A Monday Gate

A Monday Gate

In a previous blog I talked about how, for any movement, there is a place to go before you go where you are going.  This is particularly true during a first port de bras, when the arms open from fifth en avant (first) to a la seconde.  This is an important area because this port de bras is in almost everything!

This appearance of this lovely presentational port de bra can be ruined if the arms open improperly.  Usually this involves leading with the wrists or the elbows instead of the fingers.  It helps to remember that the fingers lead the movement and open forward as though opening a gate in preparation for moving into a garden, or some other inviting place. 

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #6k:  

“In a first port de bras, the fingertips open forward like opening a gate.”

 

                Link of the Day:

                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HlUPVTT9jA

 

Quote of the Day:

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.”

-Willie Nelson

 

                Help expand the knowledge base!

 Leave a comment about any instructions, ideas, or images that worked best for you!

 

Sunday and Varied

Sunday and Varied

Dancers tend to be masters of tunnel vision.  This is largely necessary, due to the demands of the art.  However, I have known dancers who, when asked what they do besides dance, give me a puzzled look.  Sometimes they will answer simply:  “Nothing.”

That is too much of a good thing.  Every dancer – every person, for that matter – needs to cultivate interests outside their main focus.  It can be anything.  But usually, for a dancer, other interests tend to lean toward other artistic areas, like painting or writing. 

Having varied interests tends to make a happier person, and different interests help one another, so each one gets better.

So start thinking about what you like to do, or what area you could delve into that isn’t dance.  You might find that your dance actually improves in the process!

 

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Motivational Secret #16:  

“Have varied interests.”

 

                Link of the Day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2zbbN4OL98         

 Quote of the Day:

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

-Benjamin Franklin

 

                Help expand the knowledge base!

 Leave a comment about any instructions, ideas, or images that worked best for you!

 

Saturday Stuff and Yet another Statute

Saturday Stuff and Yet another Statute

I love ballet.  It is so logical and extremely well designed.  It is all codified (written down), so anything can be looked up and verified somewhere.  So if you don’t understand something a dance teacher says, you can look it up and/or Google it.  Be warned, however, that there may be more than one correct answer!

That brings me to today’s great statute.  Everything in ballet has a name and can be reversed.  Think about that the next time you can’t fall asleep.  Try reversing any step (or combination of steps) you can think of, and pretty soon you’ll be able to fall asleep.  Some steps reverse more easily than others, but the statute holds true.  Everything can be reversed.

Asking dancers to reverse a combination is often done at auditions, so it is helpful to become skilled at being able to reverse things immediately – even in the middle of a set of steps.   It is also a fun challenge! 

From the Big Beige Book of Ballet Statutes:

Statute #14:

“Everything in ballet has a name and can be reversed.”  

 

                Link of the Day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7GJ7mhk_as      

 

Quote of the Day:

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

-Soren Kierkegaard

 

                Help expand the knowledge base!

 Leave a comment about any instructions, ideas, or images that worked best for you!

 

Fun Friday: When in Doubt…

Fun Friday:   When in Doubt…

One of the most important things for a dancer to remember is how to use space effectively.  This involves taking large steps (most of the time – I’ll blog about the exceptions later).  Traveling is tantamount.  In other words, when in doubt, step out.

Using big steps and filling the space should always be in a dancer’s mind.  This becomes difficult when the choreography is unfamiliar, or when the dancer is unsure or insecure about a series of steps.  That’s when there is an almost innate “pulling back” or tentative attack on the steps in question.  This not only looks bad, it also compromises the dancer’s ability to do the step at all.

Instead, remember to take large steps, and remember to use pliés to their full potential. 

From the Big Blue Beige Book of Ballet Statutes:

Statute #13:  

“When in doubt, step out.”

                Link of the Day:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rryxZjqLtNs

 

Quote of the Day:

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”

-Milton Berle

 

 

                Help expand the knowledge base!

 Leave a comment about any instructions, ideas, or images that worked best for you!

 

Throwback Thursday and Josephine Baker

Throwback Thursday and Josephine Baker

Long before Madonna, Beyonce, or Janet Jackson, there was American-born Josephine Baker.  She was one of the world’s first African American celebrities.

Associated mostly with the Jazz Age, Josephine Baker performed in the Folies Bergère wearing a skirt made of bananas.  It was this appearance that her career began its climb.  French audiences loved her combination of exoticism and natural charm, and she remained popular in France for many years to come.

 In 1936 she returned to the U.S. to star in the Zeigfeld Follies.  It was a disaster. American audiences were not ready for a black celebrity of her status.  Newspaper reviews were nothing less than cruel. 

In 1970 she attempted a comeback on Broadway, and in 1975, she opened a retrospective show in Paris.  She died that year, one week after the show opened, of a brain hemorrhage.

Today her influence is still felt – over one hundred years after her birth.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Dance History Factoid #17:  

“Josephine Baker was one of the world’s first African American celebrities.”

 

                Link of the Day:

                http://www.cmgww.com/stars/baker/about/biography.html

                                                                                                                                                                        

Quote of the Day:

“All life is an experiment.  The more experiments you make the better.”

- Waldo Emerson

 

                Help expand the knowledge base!

 Leave a comment about any instructions, ideas, or images that worked best for you!

 

Wild Wednesday and Ballet Statute #12

Wild Wednesday and Ballet Statute #12

Negativity in the ballet classroom is horribly counterproductive.  Yes, dancers are constantly chasing a perfection that is unattainable.  Yes, the steps are difficult to do, much less do perfectly.  And yes, dancers are often fatigued or even injured.  That’s the way it is.

Therefore, there is no room for the word “can’t” in ballet.  “I can’t do it because ____ "(fill in the blank).  Every moment, every thought that is less than positive gets in the way of progress.  Although there can be legitimate reasons why a dancer cannot perform, (like a broken leg) there would still be no reason for the use of the word “can’t”.  A broken leg would be obvious and an excuse would be unnecessary.

So purge the word “can’t”. 

From the Beige Book of Ballet Statutes:

Ballet Statute #12:  

“There is no ‘can’t’ in ballet.

                Link of the Day:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2m6fEPyb4M

 

Quote of the Day:

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare

that things are difficult.”

– Seneca

                Help expand the knowledge base!

 Leave a comment about any instructions, ideas, or images that worked best for you!

 

Technical Tuesday and Four Parts

Technical Tuesday and Four Parts

Grand pliés are often performed incorrectly, simply because one of the four parts that make up the grand plié is left out.  Usually this is part three.

A grand plié moves through these four parts:  1. Demi plié, heels on the ground; 2. Full descent, heels off the ground;  3. Return to demi plié with the heels coming back to the floor as soon as possible; and  4.  The knees straighten and the arm opens to à la seconde.

Eliminating or rushing through any of these parts reduces or eliminates the benefits of the grand plié.   But especially part 3:  the heels must return to the floor expediently, to stretch the Achilles tendon and other muscles of the leg, and to provide the “push” or impetus needed to complete the plié and straighten the knees.

There is an exception:   A grand plié in second position.  In this case the heels stay on the floor all the time, and the pelvis never goes lower than the knees. 

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #2g:  

“A grand plié has four parts.”

 

                Link of the Day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuY3C9iyfag           

 

Quote of the Day:

"Kindness is the language the blind can see and the deaf can hear."

- Mark Twain