2 3 Fun Friday Shoulder Shelves | Ballet Webb

Friday, April 3, 2015

Fun Friday Shoulder Shelves

Fun Friday Shoulder Shelves

I’ve talked about the shoulders before. Remember the parrot on the shoulder? Here’s the link:  http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2013/12/fun-friday-and-parrots.html

Today I’m going to talk about another way to keep the shoulders level and parallel to the hips (pelvis). Think of the shoulders as a shelf. It must be level and secure enough display valuable items and not have them slide off. If you have ever tried to place items an old, out-of-level shelf, you know it isn’t very useful at all.

Of course, there are times when the shoulders are supposed to tilt or tip (think ecarté), or when everything on the shoulder shelves would come crashing down (think port de bras and cambrés), but most of the time you can safely assume that the shoulders stay level. Beautiful èpaulement is created mostly by the action of the head – turning or inclining - and not because the shoulders tilt (with a few exceptions).

So when in doubt, level it out.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Secret #1kk:  
Keep your shoulder shelves level most of the time.”

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-          Ralph Marston


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2 comments:

  1. Really liked this tip! I'm horrible at keeping my shoulders level, unfortunately. I'm working on improving, however, and I hope this will help. Only time will tell. :)

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  2. I hope it helps you too. Another thought is to imagine a glass of water on each shoulder. Keep on working and things will improve! That's one of the things I love about ballet.

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