2 3 Sensational Saturday Straw | Ballet Webb

Saturday, February 28, 2015

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.

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

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