Wacky Wednesday Broken Wing

Wacky Wednesday Broken Wing

The back arm (the one in à la seconde) in arabesque can be a problem. In an attempt to “get the arm back” to parallel the arabesque leg, the arm is dropped downward and then lifted. This results in a twisted arm – a broken wing appearance – certainly not something anyone wants.

The back arm in arabesque only appears (or should appear) to be parallel to the working leg. It’s yet another balletic illusion. The arm is predominantly still in second (with the palm down), and is only extended back as far as the muscles in the upper arm and shoulder will allow.

This illusion becomes clear if the position is observed from the front, not the side. And arabesque (and attitude) are generally designed to be seen from the side – which is why the illusion of the arm works as well as it does.

Ah, the magic of classical ballet!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #18rr:

“Avoid the “broken wing” look of the arabesque arm in second.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt2dGIfE4Z0

Quote of the Day:

“The whole thing's illusion, [Jacob], and there's nothing wrong with that. It's what people want from us. It's what they expect.”
― Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants

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Terminology Tuesday Tour de Promenade

Terminology Tuesday Tour de Promenade

I’ve discussed basic promenades before: http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/search?q=to+take+a+walk and

http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/search?q=promenade

But there is another promenade, the tour de promenade, (turn in a walk) which is a partnered step.

The female dancer is in a pose, usually attitude or arabesque, and the male dancer supports her. He holds her by the waist or by one of her hands and then walks (a perfect circle, or else!) around her, turning her to show off all sides of her lovely position. It’s a tricky maneuver, especially when only the hand is held, since it only takes a little bit of  deviation from that perfect circular walk to throw the whole thing off. Scary.

Perhaps the most famous example of these tour de promenades is seen in the ballet The Sleeping Beauty during the beautiful Rose Adagio (see today’s Link of the Day at 6:50). Not only does the tour de promenade have to work perfectly, the ballerina must let go and balance at the end of each one!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #27c:

“A tour de promenade is a partnered steps that means ‘turn in a walk’.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtI-TM4DsgM

Quote of the Day:

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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Marvelous Monday Middle

Marvelous Monday Middle

Dancers have a tendency to focus on the “big” or” important” steps: the poses, the pirouettes, the jumps. But often problems lie in the middle. By that I mean those supposedly inconsequential steps like glissade, chassé and the like.

These middle or in-between steps are often overlooked and thus performed poorly, making the whole series of steps work badly – mushy middle steps make for a mushy whole. Linking steps should be crystal clear and clean, and should (most often) travel – another often overlooked essential.

So on this Monday, clarify mushy middles.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #7qqq:

“Focus on the steps in the middle.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.facebook.com/BalletLovePhotosVideos/videos/797521670343907/?hc_ref=ARS6alm0Z2rDNmw7Ti715uJeAJ0wtU8sHzp99DQHCqsvdlDvj7pHg14SSA-EGfaAVqQ&__xts__[0]=68.ARCBHsT7v1YzTymh3IJV5L0wN7yfQmbhWqdIkHqk29OBJFhcZJNSqBsnXb7nIwRKRE7kqBa1z4gPWwEyJROPuU0Ap1pR4z2bMQVpDw0wd-ES3JCllMz7jYj6VJui64lrbuVoDuQwVzlj&__tn__=FC-R

Quote of the Day:

“It's so difficult, isn't it? To see what's going on when you're in the absolute middle of something? It's only with hindsight we can see things for what they are.”
― S.J. Watson

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Sunday Stillness

Sunday Stillness

In today’s world of constant movement, change and electronic devices, it’s hard to remember what stillness is like, much less experience it. But it’s important to find some stillness in your life each day.

I don’t mean those few minutes before you fall heavily into sleep – but a deliberate few minutes each day to sit still or walk without a destination and think of nothing or whatever.

Think this isn’t important? Read this article: https://thoughtcatalog.com/brianna-wiest/2014/11/the-importance-of-stillness-8-reasons-its-psychologically-imperative-to-make-time-to-do-absolutely-nothing/  It’s full of interesting tidbits.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Motivational Secret #244:

“Take time for stillness”.

Link of the Day:

https://www.facebook.com/natanael.agostinhojoaquinho/posts/10209886131292364

Quote of the Day:

“Go outside. Don’t tell anyone and don’t bring your phone. Start walking and keep walking until you no longer know the road like the palm of your hand, because we walk the same roads day in and day out, to the bus and back home and we cease to see. We walk in our sleep and teach our muscles to work without thinking and I dare you to walk where you have not yet walked and I dare you to notice. Don’t try to get anything out of it, because you won’t. Don’t try to make use of it, because you can’t. And that’s the point. Just walk, see, sit down if you like. And be. Just be, whatever you are with whatever you have, and realise that that is enough to be happy.
There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it.”
― Charlotte Eriksson

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Saturday Kissing Rituals

Saturday Kissing Rituals

There are many different rituals dancers employ to (hopefully) ensure a good performance, and often some form of kissing is involved. Here are a few I’ve seen over the years:

-         Kissing the fingers and putting the lipstick mark on center stage

-         Kissing particular fingers, in a particular order

-         Air kissing one’s partner

-         Kissing the floor backstage

-         Kissing the floor onstage

-         Air kissing to no one in particular

And of course there is the familiar kiss seen during a curtain call when the ballerina is presented with a bouquet:

-         Kissing a single rose and presenting it to one’s partner (usually a single rose is separated from the others to make it easier to do this)

But why and how kissing as a good luck ritual originated is a mystery. This article in the New York Times provides and interesting look at kissing in general.

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/opinion/the-kiss-of-life.html

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Ritual #135:

“There are many theatrical kissing rituals.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEi2Bof88fw&t=26s

Quote of the Day:

“I'm a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”
― Thomas Jefferson

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Fun Friday Puzzles

Fun Friday Puzzles

Want to shake up the usual ballet class? Break out of the expected standard mold without sacrificing technique? Here you go.

For the center portion of the class, write down various ballet steps on small pieces of paper. One third of the papers have linking steps on them, like glissade or chassé; the other two-thirds have all the other steps, like turns or jumps or poses.

Divide the class into small groups and have each group randomly (without looking at the papers) select two or three linking steps and an equal amount of other steps. Now set them to work making up combinations with the steps they chose. They can’t add any other steps, but they can reverse steps and change directions, etc.

Students will soon discover that some things work better together than others, but the challenge is to find a way to put things together anyway.

Try it! It’s a fun way to challenge students and develop their sense of space and choreography.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #21tt:

“Distribute papers with various steps written on them.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDa-_LzfJm0

Quote of the Day:

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young

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Throwback Thursday and Emma Jutau

Throwback Thursday and Emma Jutau

Emma Justau was a gymnast and trapeze performer during the late 1800s. She worked in many venues, including the infamous Koster and Bial’s Music Hall. On February 12, 1889, the New York Times reported that “Emma Jutau has proved a great favorite at Koster & Bial’s, and her wonderful trapeze acts and aerial flights were warmly commended by the audience last night…”

Koster and Bial’s Music Hall began in NYC on the northwest corner of 23^rd Street and Sixth Avenue, in an area known for its vice and bad behavior. Soon the theatre expanded into a 2100  seat vaudeville theater located next door at 115-117 West 23^rd Street. The history of this establishment https://experiencenomad.com/koster-and-bials-music-hall/  is fascinating, but I digress.

Emma Jutau married fellow gymnast George W. Brown and the book The Social Mirror: A Character Sketch of the Women of Pittsburg  states that Emma was born near Monongahela City and adds that “she is a handsome blonde of a remarkably fine figure”.

Part of Emma’s act is described in the ebook Fun by T. Moffat: “her principal feat is to descend from a great height at a rate of over sixty miles an hour, suspended by her teeth beneath a wire set at an angle of forty-five degrees”.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Dance History Factoid #145:

“Emma Jutau was a gymnast and trapeze artist in the late 1800s.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMHT2D8nvCI

Quote of the Day:

“All serious daring starts from within.”
― Eudora Welty, On Writing

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

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