Mad Monday Letter L

Mad Monday Letter L

A student shared this idea for keeping the head position and the eye focus correct: Make an “L” with the index finger and thumb, then place the index finger under the chin and the thumb at the throat (pointed toward the dancer. This places the head at the correct level and prevents it from dropping.

This is an important concept because the eye focus is, most of the time, slightly above one’s own eye level, and the chin is usually slightly lifted.

Now all it takes is imagining that the hand with the “L” shape is there for almost everything.

Thank you to my student (and her teacher) for this idea!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Secret #20m:  

“Make an “L” with one hand and place it under your chin.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L2fZEOoqJc

Quote of the Day:

“Ideas come from everything.”
― Alfred Hitchcock

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

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http://balletconnections.com/DebraWebbRogers

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Sunday Calendar

Sunday Calendar

In this holiday season, everyone is busy preparing and attending various holiday celebrations. It’s fun but it can easily become overwhelming. All those responsibilities, all those presents to buy.

Take a deep breath and refer to the above calendar for suggestions on different acts of kindness. If one doesn’t appeal to you, try another. Extending kindness to others has a wonderful way of making everything better, and it doesn’t have to be anything big at all. Little tiny kindnesses work just as well.

Deck the halls with acts of kindness.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Motivational Secret #94:  

“Follow a kindness calendar this December.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.facebook.com/so.bailarinos.3/videos/896306013795541/

Quote of the Day:

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”
― Lao Tzu

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 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:

http://balletconnections.com/DebraWebbRogers

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Saturday Statute Statute

Saturday Statute Statute

In classical ballet, everything is documented (written down), and there is a rule (statute) for everything. That’s wonderful. It means that no matter what step or set of steps a student has a question about, it can be looked up and  verified, clarified or disproven. Or, oftentimes, debated.

The problem today is that the internet is filled with websites about ballet, and some are better than others. Therefore, when researching a particular balletic subject it is always best to consult many different sources. This is true for everything, not just ballet.

Not only can you find written references regarding technique, you can find videos demonstrating exactly how steps should be performed. Again, some are better than others, and some are truly admirable and even amazing.

Research some items – it’s fun! 

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Statute #54:

“In ballet technique, there is a rule (statute) for everything.” 

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu-2c98c2e4

Quote of the Day:

“The way to do research is to attack the facts at the point of greatest astonishment.”
― Celia Green

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 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:

http://balletconnections.com/DebraWebbRogers 

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Fun Friday Barre and Center

Fun Friday Barre and Center

Dancers realize that what they do at barre is designed to help them in the center. But it goes far beyond that. Barre is like programming a computer, and whatever you put in is what you get out, or, as they say in the computer field: “garbage in, garbage out”.

In other words, time spent being meticulous at the barre is never wasted. Whatever is cultivated there, should bloom in the center. Of course the flip side of that is that if it is done incorrectly at the barre, it will be incorrect in the center. Not good.

Never lose sight of the fact that whatever you program in at the barre is what you will get in the center.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Secret #7ccc:  

“If it is performed correctly at the barre, it will be correct in the center, and vice versa.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcPLMwl-JtE

Quote of the Day:

“That's the thing about people who think they hate computers. What they really hate is lousy programmers.”
― Larry Niven

                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:

http://balletconnections.com/DebraWebbRogers

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Throwback Thursday and the First Sugar Plum

Throwback Thursday and the First Sugar Plum

The first production of The Nutcracker was on December 18, 1892, and featured Antoinetta Dell-Era as the first Sugar Plum Fairy. Although some sources say that Tchaikovsky described her as “pudgy and unattractive”, on the opening night of the ballet she received five curtain calls and good reviews. For other opinions on her dancing, see this link:

  https://books.google.com/books?id=IFou2FwtZ9QC&pg=PA144&lpg=PA144&dq=Antonietta+Dell'era&source=bl&ots=_GnaMBpdly&sig=olNpa7_KQA3IL_aqkoTevTiWG6Y&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQyJvpn73JAhWEZCYKHaCsDAk4ChDoAQg4MAU#v=onepage&q=Antonietta%20Dell'era&f=false.

She was an Italian ballerina, born on February 10, 1860. She came to Russia as part of the “Italian invasion” in 1886, along with ballet notables Legnani and Cecchetti. She also had a successful career dancing at the Berlin Opera.

But beyond that, her life remains a mystery. Some sources say she died in Berlin on June 22, 1945, others say the exact place is unknown. When she died in 1945 it was her final wish that her estate benefit dancers in need, and thus the Dell’Era-Gedachtnis-Stiftung foundation was established.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #93:  

“Antoinetta Dell-Era was the first Sugar Plum Fairy in the first Nutcracker.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K65lcuHQn-E

Quote of the Day:

“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.”
― Anaïs Nin

                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:

http://balletconnections.com/DebraWebbRogers

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Wacky Wednesday Newspaper

Wacky Wednesday Newspaper

Those elusive inner thighs! Dancers are always seeking to “find” them. They are difficult to feel, especially for beginners, and many professional dancers say it took them years of training to really identify and use them.

Here is one way. There is a famous dance sequence by Gene Kelly in which he tears a newspaper in half with his feet (see today’s link at 4:01). If you imagine doing that (turned-out), it should engage the “inner thighs” and allow you to feel  them more easily. The reverse action (as though putting the paper back together) works also.

First try imagining it, then try it in reality by sliding from first position to second and back again.

Enjoy the video!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Secret #7bbb:  

“Feel the inner thighs by imagining tearing a newspaper in half with your feet.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFJrV3pI5Zs

Quote of the Day:

“A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.”
― Thomas Carlyle

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 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:

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Technical Tuesday Passé or Retiré?

Technical Tuesday Passé or Retiré?

Ahhh, the details. What is the difference, if any, between passé and retiré? If you search the web, you will find different answers, some more complex than others, like this one:

“Passé is the movement of the working leg, either bent or straight, PAST the supporting leg from one position to another.
Retiré is the action of drawing the working leg with knee bent up ALONGSIDE the supporting leg and returning down to the position from which it began, or is used as the descriptive word for the POSITION of standing with the working leg bent, foot touching the supporting leg.
In example- If you pick your foot up from 5th in front and place it in 5th behind, that's passé. If you pick it up from 5th in front, and place it back down in 5th front, that's retiré, but the teacher may also use the word retire to describe the position of the working foot when it's next to your supporting leg as retire in both examples.” https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=A0LEVvoSU1xWQTkANE8nnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?qid=20100424215636AAc58ec

Let’s simplify things a bit. The word “passé” in French means “to pass”, and “retire” means “to withdraw”. So I usually tell my students that if the foot is moving it is “passé”, and if it is not, it is “retiré”.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Secret #18m:  

“A passé moves, a retiré doesn’t.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Yp-vToI2E

Quote of the Day:

“Simplicity is a bliss that makes one comprehend.”
― Criss Jami

                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:

http://balletconnections.com/DebraWebbRogers

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https://www.facebook.com/Violet-Rightmire-256648280108/timeline/