Technical Tuesday Metatarsals

Technical Tuesday Metatarsals

The bones in your feet that you can see running along on the top of your foot are called the metatarsals. It is helpful to be able to visualize these bones, so check out this link: http://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/metatarsal-bones

When the whole foot is in contact with the floor, sometimes dancers clench their feet, pulling the arch upward and gripping their toes. This can cause problems like tendonitis, since the foot needs relaxation time to function correctly and safely. I have blogged about this before:

http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2014/04/fun-friday-and-feet.html

http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2014/06/monday-melt.html

Here is another way to think about this: When the entire foot is in contact with the floor, picture the metatarsal bones. Now imagine them stretching away from each other, putting more space in between them. It is like having platypus feet! This should help the foot relax and melt into the floor.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #1jj:  

“Imagine a wide space between the metatarsal bones in the feet.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB6xdSB0VyQ&list=PLFEuShFvJzBySvIjspoqNiAonwxpL7U9I

Quote of the Day:

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”

-          Ram Dass

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Mad Monday Equal and Opposite

Mad Monday Equal and Opposite

For every movement in dance there is an equal and opposite movement and/or energy pattern. Sometimes it is obvious, sometimes it is more subtle. But ballet technique has evolved over centuries to use the laws of physics and the rules of aesthetics to become what it is today: an extraordinarily effective system.

One of the most important ways to think about this equal and opposite idea is in the area of those scary bad habit patterns. When a dancer attempts to change a single element in their technique it usually isn’t enough. There is something else – something equal and opposite  - that must be addressed and changed as well.

For example, a dancer who works in a chin-down position has to do more than raise the chin to correct the problem. That’s because in order to balance and dance successfully with the chin lowered, the shoulders and/or the upper back will lean backwards to compensate. This is so the dancer doesn’t fall over. The body is smart. This ability to compensate is unconscious, it is just what the body does.

Start thinking about all the ways the body balances itself through and equal and opposite reactions. There are many!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Secret #7pp:  

“For every movement there is an equal and opposite movement.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2l1e_QPOes

Quote of the Day:

““The major work of the world is not done by geniuses. It is done by ordinary people, with balance in their lives, who have learned to work in an extraordinary manner.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

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Sunday Dreams and Fears

Sunday Dreams and Fears

It is easy to be overwhelmed by fear. I've blogged a bit about this before. Negative thoughts have a nasty way of bullying better thoughts and pushing them aside. Be on guard for this. Give some thought to your dreams and your wishes, because this is where your motivation lies.

When I hear a student say “I just can’t get motivated”, I know they are not following a dream. Or worse, they have no dreams at all. Dreams produce (and sustain) motivation, not the other way around.

Motivation doesn't appear out of nowhere. It is given life by those things you want to happen, the dreams you have that you barely want to recognize for fear (there it is again) they won’t happen, can’t happen, or even shouldn't happen.

Kick that fear aside. Be practical, but be a practical dreamer. Identify your dreams, secret hopes and longings.  If they are even remotely realistic, there is no reason you can’t pursue them and achieve them. The only thing standing in the way is the big bad fear bully.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Motivational Secret #69:  

“Follow your dreams, not your fears.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Piz2wSwckM

Quote of the Day:

“Be the safe harbor you seek in the world. Follow your dreams, not your fear.”

― Jaeda DeWalt

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Saturday Sand Castle Statute

Saturday Sand Castle Statute

Today’s statute involves the arms. You know, those things attached to your shoulders. Well, sometimes those arms appear to be acting like the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz – they start out fine, but melt away into nothingness.

This cannot happen. To prevent disintegrating arms imagine a sand castle. When you first build it you mix a proper amount of sand to water so the castle can stand strongly on its own. But if a sudden rainstorm comes up, the castle dissolves away. This is a lot like what happens to the arms in some student’s port de bras.

Balletic arms need to be strong enough to maintain the correct position, but relaxed enough to avoid appearing stiff and/or robot-like. Admittedly, this can be a difficult relationship to maintain. So imagine the arms as a recently constructed sand castle, with the walls intact and strong - but not rigid. And never allow rain to fall on your port de bras sand castle.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Statute #29:  

“The arms should not behave like sand castles in the rain.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzNYzjO8N9o

Quote of the Day:

“It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out; it's the grain of sand in your shoe.”

Robert W. Service

“

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Fun Friday Buttons

Fun Friday Buttons

We’ve talked about different ways to think about engaging the muscles in the hip socket that are so critical for proper turnout, and today I’m adding another one. Buttons.

Imagine a large button located on each side of the derrière where the “dimples” appear when the turnout is working correctly. I’ve blogged about these dimples before: http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2014/08/fun-friday-secret-dimples.html

These dimple buttons should be visibly pushed in when the turnout is engaged. You can imagine them any way you like: large red ones, striped, polka-dotted – whatever works for you.

This also provides a nice, secret way for an instructor to remind students during class to use the muscles in the hip socket and the derrière without any observer realizing exactly what is being said. A simple “Buttons!” is all it takes. A good, polite way to convey the information.

Of course, the pun here is obvious:  Butt –ons for turnout.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #3p:  

“Imagine a large button (Butt-on) on each side of the derrière that is pushed in to engage turnout.”

                Link of the Day:

http://balletoman.com/1563-explosive-natalia-osipova-le-corsaire-variation-and-coda.html#vid

Quote of the Day:

““Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get”
― W.P. Kinsella

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Throwback Thursday and Mia Slavenska

Throwback Thursday and Mia Slavenska

Her given name was Mia Corakin, and she was born on February 20, 1916 in Croatia. Later, Mia adopted Slavenska as her stage name. She studied dance with prominent teachers in Zagreb, Paris and Vienna that included Léopold Dubois, and Gertrude Craus (a modern dance pioneer). In New York, she studied with Vincenzo Celli.

She presented a full evening of her own choreography when she was twelve years old, and from 1934–1936 she was prima ballerina at the Zagreb National Theater. In 1936 she came to international fame when she performed at the Berlin Olympics In 1937. She then appeared as one of the stars in the movie “La Mort du Cyne” which was released in the U.S. as “Ballerina”. After she joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in Europe in 1938, she traveled to America and became a citizen in 1947.

Known as a glamorous ballerina (with red hair), her stage presence was mesmerizing and her technique amazing. She danced everything from the classics like Swan Lake and Giselle, to more contemporary works by Massine and Fokine. One of her most memorable roles was that of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, choreographed by modern dancer Valerie Bettis.

Along with Frederic Franklin, a fellow dancer from the Ballet Russe, she established the Ballet Variante, a touring group in 1947,and later, the Slavenska-Franklin Ballet that toured during the 1950s. Mia Slavenska also danced with American Ballet Theatre, The Metropolitan Opera Ballet and London Festival  Ballet among others.

She opened her own studio in New York in 1960, and in 1969 moved to Los Angeles where she taught ballet at the University of California at Los Angeles and at the California Institute of the Arts.

Mia Slavenska died on October 5, 2002. She was 86 years old.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Dance History Factoid #64:  

“Mia Slavenka was a famous ballerina with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPugalZ9S_A

Quote of the Day:

“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence”
― Vince Lombardi

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Wild Wednesday Squeeze

Wild Wednesday Squeeze

This week I’ve been talking about things related to classroom etiquette and good classroom practices. One of the most important rules involves the barre.

It is tempting to use the barre as a critical support unit, when it is really there as a helpful balancing mechanism. It is an inanimate partner and should be treated the same way a dancer would treat a human partner – with respect and always with a light to moderate touch.

This is not to say that the barre can’t be used in emergencies to prevent falls, but most of the time it is there solely as a gentle partner. A dancer would never squeeze his/her partner’s hand to the point of stopping the blood flow, and the barre shouldn’t be squeezed that way either. Nor should a dancer ever lean on the barre.

The best way to achieve a light to moderate  touch on the barre is to think of it as a human partner.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #7qq:  

“Maintain a light touch on the barre – no squeezing allowed.”

                Link of the Day:

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

Quote of the Day:

“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.”

-          Unknown

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