Saturday Statute and Repeat
Ballet classes are repetitive. At least, effective ballet
classes are repetitive. They are designed to produce an accurate and unfailing
(or close to it) muscle memory. As the great teacher Vaganova states in her
book Basic Principles of Classical Ballet:
“From
the first year of study and until the end of the career, the daily exercises of
the pupil and dancer consist of the same steps.”
“There
is nothing bad about the exercises being tedious in their monotony y, although
this monotony can be broken by doing the movement in different time…”
Most dancers come to an understanding of this concept early
in their training. Only occasionally is there a student who complains about
ballet “always being the same” or some similar comment. Interestingly, I
seldom, if ever, hear the same complaint from students studying a musical
instrument. They seem to know how critical “boring” repetition is for accomplishing
their goals.
Ballet classes can be varied considerably by the arrangement
of the steps, the musical accompaniment, and whether the tempo is slow or fast;
but the basic framework must remain the same. The system works!
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Ballet Statute #71:
“Ballet class is, by necessity, repetitive.”
Link of the Day:
Quote
of the Day:
“Repetition opens doors, you know?”
― Tim Lucas
― Tim Lucas
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