Wild Wednesday Gorillas
One area that frequently needs improvement in dance students is the
use of the arms during balancés. Balancé
is a step that is based very much on illusion – that is, what it looks like to
the casual observer is not the way it is actually performed.
For balancés that move side to side, the correct port de
bras requires that the arms move across the
body, (roughly parallel to the floor).
The path follows the correct back and forth framework of a first port de
bras with the arms at the height of the lower rib cage. The illusion is created because the torso moves side to side with the balancé,
giving the impression that the arms do more, and move more, than they actually
do.
The most frequent mistake students make is bringing the arms
down and then moving them back and
forth. I call this the gorilla port de
bras, because that is what it looks like!
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Secret #6L:
“Avoid gorilla arms in
balancé.”
Link of the Day:
Quote
of the Day:
“The
artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work."
- Emile Zola
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