Marvelous Monday Flat Front

Marvelous Monday Flat Front

A common problem with pirouettes is leaving the seat behind during the relevé. You know what I mean. As you relevé, the passé doesn’t form in a straight position, instead, the reluctant derriere stays back. And without a straight alignment, the turn will not work well – it will, as a dancer friend of mine used to say, “be warped”.

To get into the perfect alignment, think of having flat front hips. You can even try a few turns with the palm of each hand on your “teotard line” (see previous blogs), and you’ll feel immediately if the hip line is broken instead of flat.

For even more fun, imagine being Flat Stanley when you pirouette. This can work too!

This flat feeling is essential for properly functioning pirouettes. Think about it!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #14rr:

“Think “flat front” for the hips in pirouettes”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50lAMbJUXfc

Quote of the Day:

“Do flat-earthers believe that other planets are also flat?”
― Oliver Markus Malloy, Inside The Mind of an Introvert

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The Two D Combination

The Two D Combination

Everyone has dreams. If you talk to a small child he or she will tell you in no uncertain terms about how they plan to be a fireman, or an astronaut – or, dare I say – a ballet dancer. They have big dreams. Dreams are motivational.

But to make these dreams a reality takes more than dreaming, as we all know. It takes another “D”: dedication. Combine the two Ds and you have a powerful mix.

The definition of the word dedication is: “the quality of being committed to a task or purpose”. Commitment means doing things when you’d rather do something else, or when you’re tired, or when you’re bored, and so on and so on. Commitment then, is the glue that holds the two Ds together.

On those days when you feel less than motivated, remember the two Ds.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Motivational Secret #131:

“Combine the two Ds.”

Link of the Day:

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

Quote of the Day:

“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”
― Beverly Sills

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My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

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Saturday Rule of Three

Saturday Rule of Three

The number three has several connotations – many of them good. The third time is the charm, for example. But there are other examples of the not-so-good. Three strikes and you’re out, to name one.

In the theater world, it is bad luck to have three lit candles onstage. This most likely comes from the period when gas lighting was the norm, and many fires and tragedies resulted.

But there are other superstitions about the number three. The person nearest the shortest candle would either be the first to marry or the first to die. Three candles were lit during the writing of a will. Bad luck is said to come in threes. And then there’s three times a bridesmaid, never a bride.

On the other hand, in the Chinese culture, the number three is considered lucky because it is pronounced like the word for alive.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Superstition #119:

“Having three lit candles onstage will bring bad luck.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpf9epLhfmQ&t=1s

Quote of the Day:

“Love is made up of three unconditional properties in equal measure:
1. Acceptance
2. Understanding
3. Appreciation

Remove any one of the three and the triangle falls apart.”

- Vera Nazarian

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My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

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Fun Friday Encircle

Fun Friday Encircle

Sometimes – dare I say most of the time – the problems dancers have with pirouettes are all in their head. Not all the time, of course, but often. Today I present  a fun demonstration that can help a student who always falls over (usually backwards) during a pirouette.

Select four students and have them hold hands and make a circle around a dancer preparing to do a pirouette. Tell the pirouette dancer that he/she must do a single pirouette and not fall against or touch the dancers in the circle.

Usually, because of the perceived barrier, the pirouette dancer will turn better than usual – sometimes even brilliantly. It’s all in the mind!

But you knew that, didn’t you?

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #20t.:

”Have a student pirouette inside a circle.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjh_gFTUM2w

Quote of the Day:

“Biology gives you a brain. Life turns it into a mind.”
― Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex

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

My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

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What’s in a Name?

What’s in a Name?

There’s a story behind many dance steps and how they came to get their name. One interesting one involves the tap step “tack annie”, the third step of the Shim Sham Shimmy.

Supposedly it was named after a person named Annie, a chorus girl who swayed back and worth as she struggled with police officers who were trying to arrest her. The neighborhood kids crowded around to watch yelling “They’re ‘tacking Annie!”.

But there is another story about this step from https://authenticjazzdance.wordpress.com/2014/01/07/the-short-story-of-the-shim-sham/:

They got the tack annie from a Tap dancer called Jack Wiggins who did a thing called ‘Pull it’. He used to say to the audience: ‘Do you want me pull it’. The answer was usually ‘Yes!’. Once he was performing to the audience, where was also his girlfriend Annie, Jack said those words again and added: ‘Annie next step may be tacky, but I gonna do it for you!’ 

Do you think either story is true?!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Dance History Factoid #129:

“It is said that the “tack annie” part of the tap step Shim Sham Shimmy, was named after a person.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjfM4Wrj9UI

Quote of the Day:

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.”
― Philip Pullman

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My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

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

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Wacky Wednesday Toaster Tendues

Wacky Wednesday Toaster Tendues

A toaster is a wonderful invention. It makes perfectly browned, crispy slices of bread with the touch of a button. But toasters have no place in tendues.

Tendues never leave the floor (because if they do, they are no longer a tendu, but a degage). But unfortunately, tendues have a terrible tendency to leave the floor at the last second – the moment they reach a full stretch. Scary.

This last moment lift is when you get the dreaded Toaster Tendu. The foot pops off the floor like toast coming out of a toaster. This must be avoided. The foot, including the big toe, must maintain constant contact with the floor. Period.

Stamp out Toaster Tendues!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #:4v

“Avoid toaster tendues.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv9Yms5Q3Gg

Quote of the Day:

“I was always a great believer in buttered toast.”
― Frank O'Connor, Collected Stories

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My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

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Technical Tuesday Ischial Tuberosity

Technical Tuesday Ischial Tuberosity

Earlier this year, I talked about imagining rockets on your sitz bones, and I briefly described these bones (https://balletwebb.blogspot.com/search?q=sitz). Today I thought I’d go into a bit more detail.

Technically speaking, “sitz bone” isn’t a medical term, it’s ischial tuberosity, but that’s quite a mouthful. Here is a description from

https://www.healthline.com/health/ischial-tuberosity:

“The ischial tuberosity is a rounded bone that extends from the ischium — the curved bone that makes up the bottom of your pelvis. It’s located just below the ischial spine, which is a pointed bone that extends up the backside of your pelvis.

Three tendons connect the hamstring, a muscle in the back of your thigh, to the ischial tuberosity. The gluteus maximus muscle covers the ischial tuberosity when your leg is straight and your thigh is extended. When your knee is bent and your thigh is flexed, the gluteus maximus moves and leaves the ischial tuberosity uncovered. This explains why you don’t have that large gluteus maximum muscle as extra padding for your ischial tuberosity when you sit down.”

Then there’s this: from (http://newyewhealing.com/you-keep-using-those-anatomy-words-i-do-not-think-they-mean-what-you-think-they-mean/

“Sitz/sits bones – Neither of these are correct. The correct term is “sit bones.”  By itself, “sitz” is not a word, but if you combine it with “bath” you have a valid term for a type of bath that you sit in (preferably on your sit bones) to treat pelvic and/or genital issues. Sits bones is just bad grammar; after all, you don’t sits down, you sit down and these are the bones you should be sitting on. Actually, the  sit bones are a specific part of one of your pelvic/hip bones.”

Now you know more than you intended – right?

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Anatomical Secret #:

“The true name for sitz or sit bone is ischial tuberosity.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6mBMrX4fss

Quote of the Day:

“Flesh, blood, bone--the body is only a container for who we truly are inside.”
― Megan Shepherd, Her Dark Curiosity

                Help expand the knowledge base!

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My latest books are coloring books! They are available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Tree-Coloring-Debra-Rogers/dp/0980191947/

https://www.amazon.com/Frames-Borders-Backgrounds-Color-Rogers/dp/0980191955/

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

http://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

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