Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Terrific Tuesday Skips


Terrific Tuesday Skips

When teaching beginners, the difference between specific jumping steps can be confusing.  When the student advances from jumping on two feet to alternating feet, remembering the difference between jumping from one foot to the other (as in jeté), or jumping and landing on the same foot (temps levé), can be daunting.

I like to tell beginners that steps that do not move from one foot to the other (like sautés and temps levés) are something they already know how to do.  Skip!  These steps are simple step-hops, exactly like a skip.

I sometimes have the dancers move across the floor doing nothing but skipping.  Then ask them to do a sauté-sauté combination (in arabesque and/or retiré) across the floor using the same feeling.  Voila!  They get it!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #15t:  
“A sauté, or a temps levé is simply a step hop – a basic skip.”

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Quote of the Day:
I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things.... I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind. I never water my garden without soaking myself.”
 ~Leo F. Buscaglia, Bus 9 to Paradise

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