Friday, September 26, 2014

Fun Friday Not a Door


Fun Friday Not a Door

In passé or retiré, it is tempting to just push the knee back and call it turned-out.   And for appearances, this may work fine.  But the truth is, it is the rotation of the leg in the hip socket that should cause the knee to go back – not pushing it back like opening a swinging door.  It is a leg, not a door, as a teacher of mine used to say!

The reason is simple.  Using the rotation provides a secure position – it effectively “locks it in place”, whereas just pushing the knee back doesn’t provide this important benefit.  Given enough wind, a swinging door will, well, swing.  The same is true for a passé leg.

Since achieving a good, secure position is crucial for many things, including successful pirouettes, thought should always be given to producing a good, turn-out retiré by rotating the working leg, not pushing it backwards into place.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #3j:  
“ In retire, It is the rotation of the working leg that places the knee to the side.”

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-          Calvin Coolidge

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