Terrific Tuesday and Relaxed Knees
Today I am addressing the ladies – mostly. In an earlier blog I talked about how the knees
have smiley faces when the patella is pulled up, and the knees should almost
always be smiling when the legs are straight.
Now I’ve come to the exception:
bourrées.
Bourrées are one of ballet’s most magical steps, especially
when performed on pointe. Without any
special effects at all, a dancer who executes them well will appear to be
floating across the stage – more so if there is a layer of mist from dry ice
wafting across the scene.
To achieve this floating illusion, the knees must be relaxed.
The legs work like a fine sewing machine needle with more of an up and down
motion than a side to side one. The back leg propels the dancer forward, and
the thighs come apart very little or not at all. But it is the relaxed nature of the knees
that allows all of this to happen.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Secret #13f:
“In a bourrée, the
knees must be relaxed.”
Link of the Day:
Beginning at 3:25 for some beautiful bourrées
Quote
of the Day:
“Work. Don’t Think.
Relax.”
-Ray Bradbury
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