Friday, March 13, 2015

Fun Friday Leading Arrows


Fun Friday Leading Arrows

Tendu is the second most important step in ballet because it provides the template for many steps that follow. Therefore, it is essential that this small step be done correctly and consistently.

When the tendu moves from fifth to devant, the heels leads, and when it moves from fifth to derrière, the toe leads. I've talked about this before. But it can also be visualized like this: Imagine a double-headed arrow painted on the floor beside the barre. One half of the arrow points away from the dancer in the front, the other half, away from the dancer toward the back.

A tendu moving in the forward direction leads with the heel, a tendu moving in a backward direction leads with the toes. This is true whether the tendu is leaving fifth position or closing in fifth position. It is the direction of movement that matters. (Of course, tendu to second has a different set of rules.)

So imagine a giant arrow painted on the floor.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #4k:  
“A tendu leads with the heel when moving towards the front, and the toe when moving towards the back.”

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