2 3 Wacky Wednesday Bourrées | Ballet Webb

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Wacky Wednesday Bourrées


Wacky Wednesday Bourrées

Ahhh those lovely bourrées – they make the dancer appear to be floating across the stage.  It is a great special effect, developed long before the days of movies and Photoshop.  One secret to beautiful bourrées is one I’ve blogged about before:  the knees must be relaxed so the legs can act as shock absorbers.  It is one of the only times in ballet that the knees are allowed to be in this state.  These relaxed knees prevents “bumpy” bourrées. 

The other secret is this:  It is the back leg that provides the push (impetus).  The front leg is not allowed to get ahead of itself, or ahead of the back leg.  The thighs remain crossed in a good fifth position and the traveling motion is driven by the back leg.

The French term “bourrée” means a running step, or literally, a step.  But running step is a good way to think about bourrées.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #13k:  
Traveling bourrées are propelled by the back leg.

                Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
““Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up.”
Dean Karnazes

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