2 3 Saturday Accents | Ballet Webb

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Saturday Accents


Saturday Accents
In a previous blog: http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2013/10/d-e-gag-e-s-battement-d-e-gag-e-s.html  I discussed dégagé and mentioned the image I’m going to talk about today.  In a dégagé, the musical accent can be “in”:  as the dancer closes the foot in fifth, or on the outward stroke, as the foot reaches its full stretch.  Most commonly, it is as the foot closes in fifth.
This can be difficult for some beginners.  The idea that works most often for them (and sometimes for more advanced dancers, too), is this:   Imagine that closing your feet in first or fifth is like clapping your hands.  Explain that it isn’t supposed to make a sound and that the closing action needs to be done gently – the feet never slam into position.  But the rhythm established is like clapping hands to a beat.  I will sometimes illustrate this concept by first clapping my hands “wrong”, and putting the accent out.  The students get it, and often make the leap to understanding that the “wrong” way to clap is the other way to accent a dégagé - on the “out” action. 

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #4h 
 “When the musical accent of a dégagé is in first or fifth position, think of clapping your feet.” 

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