Mad Monday Equal Distance
A common step in pointe work is the lovely sous-sus (under-over)
- or in the Cecchetti school, sus-sous (over-under) position. When this step is performed correctly the feet create a
heart shape. (See Ballet Secret #8e: In a sous-sus in fifth position the feet should make a heart shape).
The tricky part of a sous-sus (besides which way it is
spelled) is getting each foot to travel an equal
distance inward from the starting point of fifth position. This is more
difficult than it sounds. The stronger foot always tends to travel further than
the weaker one – and we all have one foot that is stronger despite our best
efforts.
So dancers must engage in target practice: repeating the sous-sus
in front of a mirror to check both the equality of the pulling in and up, plus
the finishing position of the heart shape (it must not be over-shot or under-shot).
Practice makes permanent.
Isn’t ballet fun?!
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Secret #23a:
“From fifth position, each foot must travel equally to sous-su.”
Link of the Day:
Quote
of the Day:
““For the things we have to learn before
we can do them, we learn by doing them.”
― Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics
― Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics
Help expand the knowledge base!
Leave a comment about any instructions, ideas,
or images that worked best for you!
Want to know more about me? Read my interview at Ballet Connections:
No comments:
Post a Comment