Sensational Saturday Straw

Sensational Saturday Straw

I’ve used a drinking straw as an image before, and today The Straw has returned.

 Echappés are one of the first jumps a student learns, yet so often I see this step performed incorrectly. In an echappé, the feet do not jump  directly from fifth position to à la seconde, yet this is how many students do it.

Instead, the feet must pass through a good fifth position in the air (the feet making a lovely heart shape), before the feet hit à la seconde (again in the air), and all of this happens with the feet fully pointed and before the dancer lands in à la seconde. In the second half of the step, the process is performed in reverse order.

To prevent missing the critical fifth position in the air, imagine sucking the feet and legs into a straw on the way up. Imagine a good, thick milkshake and all the effort that is required to get a good amount of that creamy, delicious chocolate into the straw.

Voilà! A perfect fifth position in the air.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #15u:  

“Imagine sucking the legs and feet into a straw as you jump in an echappé.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-bF1rYupj4

Quote of the Day:

“Accept what people offer. Drink their milkshakes. Take their love.”

-Wally Lamb

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Fun Friday Fouettés

Fun Friday Fouettés

Ah, the allure of thirty-two fouettés! That sequential turn that is so often featured at the end of an exciting pas de deux, or at the end of a dancer’s solo. Beautifully executed fouettés are almost guaranteed to elicit applause from the audience. All dancers want to achieve them, and often “put the cart before the horse”.

A single fouetté turn is a complex series of movements that involves passé, développé devant, demi -rond de jambe to à la seconde (unless opening directly to à la seconde), a relevé into retiré, turn and spot, then repeat. And because fouettés cannot be done very slowly, each individual element must be perfected before a dancer attempts to put them together into a series of fouettés. Like a recipe, unless all the ingredients are fresh and flavorful, the resulting dish will be a disappointment, to say the least. Although I have seen many dancers that can spin around many times, often the positions are fuzzy, and the fouettés fail to look good.  No fuzzy fouettés are allowed!

But the most important, and most often overlooked element is the relevé. Unless a dancer can relevé on one foot effectively thirty-two times, thirty-two beautiful fouettés will not be achieved.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #14q:  

“ Before you can do thirty-two fouettés, you must be able to relevé on one foot thirty-two times.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzILAqpmG4Y

Quote of the Day:

“There is no glory in practice, but without practice there is no glory.” 

 -Unknown

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Throwback Thursday and Florence Mills

Throwback Thursday and Florence Mills

By age five, Florence Winfrey Mills (“Baby Florence”) was an accomplished dancer. She specialized in tap and jazz and a type of dance that was  known as “eccentric” dancing. In the photograph above, she is wearing a bracelet that was presented to her by the wife of the British ambassador. When the photographer asked her to remove it for the photograph she is said to have replied, “no bracelet, no picture”.

Born on January 25, 1896 near Washington D.C, she became a dance pioneer who paved the way for other African Americans in dance and theater. She performed throughout her childhood on the road and in vaudeville, but her big break came in 1921 when she was selected for the leading role in the Off -Broadway musical Shuffle Along. The show became a hit, largely due to her talents in dancing, singing and comedy.

Later she was offered a role in the Ziegfeld Follies, but she declined.  Instead she appeared in Blackbirds (1926) singing “I’m a Little Blackbird Looking for a Bluebird”, which became her signature song.

The next year, 1927, Florence Mills became seriously ill while abroad – some accounts say it was tuberculosis - so she returned to the U.S. She died in New York from complications of appendicitis. She was 32 years old. It is said that over 150,000 people attended her funeral.

After her death, Duke Ellington memorialized her in his song “Black Beauty”.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #62:  

“Florence Mills was a beloved dancer who appeared in the first all-black Broadway musical in 1921.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J6oOQI7oZM

Quote of the Day:

“Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer

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Wacky Wednesday Formula

Wacky Wednesday Formula

There are many formulas in classical ballet. Sayings and hints we keep in our head that help us remember how to perform steps accurately. Some are funny: “When in doubt, bourrée out” or the ever popular “en dehors is out the door”. There are many other, more practical formulas, and today we’ll discuss one that helps achieve a perfect attitude derrière.

It is an easy one: “Knee up, heel down”. This refers to the working leg (the one in the air), and is designed to prevent dropping the knee into a turned-in position.  An attitude like that looks more like a figure in an Egyptian tomb painting.

This formula is also closely related to Ballet Secret #18c: “In attitude derrière, imagine the thigh resting on a table.”

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #18h:  

“The formula for attitude derrière is: knee up, heel down.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtI-TM4DsgM

Quote of the Day:

“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.”

-          Theodore Roosevelt

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Technical Tuesday Fine Paintings

Technical Tuesday Fine Paintings

In a grand jeté en tournant, often called simply tour jeté, a common problem is “butterflying” the legs in the air. This is when the legs circle outward slightly as the exchanging of leg positions occurs. Instead, as the legs switch in the air, the movement must be contained in a very narrow space, with the legs passing close to each other like the blades on a pair of scissors.

To prevent a butterfly action of the legs in grand jeté en tournant, imagine performing the step in a narrow hallway. This hallway is filled with valuable paintings hanging all over the walls. Do the step so the legs never come close to knocking the fine art work askew – or worse, knocking the paintings off the wall entirely. Because, as well all know, there is no crashing in ballet.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #15t:  

“In a grand jete en tournant, imagine being in a narrow hallways filled with valuable paintings.”

                Link of the Day: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywkuaIPsVBA

Quote of the Day:

“Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together.”

-          John Ruskin

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Marvelous Monday Holding

Marvelous Monday Holding

In the dance world, ballerinas are often presented with a bouquet of flowers onstage (often long-stemmed roses), during or after taking a bow. And, as one would expect in classical ballet, there is a prescribed way of holding these flowers: resting in the arms (almost horizontally) as though cradling a baby.

 If a dancer is right-handed, often the crook of the left elbow is where the flowers are cradled, leaving the right hand free to pick out a single blossom (usually prepared beforehand) to present to her partner during the curtain call. Or vice-versa.

At no time should the flowers be held upright, like a bridal bouquet, or  clenched down at the side. They are always cradled gently and elegantly.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #7nn:  

“A bouquet of flowers should be held like a baby.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BADZaYQfYKU

Quote of the Day:

“The earth laughs in flowers.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Sunday Good Deed

Sunday Good Deed

Today’s thought is related to Motivational Secret #53: “Do one good thing for one person”; but it is a bit different in scope. Today’s secret is:  Strive to do a good deed every day. It can be one good thing for a single person, but it can also be anything that helps anything or anyone: a person, a group of people, or a cause.

Here is a short list of synonyms for “good deed”: act of grace, act of kindness, benefaction, benefit, benevolence,   benignity, blessing, courtesy, favor, good offices, good turn, grace, kind deed, kind offices, kindly act, kindness, etc… you get the idea. It can be as simple as returning a grocery cart that someone left in the middle of a handicapped parking space, or allowing someone in front of you in traffic. It could be picking up piece of trash and depositing it in a garbage can (improving the environment for everyone). The possibilities are limitless.

So look for ways to perform some kind of good deal on a daily basis. This will become a habit if you do it every day (and dancers are very familiar with creating habits!).

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Motivational Secret #59:  

“Strive to do a good deed every day.”

                Link of the Day:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/03/let-this-compilation-video-of-good-deeds-caught-on-dashcams-restore-your-faith-in-humanity-today/

Quote of the Day:

“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”
― William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

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Super Saturday Statute

Super Saturday Statute

Yes, it is time once again for yet another Ballet Statute. Those rules that are absolute and (generally) without exception. This one is related to Ballet Secret #1c: The body is straight and forward from the ankles, on a “rocket angle”.  Remember that one?

In any relevé, and in any jump, the dancer never goes straight up (perpendicular to the floor). This is not as simple as it seems. In order to achieve the impetus, or push, for these steps, the body’s natural inclination is to pull up from the chest, which throws the body backward. Even when a dancer is thinking about jumping correctly, a perfectly perpendicular, straight trajectory is still wrong. The body must be on that slight forward angle simply to compensate for the body’s skeletal structure (we weight more on the back half due to the spine, the pelvis and the cranium). Study any picture of the skeletal system from the side and you’ll see what I mean.

Therefore, since we cannot change our skeleton, we must always relevé and jump on a slight forward angle, lifting from the top of the head or the ears.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Statute #29:  

“Whether performing a relevé or a jump, a dancer never goes straight up (perpendicular).”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf0NX8Mqohk

Quote of the Day:

“Those who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize.”

-          Elizabeth Harrison

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Fun Friday Achilles

 

Fun Friday Achilles

In any plié, it is important to relax the lower legs and the feet, particularly on the descent. The torso is still held properly, with the abdominals engaged, etc. But the legs, particularly the ankles, must be relaxed.

This relaxation prevents “gripping” or tensing the muscles which makes them brittle or less resilent, and more prone to injury, especially during jumps. Tensing the ankles and the feet also causes the toes to grab onto the floor (like a bird on a wire), instead of melting into the floor (see Ballet Secret #2k).

The tendon most apt to be a problem when a dancer is constantly gripping his/her muscles is the Achilles tendon.  It can be felt easily with the fingers - directly behind the foot, and one can see immediately what a strong tendon it is. It can take quite a bit of abuse, but over time constant tension in this area can be deadly. Such abuse usually manifests first as tendonitis – a warning sign to a dancer to pay attention and correct the problem!

So remember to relax the feet and ankles during pliés.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #2p:  

“In any plié, the ankles, and particularly the Achilles tendon, must be relaxed.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkvPkJUUh-M

Quote of the Day:

“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.”

-          William S. Burroughs

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