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"Good Feet" The Who's, What's and Why's


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I should like to extend my heartfelt personal thanks to every single poster in this thread, for de-mystifying a subject which has been perplexing me much of late. Now I know how to look at feet! What useful knowledge for an apprentice balletomane. smile.png

Incidentally, the dancers I like thus far all seem to have legs and feet which form a smooth, straight or almost-straight line. Instep curved but not too curved, and no hyperextension of the knee. It's not what I chose them for, except possibly unconsciously; but now that I'm paying attention it's what looks most beautiful to these novice eyes of mine.

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Men with beautiful feet include, IMO, Peter Boal, Yuri Soloviev, Andris Liepa, Laurent Hilaire, Manuel Legris (not a high arch/instep but a nice line and used skillfully) Marcelo Gomes, David Hallberg, and others. ...

Thanks to new member Shirabyoshi for reviving this thread! I'd like to add a few of my favorites to Hans's list.

At the top of my exquisite feet club roster you will find this trio of sublimity:

Evan McKie (who is not only a member, but the President)

Tiit Helimets

Joey Gorak

David Hallberg is there, too, of course, but Hans already mentioned him. smile.png

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As for feet, a bit of dancer terminology. The curve underneath your foot is your arch --- the top curve is an instep... And it's the high insteps that are notable in folks like Ferri, Herrera, Rojo, etc. Yes, they often have higher arches as well, but it's the high instep that makes the s-curve on the outside of the leg (especially if one is hyperextended).

I'm bringing ami1436's post from the beginning of this thread here so that if there are more responses, the definitions of 'arch' and 'instep' will be handy.

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check out the winged footwork on this amazing video; the magic starts about 20 seconds in

The video shows exquisite batterie and double frappes, as executed by the Paris Opera Ballet-trained former San Francisco Ballet ballerina Muriel Maffre [it looks like her legs and feet.. She is now director of the SF Museum of Performance and design, which is currently showing her piece in which dancers make designs with paint on their shoes by executing the classical ballet barre exercises. Notice how her tendu always goes to the same place, no matter how many times repeated nor how fast. Notice also the exquisite clarity of her about-face [demi-detournee on both feet on pointe], the height of her instep and actually the way her ankle itself opens at the fery top joint, where the tarsals meet he tibia, and he disciplined way her toe comes back toward the working heel as she plies.

There's a free event this saturday at "The ANNEX, 1420 Harrison st, SF this Saturday at 2 pm; it's a fund-raiser, the paintings made by 5 of our best dancers will be auctioned off, but admission to the spectacle will be free. Come if you can. I'm going. Maybe I'll see you there. Please say 'hi.'

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