Wondrous Wednesday Far Enough
Ah, those details. From the first moment of class when the
dancer comes to stand at the barre, there are rules. Lots of them.
For example, standing at the barre is not as simple as it
appears. The dancer must not be too close to the barre, or too far way. The arm
on the barre must be relaxed, with the elbow dropped, unlike in a standard à la
seconde position, where the elbow is higher than the wrist and lower than the
shoulder. The elbow is never squashed up next to the body - there is always a
space between the elbow and the torso.
The barre arm must also be
in front of the dancer’s torso. There is often a tendency for the hand on
the barre to slide back with the elbow lifted, especially when doing a
difficult combination. The barre should be imagined as a partner: no leaning,
squeezing, lifting or any other thing you wouldn’t do to a human partner is
allowed.
Also, the hand on the barre shouldn’t have a “death grip”.
It should be placed there gently, but firmly, and some teachers require that
the thumb be placed on top of the
barre and not underneath. Some classrooms have barres with a flattened shape
(as opposed to rounded) to better facilitate the placement of the hand on top.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
“The barre arm should be relaxed and slightly in front of the body.”
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