 VIS - Ballet Department 1st Inter/Adv Balanchine Class (karma: 2)
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By puppies_fly   Comments: 2793, member since Sun Jan 16, 2005On Sat Sep 16, 2006 09:28 PM
Locked by puppies_fly (119454) on 2006-10-29 14:10:59 this class is discontinued, someone else signed up to teach this level. any questions, PM me or join my Performance Group :)
So, here’s the first class. There’s a bunch of introductory stuff here which I really would like for you to read if you have the time. This class is not meant to teach you anything new. That is best left for a teacher in person with you. Anything you have never done at all, omit and move on. If anything hurts more than it should/feels odd/unsure if you’re doing it right, stop and move on to the next exercise. The reason for all of this is that I don’t want you to get injured or learn bad habits. At-home classes are not the time to push limits of your learned technique. Be especially careful en pointe, where the potential for injury is even greater. Arms, unless I specifically give them, are whatever you normally do for that position. Or chose your own, within the limits of classical ballet technique. Just know what you’re doing before you do it. This class is long enough without me typing that all out, I may add more specific arms into later classes. Any questions, PM me or comment on this post. Also, for counts, I use + sign (This is the sign my music theory class uses) to mean ‘and’ so 6+ means the ‘and’ halfway between 6 and 7. And apologies in advance for whatever spelling errors I make, both English and French.
Pointe Policy
I decided not to put in special exercises to do en pointe, beyond some warmups. I know a few people requested this but after a bit of thinking I decided not to for now. The class is at an easy enough level that I think if people have not gotten to the time in their training where they are comfortable with the sort of centre work I gave, that they are probably still at the stage where all of your pointe training remain in a studio under the direct supervision of a teacher. I have designed the center exercises to be danceable either with or without pointe shoes, and you may take them on and off as much as you like if you are comfortable with some but not all of the combinations, since everyone has different strengths. If you’re not sure about something please don’t try it. I know that’s how you learn new things in class, but here there is nobody to correct you. I am very open to suggestions on this policy, so if you don’t agree please let me know why and what you would like me to write instead. Just please don’t get hurt! (you can tell I’m a little paranoid about this)
If anyone has questions, reply here, PM me, or even email (puppies_fly@yahoo.com) and I’ll hopefully get back the same or next day.
First, get your body warm and ready to work. If it’s hot out you may be fine as you are, or else perhaps prance around the room for half a minute, or if you have a pre-class stretch routine do that.
Facing the barre/whatever you have at home, feet parallel, slow counts in 4: Tendu turned in on 1. Turn out the working leg on 2. Turn it in on 3, close on 4. Front, side, and back with the right leg, then a slow rise to relevé for 4 counts, repeat on the left.
Turn out to 1st position (shift your weight to your heels, lift up your toes, open them side, and shift your weight back where it belongs). Tendu on 1, flex on 2, pointe on 3, close 4. Front, side, and back with the right leg, then demi-plié for 4 counts. Repeat on the left. Then relevé, place your arms in 1st position. Once you have your balance, bring them to high 5th, slowly turn your head right, then back to center, then left, then back to center, finish the exercise (roll through plié, don’t just put your heels down straight).
Plié, slow counts in 4: 2 4-count grand plié’s in each of 2nd, 1st, 4th, and 5th positions (in that order). Do not reposition your inside leg when you change positions. If this is already killing you, only do 4th and 5th on the left, and if your legs are shaking consider eating bananas more often (it helps with cramping too). If you don’t feel a thing repeat the exercise for a total of 4 in each position (just be careful). Your eventual goal is 4 slow 8-count grand plié’s in each of these positions.
1st tendu: 1 opening front on 1, plié in 4th on 2, push back to tendu 3, close plié 5th on 4. Tendu still in plié (only straighten the working leg) 5, close in plié 6, sous-sus 7 , plié 8. Do this pattern en croix. In sous-sus only move the foot that is farthest from the barre, regardless of if it is front or back. Although these are slow tendus, the leg should still open and close quickly. Hold it in position for the rest of the count. Remember to still articulate through the foot, but don’t take too much time.
2nd tendu: Each movement (tendu or coupe-change) takes 1 count. 2 front, 1 inside leg back, coupe-change the front foot to the back, 2 side (both changing) 1 inside leg front, coupe-change the back foot to the front. 3 inside leg back, 1 front, 1 side (changing) 3 inside leg front. Reverse.
3rd tendu: as fast as you can with clean technique. One of my teachers likes to say “back when I was a student, when Balanchine taught company class, we would do a thousand tendu’s-- in the snow, uphill both ways.” You don’t have to do quite that many, but there are a lot. 8 fast front, side, back, closing on the beat. grand plié, then again starting in back. Inner thighs are the key to doing this, feel like they are glued to each other at the top. It will help you do them cleaner and faster, but it will hurt more if you aren’t used to it. If your legs are really sore at this pointe you may turn around and go left, but you hopefully can do the entire combination twice with each leg. But please don’t kill yourself.
1st dégagé: tango-type beat in 4. Front on 1, close 5th on 2. Side 3, close back 4. dégagé Back 5, cloche front on 5+ , back on 6, front 6+ , close 5th front on 7, dégagé side changing to 5th back on 8. Repeat starting back, then left side.
2nd dégagé: As fast a possible without sacrificing technique. Facing the barre, in 5th, 8 with the right leg all closing front. Then 8 with the right leg all closing back. Then 4 front, 4 back, 2 front, 2 back, demi plié for 4 counts, start left.
Rond de jambe: In quick 3/4 time. 21 en dehors, brush the foot to tendu front on count 22, brush back on 23, close 5th back 24. The counts might seem strange but I promise they work if you count in 3’s. Then start en dedans. Rond de jambe is the only exception to crossing the foot in front and back. It only goes 45 degrees front and back, but all the way side. The accent is on the side part, so instead of thinking “front, side, back” think “out and around.” These rond de jambes are fast also, which you may not be used to. Be careful to remember to properly cross the tendus at the end, even though the rond de jambs aren’t crossed.
frappé: Fast, 4 beats. In frappé, the accent should be out. The in part (sur le cou de pied) should be as fast as you possibly can. 1 front on 1, hold 2, 1 double back on 3, hold 4, 1 triple side on 5, hold 6 (remember even in a triple you should be as quick as possible) , 2 faster singles side on 7 and 8. then reverse that part. Then one count each frappé: front, side, back, double front. Side, back, double front, side. Back, side, front, double back. Side, front, double back, side. End in a la seconde with the foot about 2 inches off the floor, let go of the barre, bring the foot to sur le cou de pied and relevé (and obviously now it’s ok to keep the foot in for a while).
Stretch: Take at least 5 minutes to stretch. Make sure to prepare for extensions (splits, heel in hand, etc.) and any other stretches you like. Take as long as you want. If you’re planning to take a VIS stretch class, this wouldn’t be a bad time for it as long as you don’t get too tired taking 2 classes in a row.
Fondu and rond de jambe en l’air: We will only be doing fondu développé’s, since that was all Balanchine did in class. They are fairly quick to extend out, and then hold the extension on the rest of the counts. Fondu front counts 1-4 (you should be done moving on 2, and hold the remaining 4 counts), plié in attitude front 5-6, straighten both knees as you grand rond de jambe to the side on 7-8. Repeat side (rond de jambe back), and back (rond de jambe side), then 8 rond de jambes en l’air en dehors. Reverse the entire combination (rond de jambe en’lair en dedans too). If you’re up to it, repeat it all on relevé. Extensions throughout should be high if possible, but placement is of primary importance, and maintain the same height or the whole combination (don’t start out too high and get tired).
Grand battement: These should be very fast going up, and also reasonably fast coming down, but with control, no crashing to the floor. 1 regular grand battement front on 1, 1 with développé on 2, one with envéloppé (opposite of développé-brush straight up, attitude, retiré, to 5th), one more regular on 4. Repeat this pattern en croix.
Centre Always start and end center exercises in croisé 5th. If the start or end in some other position, use the preparation to get there and go back to 5th after the end. It’s good manners.
Tendu: The arms and head for this are what you should use in general for these positions in this class. Memorise them if possible. 8 fast tendu with the right foot croisé front, left arm up and must be crossed over the centre of your head, head turned right and tilted back, looking out over elbow /shoulder but do not look down over the shoulder. Present your left cheek for your (imaginary) PDD partner to kiss. Keep your chest lifted, shoulders open, and perhaps lean the upper back ever so slightly backwards. The arm in 5th will be less in front of the face then you are probably used to. This chest/shoulder/back placement applies all these tendu positions except écarté back and front and back en face. 8 tendu en face front, arms 2nd, head straight front with eyes lifted. 8 effacé front, left arm in 5th but perhaps slightly opened side (not completely centered over your head), head looking out and up with the gaze passing just in front of the elbow. 8 écarté back, still only using the right leg, right arm in 5th, very well crossed over the head, left arm in 2nd, upper body leaning slightly to left side, looking over and beyond left fingers. Repeat with the left leg, switch arms as necessary. Then reverse, head, arm, and upper body placement are the same for front as for back (including the leaning back of the upper body.) Positively no “hiding under your elbow” (tilting the body forward and looking out from under the arm in 5th) The écarté will be front this time. Look up into the distance behind your elbow. Do not tilt your head, just turn it sideways and look up.
Grand battement: 8 side, alternating legs, closing back. Then same, but closing front each time. Do the whole thing twice, first with arms in 2nd and then with arms in high 5th.
Adagio: Whenever you do a développé, unless you are facing en face, you must wrap the foot in sur le cou de pied as soon as it comes off the floor, then proceed up either the front or back, but never side, of the leg to retiré. développé front 4 counts. You should be there by 2, hold for 3 and 4. Grand rond de jamb side and back, counts 5-8 (be moving the whole time and do not let the leg drop). Penché counts 1-4, bring the body back up counts 5-6, relevé still in arabesque at the end of count 6, brush the leg to tendu croisé front on 7, close 5th 8. développé side en face 1-2, hold 3-4, promenade with arms in 5th counts 5-8, end facing downstage left corner. Grand port de bras counts 1-4, then temps lie to the front foot, plié in 4th (back leg straight), and 1 very slow single pirouette en dehors. Start left.
Pirouettes: When doing pirouettes from 4th, the back leg is always straight, both in preparation and landing, en dehors and en dedans. Pirouette from 5th landing in 4th croisé, pirouette to the same 4th, again to 4th, then to 5th en face closing the leg from retiré to the back. Start left. Spot all the turns front. Do any combination of singles/multiples you want, but technique is preferable to number.
Inside pirouette, travels forwards: the pattern is Tendu front croisé on 1, plié in 4th (back leg straight) on 2, turn on 3, land and straighten out of plié on 4. Always spot front, and be careful not to ‘wind up’ (twist your shoulders so they face the side wall) in your preparations. Do this pattern right then left for each of these types of inside turn: retiré front with the leg coming straight to retiré (arms in 1st), attitude back (both arms in high 5th), 1st arabesque, a la seconde with arms in 2nd. Singles, doubles, or triples if you’re a natural turner, but not more than you can do with clean technique. And if you’re a girl who can do triples a la seconde in pointe shoes with clean technique, stop this class, leave your house, and audition for a company contract somewhere. If you can’t do inside turns in all these positions, do the ones you can, but make sure to do 8 turns of any kind on each side.
Menage: this may be done in a straight line across the floor if you can’t do a good circle. Double turns are suggested but clean singles are better than sloppy doubles. Pique turn, double pique turn, pique turn, double ‘lame duck.’ (this seems the most common name). 4 counts of emboité turns in retiré (probably 2 turns, perhaps 4) then 4 counts of faster emboité turns in coupe. 2 soutenu, choice of 4 fast pique or 2 doubles, 4 counts fast emboité in coupe, 4 counts chaîné, finish with a pique to first arabesque and balance.
fouettés: 32 on each side. Pirouettes from 5th if you can’t do good fouettés. If you’re up for a small challenge, try this pattern: single, single, single, double, single, double, single, triple. or a little harder: single, double, double, double, single, double, double, triple. (each of those patterns repeats 4x per leg)
Warm-up jumps: 32 changements. 16 on flat, 16 en pointe if possible, and feel free to throw in a few entrechat quatres (flat or point, if you’ve done them before).
Petite allegro: Every movement gets 1 count. Glissade change, changement, entrechat quatre, sissonne simple (feel free to add a beat), pas de bouree, pas de chat, tonduquis, jeté bateaux.
grand allegro, moderately fast beat in 4 (based on but changed from Balanchine’s Raymonda variations): This is good for those of you with limited space. It travels just as much as any other grand allegro, but the direction you travel is primarily up, not sideways. Every step is one count. Saute arabesque effacé stepping on the right leg, sauté arabesque croisé stepping on the left leg, again on the right, then pas de chat. Pique to retiré on the right foot, then another pas de chat. All this travels right. Then contretemps, and sauté de chat to the left. Repeat the whole thing starting left if you have space, otherwise stop and start again to the left. Leave your arms in 2nd position the whole time except the pique (low 3rd, looking over working leg) contretemps (1st position) and saut de chat (4th position allongé). This is not how the original choreography goes, and it may feel awkward, but it is good to build awareness so that your arms do not flap about unnecessarily, especially in the sauté arabesques. And if you wanted to fly across the room during grand allegro, do tombé pas de bouree, glissade, sauté de chat, contre temps and repeat to the other side. Keep going as long as you want, and have fun with the arms on the sauté de chats.
That’s all till next week, or perhaps 2 weeks, probably mostly depending on whether or not I find anything better to do during physics class than make up class exercises. Hope you liked it, and I would love some feedback since I quite honestly have no clue how to teach a class on the internet. 8 Replies to 1st Inter/Adv Balanchine Class |
