Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Wild Wednesday Double Lift




Wild Wednesday Double Lift
We’ve talked before about how a piqué steps out onto a straight leg, and today’s idea involves the step piqué fouetté. 

In a piqué fouetté the working leg must pass through three positions:  devant, à la seconde, and finally, arabesque.  A common mistake is bypassing one or more of these positions, most commonly à la seconde.  The working leg often goes quickly up in battement devant and then drops into the arabesque, completely bypassing à la seconde .  This causes the lovely suspension that makes the step beautiful to watch become lost. 

To do the step correctly there is a double lift.  A double lift is a feeling of “up, UP”.  In other words, the full height of the energy isn’t reached until after the grand battement.  This double lift is used in other steps as well, but it is well represented in a piqué fouetté.  The first “up” is the grand battement devant, and the second “UP” is the lift as the leg passes to à la seconde and then on to arabesque.  Without this double lift, the body tends to sink following the grand battement, making it almost impossible to complete the suspension of the step. 

So in any piqué fouetté, remember to think “up, UP”!
 

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #21a 
“A piqué fouetté has a double lift.” 

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“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.”
-          Oprah Winfrey

 

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