Monday Spare

Monday Spare

We are all familiar with the problem of ribs poking out or opening up. This is simply not allowed. There are no spare ribs in ballet.

Instead, the rib cage stays aligned over the pelvis (except in positions like attitude and arabesque), and the center front of the rib cage falls into its naturally closed position – never allowed to open outward.

Maintaining this posture will help immensely with pirouettes as well as almost everything else.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Ballet Statute #176:

“There are no spare ribs in ballet.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SQ1pKNd8dg

Quote of the Day:

“There are no ideas in the South, just barbecue.”
― Pat Conroy, The Prince of Tides

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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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For interesting articles involving mental health:

 http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2018/05/

Rainbows and Stars

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU3f1e9fFQo

Quote of the Day:

“I am always looking for rainbows, literally and metaphorically, only that I am starting to think that I could learn more from my journey if, from time to time, I were brave enough to stay in the rain longer.”
― Luigina Sgarro

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/

Superstitious Saturday Belasco

Superstitious Saturday Belasco

The Belasco Theater in New York City on West 44^th Street is said to be haunted by the theater’s builder and namesake, David Belasco. The building was constructed in 1907 and he lived in an apartment on the top floor. He spent almost all of his time in the building writing, managing, or directing. Although he died in 1931 there are those who say they still see him.

And, according to http://www.playbill.com/article/the-ghosts-of-broadway-com-329561: “He's one of the most solid theatre ghosts. No wispy ectoplasm for him. He appears much as he did in life: tall, with tousled hair and wearing the cassock and clerical collar that was his lifelong affectation.”

In addition to his solid appearances, other manifestations are experienced, from sounds issuing from his upstairs apartment, to doors opening and closing, to the sound of footsteps and the scent of cigar smoke.

It is well known that Belasco loved the theater. So much so that he has apparently decided to stay for all eternity.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Superstitious Secret #177:

“The Belasco Theater is haunted by the theater’s builder.”

Link of the Day:

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

Quote of the Day:

“Theatres are curious places, magician's trick-boxes where the golden memories of dramatic triumphs linger like nostalgic ghosts, and where the unexplainable, the fantastic, the tragic, the comic and the absurd are routine occurrences on and off the stage. Murders, mayhem, politcal intrigue, lucrative business, secret assignations, and of course, dinner.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly,

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/

Fun Friday Open Book

Fun Friday Open Book

Ballet Secret #3c states: Turn out equally on both legs, like opening a book in the center. This image works not only for turnout but for many other things.

Imagine being in the center of an open book when you dance. Anything you do on one side must be balanced by an equal energy on the opposite side. I’ve talked about this many times before. But the idea of an open book – especially a well-read one that falls open in its center – is great for remembering to apply equal energy and not forget the supporting side of the body.

In fact, our use of the term “working leg” may be a good way to differentiate it from the supporting leg, but unfortunately may give the impression that the supporting side doesn’t “work”. Nothing could be further from the truth.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #3z:

“Imagine being in the center of an open book.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLpDs6qUpLk&list=PL98AC1717BC9BE8C0&index=7

Quote of the Day:

“Where books had been a comfort before, they became a necessity, old books best of all: thick heavy tomes with stories that spread and twisted through other worlds, where he could walk like a ghost in the footsteps of other lives.”
― Alexia Casale, House of Windows

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

Or visit my Pinterest page:

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For interesting articles involving mental health:

 http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2018/05/

Throwback Thursday and the Winter Sisters

Throwback Thursday and the Winter Sisters

The three Winter Sisters, Effie, Mae and Dorothy began performing after their father died to earn extra money for the family. They developed a dance, acrobatic and tumbling act and worked in vaudeville during the 1930s and 1940s.

They appeared with Jimmy Durante, the Ink Spots, and Edith Piaf at her premiere US appearance at the Rialto Theatre New York City. They also traveled with Bob Hope’s USO Tour. They performed with many notable entertainers of the day.In addition, they trained to be trick pony riders and performed on Broadway in the production of Jumbo.

One evening in the late 1940s, while appearing at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago, they received a note backstage. It invited them to meet a man after their performance. It must have been a good meeting because Mae went on to marry him! They had three children and lived in Chicago for more than 40 years.

Effie lived on the outskirts of New York City and Dorothy, the youngest of the three, settled near Gainesville Florida where she taught dance classes for many years.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Dance History Secret #293:

“The three Winter Sisters performed in vaudeville and Broadway.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVKkNAf1ruI

Quote of the Day:

“It was the sibling thing, I suppose. I was fascinated by the intricate tangle of love and duty and resentment that tied them together. The glances they exchanged; the complicated balance of power established over decades; the games I would never play with rules I would never fully understand. And perhaps that was key: they were such a natural group that they made me feel remarkably singular by comparison. To watch them together was to know strongly, painfully, all that I'd been missing.”
― Kate Morton, The Distant Hours

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/

Wacky Wednesday Long Neck

Wacky Wednesday Long Neck

Sometimes in an effort to get the leg higher in attitude or arabesque, the neck and shoulders compress. Scary. Remember Ballet Secret #32: There are no turtlenecks in ballet.

This is particularly true in attitude and arabesque since having the leg up in the back will tend to pinch the neck unless there is an equal energy going up. Not to mention that  pinching the neck area ruins the line and isn’t exactly comfortable. Instead, as you bring the leg up, imagine elongating the neck all the way up into the back of the head.

Adding that much needed equal and opposite energy now produces a beautiful line!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Secret #18r:

“Elongate the neck in attitude and arabesque.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIedrPOobY0

Quote of the Day:

“When you stretch your mind, you stretch the world around you.”
― Gustavo Razzetti, Stretch Your Mind: How to conquer your comfort zone one stretch at a time

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:

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

Or visit my Pinterest page:

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For interesting articles involving mental health:

 http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2018/05/

Terminology Tuesday Sautillé

Terminology Tuesday Sautillé

The word sautillé or sautillée [soh-tee-YAY] means hopped or hopping. When this term is added to a step it means the step is performed with hops. For example, grand pirouette sautillé. For more detailed information, see my previous blog: http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/search?q=Sautill%C3%A9

But, you may ask, how is sautillé different than sauté which means jumped or jumping (and is probably more familiar to most dancers)? Jumping means that the step reaches full height with a fully pointed foot in the air, whereas hopping skirts close to the floor. A subtle, but important difference. See today’s Link of the Day below at 0:37 for an example of the small hops of sautillé.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets

Terminology Secret #63:

“Sautillé means hopped or hopping.”

Link of the Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1jvEkyRft4

Quote of the Day:

“Those who don't jump will never fly.”
― Leena Ahmad Almashat, Harmony Letters

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:

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

Or visit my Pinterest page:

https://www.pinterest.com/debtutu/

For interesting articles involving mental health:

 http://balletwebb.blogspot.com/2018/05/