Ok so this year at my studio I have taken back control. I have made it a point to make all of my competition teams students take two technique classes and one acro class along with the rest of their classes. I would like to focus on expanding and strengthening their turns and leaps base. In one of the 5-7 year old technique classes I am focusing on prep's for turns and basic turn position such as core arms and legs. This is working very well. I am having trouble with leaps trying to get them to understand to stretch their legs in their leaps. I have worked extensively on splits to help improve their flexability and I am happy to report that every student in the class has at least one side all the way down and several have all three splits all the way down. When we get to the leap section of the class I become disappointed that the leaps are slow to be improving. Right now we are still on grande jete's and I would like to be moving into surprise leaps and leaps in second, but I am hitting a brick wall.Please any advice on excercises or techniques you have used to teach these leaps.?.?.?

What is a surprise leap?

I've learned that suprise leaps are chasse to the side facing upstage, then SUPRISE! the dancer turns forward to hit the leap.

I've heard some people call switch leaps - suprise leaps too...

In my own experience, I found that working low and small to start, is the key.

I found that having them not work on height of the leap or legs, but rather just doing them small and working on body placement and stretching the legs and feet and then slowly allowing more height. Sometimes they are too busy worried about getting up high and letting the technique be lost.

vista5 wrote:

What is a surprise leap?

An example -

www.youtube.com . . .

I work like JLL and go for stretched legs and pointed toes first before height.

I also generally work battements across the floor both forward and backward and have them focus on the extension through the legs and feet right before we jump.

Sometimes when they are that young, they are not aware of what it feels/looks like when they are fully extended, so sometimes I will have everyone stand with me at the back of the room as each dancer leaps and ask them "were both of her legs stretched?" and let them note what it looks like when they are and are not stretching the leg.

I wouldn't start surprise leaps yet, but I see no reason why you couldn't start playing with leaps in second. At very young ages I will have them just practice making the shape in the air by using a partners back, just like in cheerleading. One partner leans over and the other holds the base of her back and does three sautes into an straddle jump. It can help them get the idea of what it should look like when in mid jump and gives them the air time to fully extend the legs/feet.

Also, when doing battements across the floor, first do them with regular steps, then plié and straighten the supporting leg on the battement, then progress to full relevé on the battement and last, have them sauté on the battement. This will help them feel working on stretching the most important leg, the one that will give them height on their leaps.

I had a teacher tell our class that when your leg is straight it feels like someone is pulling your leg. I can really feel that, so I line kids up at the barre and have them lift to arabesque (flat footed) then I give a gentle pull on their leg. Most kids get that and then can recreate that feeling on their own.

with my little ones, i find using manipulatives works best. they arent quite able to understand how to battement their legs into a leap and just push. i totally agree with the above posters about explaining posture, etc. however i also got a set of those cardboard blocks that look like bricks andi stack them tall and wide (depending on the progress they are making- you can expand it and make it bigger over time as they get better)and make probably 3 or 4 little buildings on the floor that they can not knock down. it has worked tremendously. if you dont want to get the blocks, shoes or even paper towels stacked up works well too. then they understand they have to kick their back leg up too otherwise it will knock everything down. it makes it fun and it really does work!!
let me know how everyones suggestions work out! good luck!

Have them understand how to push off the floor with the foot-not just the knee. I have mine do lots of sautes at center pushing through the foot, and then we do kind of skips across the floor, but the focus is on the push from the foot and the height-I don't worry about arms, etc.

Also--ALWAYS make them focus up. I don't know how many times I say "is there a hole in the floor that you're watching for?" The leap is supposed to go up, so why do they look down? Beats me. Also, if they lean forward from the torso, their leap will shorten.

From the skips we go to battements across the floor with a saute. I also put in however I plan the arms to go. We don't worry about the back leg extending, but I focus on looking up, keeping the chest high, pushing off the back leg, and a big battmeent, forward thrust with the working leg.

Unlike the other posters, I would opt for suprise leaps before I do leaps in second. They're essentially just like a grand jete, or developpe leap, only the change direction. I have trouble getting my little ones to keep their hips under them standing in second, let alone leaping that way-I don't teach anything except the standard 'leap/grand jete' until the 9-year-old class. But yours might be more advanced than mine in the hip placmenent category Just last night, I was saying to my 7 year olds 'Why do you keep sticking your tush out when you plie in 2nd. Are you wrestlers?" Um. Anyway, for leaps in 2nd have them go to the barre and do a battement to the side and again push with their standing FOOT in a saute, then I have them open their leg a bit like you do in sissonne, then work the other leg, then with the brush or developpe, whichever you're doing. I think the developpe I like better, is easier, but that's just me.

Yes, that is something that I am finding with the kids that I am teaching now. They do not focus up. Every leap the heads drop so I am working on that with the kids that I have, in my limited amount of time with them.

Honestly. YOu know how you 'learn' new things all the time. I've noticed with my students--all of them pretty much--they look down the entire class. I've been teaching since 1990 and, duh, you think I'd have noticed. Well. Usually we have a room with mirrors, and within the last 2 years we got a bigger room, but the mirrors stayed in the room we use for little kids now. That might be a big part of it. They cast their eyes down--like where the floor meets the wall--even for stretches and center combos and barre. So, I've become a real 'eyes up' nag.

I would have them do toe touches before second leaps. I say this because I could not stand to look at them flailing across the floor trying to do seconds... ugh.. ha ha. My girls were not using their legs on leaps as they needed so I have them put hands behind their back to leap... I also had them place an apple under their chin to hold head up... they got a great chuckle as apples go flying... I would teach what we call a reindeer leap... front leg bent and back leg straight... so they get the back leg off the ground.