2 3 4 5 Ballet Webb

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Terminology Tuesday Arrondi



Terminology Tuesday Arrondi

Grand battement arrondi  [grahn bat-MAHN ah-rawn-DEE] means “large battement rounded”. It is a term of the French school, and the step is sometimes called battement en rond.

This is a battement that begins and ends in fifth position and passes through all the directions en l’air (front, side and back), but the highest point is reached in second.

This is a fun step and I have often seen it during grand battement combinations, particularly at the barre, but seldom have I heard anyone give it a specific name. Hmmm…


From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Terminology Secret #79:
“Grand battement arrondi means ‘large battement rounded’.”

Link of the Day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zm8_0p926Y

Quote of the Day:
“Living in new shapes, reshapes our thinking”
― Lois Farfel Stark, The Telling Image: Shapes of Changing Times

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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/

Want to know more about me? Read my interview at Ballet Connections:
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For interesting articles involving mental health:
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Monday, February 3, 2020

Mad Monday Big Bang



Mad Monday Big Bang

For all you wonderful science nerds out there here is a new way to think about energy patterns in dance. It’s like the Big Bang Theory (not to be confused with the television series). Here is a link for info on the theory: https://www.space.com/25126-big-bang-theory.html

Energy in dance is just like the Big Bang: it extends outward in all directions to infinity. It never stops (until the dancer stops dancing). Equal and opposite patterns, never ceasing – that’s dance energy.

And by the way, I like to think of myself as somewhat of a science nerd.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Ballet Secret #21bbb:
“Energy moves outward in every direction like the Big Bang.”

Link of the Day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_stvSxnnI

Quote of the Day:
“If the rate of expansion one second after the Big Bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, it would have recollapsed before it reached its present size. On the other hand, if it had been greater by a part in a million, the universe would have expanded too rapidly for stars and planets to form.”
- Stephen Hawking

Help expand the knowledge base!
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/

Want to know more about me? Read my interview at Ballet Connections:
http://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

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For interesting articles involving mental health:
 http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2018/05/

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Sunday, February 2, 2020

Sunday Never Underestimate




Link of the Day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-tPInTTNHk

Quote of the Day:
“Kindness is a gift everyone can afford to give.”
- Unknown

Help expand the knowledge base!
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/

Want to know more about me? Read my interview at Ballet Connections:
http://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

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For interesting articles involving mental health:
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Saturday, February 1, 2020

Saturday Padiddle



Saturday Padiddle

While researching strange superstitions I came across this one in the Los Angeles Times: “If you see a car with a burned out headlight, say “padiddle” for good luck.”

Well, that’s a new one on me. I don’t know if it works as a pre-performance ritual, but if you should happen across a car with a burned out headlight on the way to the theater, saying “padiddle” certainly couldn’t hurt.

According to Wikipedia, the word padiddle means: “…a Canadian and American slang term for a vehicle with a burnt-out headlight or brake light or a game involving tallying up sightings of such vehicles.”

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Superstitious Secret #192:
“ If you see a car with a burned out headlight, say ‘padiddle’ for good luck.”
Link of the Day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U2Yv6GBQU4

Quote of the Day:
“Always focus on the front windshield and not the review mirror.”
― Colin Powell

Help expand the knowledge base!
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/

Want to know more about me? Read my interview at Ballet Connections:
http://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

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For interesting articles involving mental health:
 http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2018/05/



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Friday, January 31, 2020

Fun Friday Butt Out



Fun Friday Butt Out

I have talked about pas de couru before: http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2015/10/technical-tuesday-pas-de-couru.html. It is an interesting step. It is one of the very few times in ballet where the dancer’s seat is permitted – indeed required – to stick out. What fun.

The angle of the body is critical for the twinkling running steps of pas de couru, in which the feet are sent ahead of the body. To do this, the derriere must stick out as a counterweight.

Another place where the seat must stick out in ballet is in a shoulder sit. Watch any pas de deux from the wings as the ballerina is lifted into this position and you will see “butt out” in action.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Ballet Secret #33x:
“In a pas de couru, the derriere is out.”

Link of the Day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH-IzBEDV2o

Quote of the Day:
“Behind every door, someone is standing without knowing that it is open.”
― M.F. Moonzajer

Help expand the knowledge base!
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/

Want to know more about me? Read my interview at Ballet Connections:
http://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

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For interesting articles involving mental health:
 http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2018/05/

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Thursday, January 30, 2020

Throwback Thursday and the Leigh Sisters



Throwback Thursday and the Leigh Sisters

Edna and Stella Leigh were dancers in a vaudeville act during the late 1890s. They are said to have performed in “a saucy style” and that they exposed a bit more of their legs than was usual for that time period.

They entered the pages of history in 1896 in New York when the first exhibit of Thomas Edison’s Vitascope projected a film showing them doing their umbrella dance. This early movie was so popular that it was hand colored for the next five years. Sadly, this film has been lost, but due to the coloration (if it was accurate) we know the Leigh Sisters were blonde and one wore a pink skirt, the other a blue or green skirt. The large umbrella was purple.

By 1897 Stella retired and was replaced by Edwina and the act appeared in Little Miss Chicago in Chicago Illinois.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Dance History Secret #309:
“The Leigh Sisters appeared in Edison’s first Vitagraph film in 1896.”

Link of the Day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNJfC9qtRuE

Quote of the Day:
“Those who want to get wet need no umbrella!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

Help expand the knowledge base!
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/

Want to know more about me? Read my interview at Ballet Connections:
http://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

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For interesting articles involving mental health:
 http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2018/05/

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Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Wacky Wednesday Warped



Wacky Wednesday Warped

Ah, the dreaded warped pirouette. You know what I mean. It’s when some part of the body, or many parts, fail to come into proper alignment. Often it is the shoulder area that is tilted sideways, forward or (gasp!) back.

Since dancers are a determined species, they force their pirouettes to happen despite being skewed. Sadly, the appearance of such turns is that of a top when the momentum is slowing – warped. Not good.

I had a wonderful dance partner who always noticed even a slight degree of misalignment – to say nothing of the major blunders. He would laugh and say under his breath: “Kinda warped there, darlin’”.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Ballet Secret #14uuu:
“A pirouette should never appear warped.”

Link of the Day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfi2g_sFkqQ

Quote of the Day:
“…the Greeks were highly skilled at building visual compensations into their structures. Columns were crafted and positioned to compensate for how the eye interprets what it sees at a distance. Subtle variances in the surface of platforms, columns, and colonnades provide the appearance of geometric proportion, whereas if they had worked from the perspective of a flat datum surface, the brain would interpret the results as being slightly skewed.”
― Christopher Dunn, Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt: Advanced Engineering in the Temples of the Pharaohs

Help expand the knowledge base!
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/

Want to know more about me? Read my interview at Ballet Connections:
http://www.balletconnections.com/?s=debrawebbrogers

Or "Like" me on my Facebook Author Page:

Or visit my Pinterest page:

For interesting articles involving mental health:
 http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2018/05/

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