Saturday, March 28, 2015

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.”

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


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