I want to make sure to my readers, that with this post, I
don’t over simplify dance technique, timing and hard work when it comes to
the level of fluidity that professional dancers have achieved. That being said, I do feel there are three
tactical areas (all starting with the letter B) for any dancer looking to take
their dancing to the next level that they should always keep in mind while in
class to help make their dance steps more advanced. It’s not the easiest to incorporate these at
first, but I encourage students after providing them an exercise to
deliberately think about where the three B’s can be implemented in the exercise
and perform them when executing the steps.
Even without an instructor prompting this question, you can also just
think about it yourself as you are absorbing the exercise during the verbal
instructions or demonstration. If you
are in the center or going across the floor, it is more advantageous to be in a
second group or one of the last to go across the floor in order to really think
about all the ways you can add in one or more of the three B’s:
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| Dancer/ Model: Elliana F. |
1) Balance Balancing as much of
your moves as possible is the first step in gaining more advanced technique
with your dance steps. The first place
to employ this is at the barre by taking your hand off it every once in awhile
to make sure you really are on the correct weight for the dance step, or that you
are able to rise to a relévé position without the assistance of holding onto
the barre and then testing your balance after several adjustments while already
in relévé or en pointe. Another place to
utilize balance is in adagio and across the floor work. When given some choreographic sequence, when
there is timing with the music and counts given by the instructor and step
opportunity, such as a piqué arabesque or at the end of a promenade or penché
or any développé, include a balance on relévé and/ or extend a balance. Balance, as related here, also extends to
tackling multiple turn pirouettes. If
you are used to singles and do them cleanly, start doing doubles. If you execute double turns with proper
technique, start working on triples, whether on flat and en pointé. Also work on being able to balance at the end
of your multiple turns to extend the moment of the finish and make it even
cleaner.
2) Battu
Battu, or “beating”
your jumps is another area to incorporate as much as possible during class
time. If you are relatively new to battu
allegro, and it stills feels like you’re flailing or mimic a fish out of water,
remember that battu occurs with the beating of the upper thighs together
(criss-cross) while in the air of the jump.
Two mistakes I see new battu students making: 1) They try to beat their
ankles instead because that’s where the movement has the most visual impact,
but you want to focus on feeling the upper thighs do the beating action and 2)
Students are not putting in enough effort to jump high enough to accommodate
the full battu movement in their jumps.
To gain a better feel for the movement of battu, the best method I ever
used was to practice on a mini-trampoline to get the extra height to a
jump. I would not recommend a larger,
backyard trampoline though just because the suppleness of the mesh is usually
more powerful and it’s easy to land incorrectly when you are not familiar with
movements and inadvertently cause an injury.
Another method, is to do a battu movement in ‘slow motion’ while
propping yourself up on the barre or over a counter or heavy piece of furniture
of a usable height. Although it’s more
widely used with male jumps, battu can be incorporated into grande allegro as
well. In your next class, try a single beat jeté en tournant entrelacé/ tour jété.
3) Battement
Utilizing battements on
your jumps and ‘saut de’ jumps is another area where you can show some advanced level dancing.
For example, a slight
battement to saute arabesque on the supporting leg or a slight battement to
both legs in á la seconde on a saut de basque are excellent ways to set
yourself apart from other dancers who are not putting in the same energy level
for these movements and add flair to your performance. Another impressive advance use of battement
in grande allegro is also with the jeté en tournant entrelacé/ tour jeté, where
you do a final slight battement to the front leg just before landing. At the barre, the utilization of battement
extends beyond that of grande battements.
We should all know as basic technique that on énveloppés or fondues, the
knee should not drop on the retraction.
But it is also a sign of an advanced dancer who takes it one step
further and actually lifts the leg slightly higher as they retract from the turned
out knee.
Using any of these
methods should be done so with consideration and respect for the instructor’s
choreography and timing. While I am
confident that under most circumstances, your teachers will appreciate the play
with the levels and pushing yourself to make an exercise as advanced as
possible, you do want to be cognizant of not getting so wrapped up in advancing
the exercises that you warp them from what the instructor wants and is trying
to work on during the lesson. With holding
balances, make sure you are not off on your timing and musicality for the rest
of the choreography. Utilizing the three
B’s in an audition is also somewhat risky.
Be sure you take the “temperature of the audition” before altering steps
and timing. Sometimes it is entirely
appropriate to demonstrate your abilities in a more advanced manner, but other times,
auditioners want to see just the basics and clean technique without anything
extra to muddy up the process of comparison and selection.
