Technical Tuesday Long and Short

Technical Tuesday Long and Short

Our skeletal system is an amazing thing. It consists of long bones, short bones, and medium-sized bones. Even teeny-tiny bones. Together they form the structure that allows us to move and dance.

The longest bone in the body is the thigh bone, or femur. Dancers are usually familiar with this bone. It is the only bone of the thigh, and extends from the hip to the knee. Not only is it the longest bone in the body it is also the strongest.

In contrast to the femur, there is our smallest, teeny-tiny bone. It is the stapes, located in the middle ear, and shaped like a stirrups. It is only 0.11 inches long. Small but mighty, It is involved in sound conduction to the inner ear – in other words, it helps us hear the music!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #25i:  

“The longest bone in the body is the femur, the shortest is the stapes in the ear.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGyOOU8eUqU

Quote of the Day:

““It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

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Mad Monday Waterfall

Mad Monday Waterfall

Shoulders have a pesky tendency to creep up. They like to warm the ears, instead of staying put where they should. This is especially true when a dancer is tense, or concerned about a step to follow.

To keep those shoulders in place imagine a waterfall flowing from your earlobes and down your neck. It is a constant, refreshing flow of water, moving downward and off both shoulders. There is never an upward movement. Waterfalls don’t go that way.

Waterfall neck!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Secret #1yy:  

“Imagine a waterfall flowing from the earlobes down the neck to the shoulders.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et31LySAxf0

Quote of the Day:

“There is a hidden message in every waterfall. It says, if you are flexible, falling will not hurt you!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

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Want to know more about me? Read my interview at Ballet Connections:

http://balletconnections.com/DebraWebbRogers

Sunday Limits

Sunday Limits

Dancers are perfectionists, and they tend to overthink and overachieve. Right? That’s what we do. But the downside to all this mental exercise is worry and negative thinking. I’ve blogged about these gremlins before.

It helps to remember that we are most often limited only by what we think. Imagining the worst case scenario is not productive, and this sort of overthinking is what makes us discouraged. There are lots of memes and advice on the internet about positive thinking and imagining what we want. So much, in fact, that it starts to lose its punch.

But the truth remains, as it always does, that we are truly limited only by our thoughts. Practice directing them down positive paths, not the many negative ones.

Practice makes permanent!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Motivational Secret #150:  

“Limits exist only in the mind.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ekDL2nGJK4

Quote of the Day:

“The way anything is developed is through practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice and more practice.”
― Joyce Meyer

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Saturday Death Grip

Saturday Death Grip

The barre is like a trusted partner for a dancer. It helps, but shouldn’t become a crutch, and it must always be treated with respect. The most common problem is the “death grip” – when a student holds the barre so tightly that the white knuckle complex results. Not good.

The barre can well be imagined as a human partner, and it should be held with the same pressure one would hold the hand of a partner. No broken bones allowed! It’s like holding a carton of eggs: firmly enough so it can’t be dropped, but not so tightly that the eggs are crushed.

It also helps to let go of the barre periodically during each exercise, just to make sure the placement is correct. Remember “Let Go and Know” from a previous blog!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Statute #100:  

“Never have a death grip on the barre.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs_ZicBQso8&list=PL9739ADE0A675437F

Quote of the Day:

““A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

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Want to know more about me? Read my interview at Ballet Connections:

http://balletconnections.com/DebraWebbRogers

Fun Friday Pop

Fun Friday Pop

Happy Friday! Today I’m going to talk about those wonderful dégagés, and reveal one secret for making them sparkle.

The problem dancers have during a series of fast dégagés is this: not stretching the foot completely – since the tempo of the music is fast. When this occurs, it looks like the student is wearing bedroom slipper instead of ballet slippers. Scary. It is actually easily to move fast if the foot does stretch fully, although this seems completely counterintuitive.

To get that all-important full stretch, imagine trying to pop the elastic (or the ribbons, if wearing pointe shoes) off the shoes when the foot is fully pointed.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Secret #4r:  

“In a series of quick dégagés, imagine stretching the foot so hard that the elastic pops off the shoe.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ4LnfKpO1M

Quote of the Day:

“Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone's hand is the beginning of a journey.
At other times, it is allowing another to take yours.” 
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

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Throwback Thursday and Avdotia Istomina

Throwback Thursday and Avdotia Istomina

A name that is little known in ballet history is that of Avdotia Istomina. She was the first Russian ballerina of the Romantic Period, and was trained by the famous Charles Didelot. She became his favorite dancer and his muse. He taught her his most progressive techniques, and together they helped reform Russian ballet.

Istomina was born in 1799, and the identities  her parents remains a mystery. She entered the Ballet Academy at age 6, most likely sent there to be cared for, since she was “delivered” to the school by a flutist in the Army. She was probably an orphan.

She became an accomplished, beautiful dancer, and in 1816 was  described  thus:

“She was of medium build, brunette, with beautiful appearance and was very well-shaped. She had black, fiery eyes veiled by long eye-lashes which gave a very special character to her physiognomy. She had great strength in her feet, aplomb on the stage, and together with that, grace, lightness and speed in movements; her pirouettes and her elevation were astounding...”

She was also described as posing on the tip of her toe – this may predate Taglioni who is credited with inventing pointe work.

Istomina stopped dancing in 1836, and worked as an actress. She died of cholera on June 26, 1848 in St. Petersburg. Her tombstone makes no reference to her dance career or significance to ballet history. It reads simply: Avdotya Ilyinchna Ekunina, a retired actress.

    From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Dance History Factoid #110:  

“Avdotia Istomina was the first Russian ballerina of the Romantic Period.”

                Link of the Day:

https://spectrallyre.wordpress.com/2015/01/22/the-trail-of-the-muse/

Quote of the Day:

“One lives in the hope of becoming a memory.”
― Antonio Porchia

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Wild Wednesday Stretch

Wild Wednesday Stretch

Stretching with one leg on the barre is something dancers in almost every ballet class. It is important to remember that the correct alignment of the body must be maintained here, even though it is easy to allow the weight to move over the heel of the supporting foot. This is because the other leg is on the barre and the whole position is held in place because of the barre – not necessarily because the dancer is properly aligned.

Except when the stretch involves sliding the working leg down the barre into a split, the dancer’s correct alignment (over the balls of the feet) must be maintained. To check this, have the student try to lift their leg off the barre. If they have to move their body over their supporting leg in order to do this, they will discover where their placement should have been at the beginning.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Ballet Secret #16r:  

“When stretching with one leg on the barre, remember to keep the body centered over the supporting leg.”

                Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixdEX0O6Glg

Quote of the Day:

“The human spirit is like an elastic band. The more you stretch, the greater your capacity.”
― Bidemi Mark-Mordi

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