Hans

Class on Wednesday night was a success! Alexandra Danilova wrote that in her opinion, a good class is one the student does not want to end, and judging by the eager response when I asked the students if they would mind doing the grand allegro combination again, I think it was a good class in the Danilova sense. I've noticed lately that I seem to be improving as a teacher in two ways: 1. Building a class around 1-3 basic, important ideas. 2. Creating combinations that meet the students' needs for that day and that flow nicely with the music. I started with a very simple battement tendu combination facing the barre and asked the students to visualize the working foot as a spring that is compressed when the foot is flat on the floor and extended when the foot is pointed. When pointing or flexing the foot, there is a pressure against the floor as the foot struggles to attain/remain in the pointed position. What keeps the foot from "popping" to a point is the control of the leg. This achieved beautiful results. I have never seen an entire class before or since use their feet so well, and I was surprised at how dramatic and immediate the transformation was. It did not continue throughout the entire class as the combinations got more complicated, but the beginning is there, and it was very exciting to watch. I plan to build on it in this week's lesson. Another thing I was glad about is that I was able to keep barre down to about 35-40 minutes. Some teachers see it as a point of pride that they spend an hour or more at the barre, but in a 90-minute class, that leaves very little time to work on pirouettes and allegro, and I notice that when I work with students who are kept at the barre too long, they have difficulty connecting movements in the center. I always do a complete barre, of course, and sometimes it is necessary to challenge them or fix basics, thus taking more time at the barre, but what's the point of even doing barre if you can't move in the center? In the next class, I'd like to focus on how the arms work during pirouettes, specifically that the arms move down during the plié to strongly engage the back muscles. Following are some of the combinations I used in this class that I'd like to keep a record of for future use: 1. Battements tendus and pirouettes. 16 measures 4/4 time. 5th position croisé, R leg front. Measure 1: On the first two beats, two battements tendus devant in one count each, accent in. On the third beat, one more battement tendu devant finishing with a brush through 1st position to pointe tendue derrière in demi-plié. On the fourth beat, pas de bourrée dessous. Measure 2: On the first two beats, two relevés to retiré position (aka sissonne simple dessous sur demi-pointe) traveling backward and alternating legs. On the last two beats, pirouette en dehors in retiré from 5th position on the left leg, close 5th, R leg back. Measures 3-4: Repeat the first two measures with the other leg. Measure 5: On the first two beats, two battements tendus to the side traveling backward and alternating legs. On the last two beats, sous-su, degagé à la seconde at 45º, demi-plié in 2nd position. Measure 6: On the first two beats, pirouette en dehors in retiré terminé à la seconde (or ecarté derrière) in demi-plié. On the third beat, pas de bourrée dessous. On the fourth beat, glissade devant changée. Measures 7-8: Repeat measures 5-6 with the other leg. Measures 9-16: Reverse the entire combination 2. Pas jeté. 8 measures 4/4 time. 5th position en face, L leg front. Measure 1: Pas jeté dessus and temps levé. Repeat with the other leg. Measure 2: From cou-de-pied, jump to 2nd position, and from 2nd, sissonne with a half turn en dedans to the right landing on the R leg (L leg in cou-de-pied derrière). Again, jump to 2nd position and sissonne with a half turn en dehors to the right landing on the L leg (R leg cou-de-pied devant). Measure 3: Pas jeté dessous, pas jeté en avant (landing on the L leg, R leg raised to attitude derrière croisé), assemblé derrière, entrechat-cinq (landing on the L leg, R leg sur le cou de pied derrière). Measure 4: Pas jeté dessus, assemblé croisé derrière, entrechat-quatre, entrechat-cinq (landing on the R leg, L leg sur le cou de pied derrière). Measures 5-8: Repeat to the other side.

If Jenifer Ringer is still with the company (I haven't kept up with NYCB dancers' comings and goings) I'll bet her Juliet would be pretty extraordinary. Just please don't let Per Kirkeby (sp?) design the sets....

I think Farrell could have worked as Myrtha with a classical company, but the thought of an all-Balanchine Giselle makes my head hurt. (The port de bras alone....) Actually, these days I could see Farrell doing a really imperious, terrifying Carabosse.

She states in her autobiography that her knee went during a series of piqué turns--not sure whether these were substituted for fouettés in Act III or if they were the ones at the end of Odette's Act II variation. I can definitely see Farrell as Nikiya, but not Juliet or Giselle. However, I think she would have made a wonderful Medora.

Hans do you still need clarifying? I think papeetepatrick clarified them really well. Thank you very much papeetepatrick and also every one else for posting thoughtful posts. No, I understand now, thanks. Even though there is a superficial similarity between Balanchine style and the French or Danish school because of the fast footwork , quick change of directions and center, I think there is a fundamental difference between them in the quality of plies which in my opinion makes dancers of Balanchine style much more prone to injuries. I agree with you 100% re: the pliés, but I believe Helene was saying that POB and RDB might not have been good long-term choices for Balanchine.

It still isn't! Omshanti, I'm not sure I understand what you're asking--would you mind clarifying?

Absolutely! Some of the best and most important corrections are often the simplest. The tricky part is getting the students to actually do it that way consistently... :rolleyes:

The difficult part would be finding a school or company that would allow you to watch its rehearsals, as usually that sort of thing is reserved for people who donate large amounts of money. Parents are usually allowed to watch school dress rehearsals--perhaps you could tag along if you have any friends with relatives who dance? Be warned, though, you are right that rehearsal can be insufferably dull. Not always, but sometimes. kfw's suggestion of the "Dancer's Dream" series is a good one, as those documentaries go through what goes into producing a ballet without getting too dry and boring. Perhaps that would be a good first step and then if you decide you would like to see more, you could maybe look into attending a dress rehearsal or something. Edit: Regarding dancers relating to each other onstage, one of the most beautiful examples I've seen of this occurred with no eye contact at all. In Act II of the Kirov's Giselle, Hilarion performs a diagonal of tours chaînés deboulés toward the lake where he drowns, and as he does so, the Wili corps performed a sort of wavelike movement--standing pointe tendue derrière, each did a temps lié en arrière, bending her upper body slightly and as she did so, she allowed her fingers to lightly brush the back of the dancer in front of her, which was how the next dancer knew when to do the step and continue the "wave." It was extremely impressive and done so deftly that I really didn't know quite how they did it until I thought about it later.

DefJef, just consider how much more you already know than the average person! Principal dancers and some soloists are sometimes allowed to work with the ballet master/mistress to alter choreography in very small ways to suit their abilities and personalities to create the most effective performance, so that is one part of the equation. As far as exactly what dancers do in order to interpret a role...well, they think about it quite a bit, and the ballet master/mistress usually assists them in finding the logic behind everything they do in the ballet and how it all flows together, similar to an actor "finding motivation." They also analyze their movements very carefully, and they may rehearse a seemingly simple gesture over and over to do it with the appropriate energy, facial expression, eye focus, and so on. Eye contact between dancers is important, and so is the way they touch each other--how a ballerina takes her partner's hand, how a cavalier offers his hand, and what the dancers do with this physical connection. In fact, it is perhaps most difficult to perform alone because the dancer doesn't have a crowd of people onstage, or even a partner, to relate to. In that case, the dancer uses his/her own energy to uniquely shade each movement, and s/he uses his/her eyes and face as well as body to appear (for example) withdrawn and remote or warm and approachable. To relate directly to the audience, the dancer might often look out into the auditorium, attempting to gaze through the very back wall of the theater. To create the impression that the audience is looking through a one-way mirror at the stage, the dancer could look only at his/her partner or even envision an opaque wall at the front of the stage so that his/her gaze stops at the proscenium as if the audience is not there. It's pretty difficult to explain, and I think parts of it are impossible to explain, but if you ever have the opportunity to watch a rehearsal, that might help you to see exactly how dancers prepare for their roles and create particular artistic effects onstage.

I wonder how much of this is related to the fact that Westerners read from left to right--so that we would interpret movement from stage right to stage left as progress. To pick up on Helene's mention of swans, in the Kirov's Swan Lake the mechanical swans swim from stage right to stage left.

Maybe the rationale was symmetry!

Miss Day accepted me to my very first Summer Intensive at the Washington School of Ballet when I was 13, and she allowed me to continue taking classes and private men's coaching at WSB throughout the year for free. She also gave me the opportunity to perform several times in Washington Ballet productions, and I will always be grateful to her for the part she played in starting me down the road toward a professional-quality ballet education.

I think I see what you mean...for example, why not do, say, Agon entirely to the other side? I don't know, I'm sure it's possible. When a dancer is doing a "trick" step, for example a lot of fouettés, s/he turns to his/her preferred side, and the ballet master or choreographer usually arranges things so that the pirouettes work to either side. When only two or three pirouettes are required, the dancer should turn to the side that suits the choreography, as such a small number of turns is the minimum a professional dancer is expected to be able to do in both directions. As carbro has mentioned, though, certain stars will sometimes change the choreography so that they only turn to their preferred side, occasionally to the detriment of the way the movement flows.

Def Jef, dancers do try very hard to be able to do everything equally well to each side; however it is not possible to make both sides perfectly equal. Even with dancers who are very close to doing everything well on both sides, if they get injured that can throw everything off again. I noticed years ago that at the Washington School of Ballet classes seemed to be divided evenly between people who favored turning to the right vs. left whereas at SAB most people turned better to the right, but I don't know whether that's due to training differences or coincidence. As for asymmetry in ballet, I'm not sure it's possible to make an existing ballet perfectly symmetrical, and that formula could get boring to watch (and dance) if followed too slavishly. For example, if one immediately had to do every step to the other side, it would hamper the choreographer, and having two of every lead dancer would be a little strange as well. Symmetry in ballet is a beautiful thing, but I think we're fortunate choreographers aren't overly scrupulous about it.

Omshanti, I think we agree. One must of course be mentally "present" and aware of every moment when dancing, but it is not possible to think about every tiny thing each muscle is doing. One must have the ability to do ballet steps without thinking about it, but one must be conscious of what one is doing nonetheless. Ballet dancers are trained to do this from the very beginning when they learn how to stand. If one is doing a series of complicated pirouettes or petit allegro, it is not possible to be minutely aware of every aspect of one's posture--the posture just has to happen because the dancer's focus is elsewhere, such as on projecting an emotion.

Considering that dancers are trained for at least eight years before even becoming apprentices, I would say they have quite enough rehearsal to achieve muscle memory that, while not quite identical to walking, gets pretty close in a lot of ways.

Not a clue as far as that goes, unfortunately. No. It can; however, I can do far more grands pirouettes to the right en dehors (standing on my weaker left ankle) than to the left because I spot better to the right.

That depends whether we're talking about en dehors or en dedans Well...to get really picky (and perhaps too BT4D-ish) the force for a pirouette is supposed to come from the back. Obviously some of it comes from the legs, too, but dancers are taught to think of it as coming from the back. So the arms are not really necessary, but the movements the arms make help engage the back in the correct manner for the pirouette.

That's interesting, Buddy, because many dancers would tell you that they pirouette better to the right because they are right handed! However, experience has shown me that hand preference is no guarantee of the direction in which one prefers to turn.

I am about to start teaching at a local summer program, and one aspect of technique that students often struggle with is using their turnout correctly. Usually, they either try to turn out too far and end up rolling (allowing their arches to collapse, the result of turning out the foot but not the entire leg) or they place the foot correctly on the floor but do not engage the most important turnout muscles and only rotate their legs in a vague, passive manner. It usually only gets worse when they raise their legs, especially to the side. I thought up the following exercise to help students both rotate their legs correctly on à terre and en l'air. 1. Put the students in pairs, one student standing with the left hand on the barre, the other student standing at his/her side. 2. Have the student at the barre (Student 1) raise his/her leg to about 45º and have the other student (Student 2) hold Student 1's raised ankle or foot so Student 1 can relax his/her hip joint. 3. Have Student 2 slowly move Student 1's leg as far side as it will go without distortion of the hips and without the leg turning in (that is, with the knee facing the ceiling but not turned forward). 4. Have Student 1 engage his/her turnout muscles and actively rotate the raised leg, again without distortion of the hips. 5. Have Student 2 let go as Student 1 maintains the position, then lowers the leg to first position, keeping the turnout muscles actively rotated. Repeat on the other side using the "active turnout" feeling on the supporting leg. This would require a relatively calm and attentive class to actually do in pairs, although with a less well behaved class a teacher could take on the role of Student 2 and use one student to demonstrate the idea for the class. Obviously this would not work in every situation, but students (especially younger ones) love to work in pairs and one cannot go around correcting every single student individually on exactly the same problem (takes far too much time unless one is working with the students for a series of classes or an entire year). I would love to hear if any other teachers have additional ideas. EDIT: I tried it in class and it worked! To read more, please click here for my thread on BT4D.

That's an excellent point, Helene. The most difficult things to do in ballet are also (seemingly) the simplest.

I would actually compare a dancer to a singer rather than to someone playing an instrument--two pianists can play the same music at the same tempo and sound exactly the same*, but two people singing the same thing will sound different because each voice is unique--and each dancer's body and way of moving is unique. *And yes, they can also sound different depending upon who the pianists are and what sort of piano each is playing, but I'm sure you understand my point.

As far as I'm concerned, Def Jef, you pretty much have it exactly right! Years of very hard work and repetition, on the part of both the teacher and the dancer.

There's nothing wrong with being technically accomplished; you are exactly right--it gives the dancer freedom to be expressive. The problem comes when a dancer ignores expression and focuses on technique as an end in itself...which I think perhaps brings this topic full circle.

Beautifully stated, Leonid.