I started the fall season of ballet lesson. I have been off for several months, so rusty on some things, but it was a newbie class, which was good review. I did ballet consistently last fall and I think my good IMFL race was partially due to this.
I was thinking about ballet's relevance to training and last night I observed that the class is basically 1 and half hours of squats and core work! Plies are basically squats, and releve's works the calves, and the whole time you are supposed to tuck in your hips and suck in your stomach. Also, you know how dancers carry their arms? If you do it correctly, it really works the lats! Then the jumping stuff is basically pylometrics. However, I don't like to look at it like training. The music helps and you are trying to look at pretty and elegant....
From About.com: Why is French the language of ballet?
Answer: French is considered the language of ballet. Many of the terms and steps in ballet come from the French language. King Louis XIV of France loved ballet. He established the first official school of ballet, known today as the Paris Opera Ballet. The names of the steps created by King Louis are still used today.
Stuff I learned (relearned) last night: oh, all of these cute picture taken of artofballet.com
1st 2 basic positions. I did NOT wear a circus-like purple leotard.
Demiplies - half plies.
and Grand plies. How can your legs not get strong doing squats over and over again.
Saute - or jumps. Do you know why it's called sauteeing as in food? because it's fast cooking, such that the food "jumps" around.
Jumping is fun, except we sounded like a bunch of elephants. You are supposed to land softly and quietly - which is the exact same lesson we learned in Pose clinic! See it's all interconnected!
I kinda dress like this last picture - short sleeved black leotard, pink tights, pink ballet shoes. No bows in hair, though.
Other important terms:
tendu: ["stretched"]. This is a very basic barre movement that is used commonly in ballet movement. The tendu is when a dancer pointes out extending out starting from her torso throughout her toes.
Battement: ["kick"] - this a good base word to know because you add other adjectives which change the move. For example, a Battement tendu is a battement where the extended foot never leaves the floor.
A grand battement is a powerful battement action where the dancer takes the leg as high as possible, while the supporting leg remains straight. Those are the only 2 I've learned so far.
Releve': ["lifted"]. Rising from any position to balance on one or both feet on at least demi-pointe which is heels off the floor or higher to full pointe where the dancer is actually balancing on the top of the toes, supported in pointe shoes. Really great calf work!
There's some other move I learned, but can't remember the name of it. It involves pointing the foot, placing it on the shin, moving it up, then down, then tendu out.
your ballet lesson brought to today by jane!
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