballet shoes with a hardened tip made the ballerina’s slender legs look even longer by dancing on the tips of the toes (sur les pointes). Also, tutus had the same leg-lengthening effect; when the spotlights lit up the dancers from above, their legs seemed a lot longer than they were in reality. Instead, it was actually long arms that were celebrated in modern, especially expressionist, dance. In the work of the German Pina Bausch, but also Marc Vanrunxt or Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker in Flanders, we often see dancers with significantly long arms. 

In basketball, the players’ height used to be taken into account, but nowadays more consideration is given to the so-called ape index. This is a technical term for the ratio of your arm span (wing span) to your height. A positive ape factor (with a quotient greater than 1) means your arm span is longer than your standing height. For various sports, a positive ape factor can play in your favour. In basketball, it is important for defence as well as for passing to be able to use a lot of amplitude and for that you need long arms. A high ape factor can also be an asset for swimming, rowing, discus throwing or wall climbing. For example, top swimmer Michael Phelps has a disproportionately large chest, with the distance between his ribs and hips 10 centimetres longer than average and an arm span about 8 centimetres longer than his height. With a lot of practice, you can somewhat positively influence this factor. In music, handspan is important. Long fingers are always a good trait for piano playing, but how far you can extend your fingers is even more decisive.

The Cabinet was created within the context of Through the Grapevine.

Images: Olympe Tits

Text: Annelies Van Assche