Saturday, January 30, 2016

Super Saturday Hop


Super Saturday Hop

Those pesky hops! You know, the ones that sneak in at the end of a series of turns, or during a balance that isn’t quite centered. These hops camouflage the fact that the alignment is off, and prevent the dancer from learning exactly how the balance can be corrected.

Hops can quickly become a bad habit. Stamp out hopping! Unless it is specifically choreographed, like during hops on pointe (see today’s link), or during a petit allegro combination, no hopping is allowed.

How do you stop hops? By keeping your knees straight. You can’t hop very well (or at all) if your knees are fully pulled up. And, from a good, solid, straight knee position, you’ll know immediately how your alignment is off because you will fall or tilt in that direction.

When your knees are straight, you can fall over but you can’t hop - and then you’ll know what to correct.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Statute #59:  
“There is no (un-choreographed) hopping in ballet.”

                Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“I like not to be good at anything, so I keep hopping around.”
-          Jon Stewart

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