HOLIDAYS!!!

Your beloved ballet blogger will be taking a break for the holidays! Come back on Friday, January 8th for more ballet brilliance. In the meanwhile, take an evening to head out to your favorite local ballet company's performance of The Nutcracker for a heaping helping of snowflakes and sugar plums! Here are a few of my favorites (with hyperlinks):

Los Angeles Ballet
New York City Ballet
Richmond Ballet
Joffrey Ballet
Texas Ballet Theatre

Happy Holidays, everyone!!!

Développé - The presentation of "Le Foot"

THE TECHNICAL STUFF

Développé [dayv-law-PAY] is the shortened version of the longer official term "temps développé", meaning "time developed". The movement starts from one of the five positions and the working leg draws up the standing leg, passing through either conditional cou-de-pied or sur le cou-de-pied, then through retiré (passé-ing through retiré, in fact), and finishing in an extended expression of the straight leg and pointed foot to the front, back, side, or corner. The working leg then usually lowers back to the ground, passes through tendu, and finishes in one of the five positions. Often, though, once the working leg is développé-ed, other fun things can happen in the air!


WHY WE DO IT
Développé is the "strength builder" of the ballet vocabulary. Depending on the dancer's flexibility, développé can be extremely difficult to hold for long (or even sometimes short) periods of time. But, like most things that are not easily attained, développé is both beautiful and is seen by most to be one of the most graceful and impressive steps in ballet. It's also a really fun party trick.


HOW TO DO IT BETTER

• When performing a développé, it's generally helpful to think of the KNEE leading the charge toward a lengthened leg. If you can get your knee up super high, the lower half of your leg should follow! If not, then your hamstrings are too tight to permit the lengthening of your leg OR you lack the strength to hold your leg as high as it can stretch. If you can hold your leg higher with your hand than without, it's a strength thing. KEEP WORKING!!

• Many dancers "crunch" forward when performing développé deviant (to the front). While it may gain you a few extra inches on the height of your leg, it's probably going not-so-great things to your standing leg. If you're any kind of turned out, this contraction of the core either wrenches your knee to a place that is not over your toe (and, thus, isn't safe) OR it's making your standing knee bend which basically renders your slightly higher leg null and void.

• KEEP SMILING! This sounds silly, but many dancers look like they'd rather be doing ANYTHING else other than développé when they're doing it. Yes, it hurts. Yes, it's hard. But so is pretty much everything else in ballet, so grin, bear it, and turn out!

Photo Credit: John Manning

Dancers (L-R): Caitlyn Faucher, Sydney McPherson, Hannah Russell, Giana Forgione

Fondu

[fawn-DEW], officially “sinking down”, is referred to by most dancers as “the melting step”. Probably because we all know and love to eat cheese and chocolate  fondu. Fondu is the equivalent of a one-legged plié – starting generally from fifth position, the working leg moves to conditional cou-de-pied while the standing leg bends simultaneously. Both legs then extend at the same time to either a dégagé, ninety degree, or higher extension of the leg. Fondu can also refer to a slow and controlled landing from a jump or partnered lift. 

Why we do it

Fondu is a great step to unfold or grow into a fully extended position. Fondu as a landing (rather than the step) is the most ideal way to land from a jump because it decreases unneeded impact on the knees, hips, and ankles. Well, and all of the joints in general. The beginning of the fondu step is also the most stable position for balance on the standing leg. A bent standing leg can compensate for alignment that is less than ideal and can allow for adjustment of balance between movements.

How to do it better

• Many dancers tend to sink backward when performing fondu devant and à la seconde. Be sure to think of pulling up along the front of your body below your belly button as you plié. And don’t let your junk fall out of your trunk.
• While it is fairly easy to bend both legs at the same time during the first half of fondu, most dancers do not lengthen both legs at the same time on the extension of the legs. Because the working leg has a significantly longer distance to cover, most dancers end up straightening their standing leg much faster than their working leg. Don’t do that.
• When you’re fondu-ing, make sure that your upper body does not cave or slump. Try fondu with your back against a wall and keep the back of your shoulders attached the entire time. 

Photo credit: John Manning

Dancers (L-R): Katy Nicholson, Caitlyn Faucher, Emma Touhey

Cou-de-pied

[coo-duh-PYAY] refers to the section of the lower leg between the heel and the bottom of the calf. Officially “neck of the foot”, this position is generally lumped into the phrase sur le cou-de-pied (on the neck of the foot) and refers to the position in which the working foot is wrapped around this area, heel in front of the leg and toes behind the leg. 

Cou-de-pied also refers to the position that most Americans think of as “coupé”. In the devant (or front) pointed sur le cou-de-pied position, the smallest toe touches the front of the lower shin and the heel presses toward the front while in the derrière (or rear) basic cou-de-pied posiiton, the inside of the heel rests below the standing calf and the toes actively rotate away from the working leg. 

AND that crazy un-ballet-like position from which most dancers frappé? Guess what? That’s also sur le cou-de-pied. But officially, it is called “conditional sur le cou-de-pied”. Devant and derrière.

Bonus geeky stuff: In the Cecchetti method, sur le cou-de-pied is a similar but lower position in which the toes and bottom of the ball of the foot rest on the floor. 

Why we do it

Cou-de-pied is the starting and finishing position of numerous more advanced movements. Battements fondus, développés, frappés, battements soutenus, sauté de basque, and many more. Other than the five basic positions, cou-de-pied is the most used preparatory position for dynamic movement. Correct execution also forces dancers to further engage turn out muscles as the leg lifts from the floor.

How to do it better

• In order to correctly wrap the foot, the peroneus longus muscle, or the muscle on the outermost part of the lower leg. Grab a theraband and wrap it around the outer part of your foot, hold it inside with your hand, and move your ankle and foot from inside to outside for a few tries. That burning sensation? Your peroneus longus.
• Cou-de-pied starts in the rotation of the ENTIRE leg from the hip joint. Many dancers erroneously attempt to perform cou-de-pied from the knee down. Which is NOT good for the knees!
• Don't sickle!!! That's good advice in life in general, but SPECIFIALLY in cou-de-pied devant (front) it's super easy to do so. So . . . don't. 

Photo credit: John Manning
Dancers (L-R): Julia (Juju) Lotz, Sydney McPherson, Katy Nicholson

Sous-sus

Sous-sus [soo-SEW], or under over, refers to the movement of the feet from fifth position à terre to a position sur les pointes with feet and legs as close together as possible. (Think, ballerina inside the music box.)  Sous-sus can be performed en place (not traveling) or moving forward, side, or backward and it is generally done in a quick snatching motion upward.

Bonus Extra Geeky Stuff
Officially, sous-sus is only a Cecchetti step. The French folks and the Russian folks refer to it as the reverse - sus-sous (over under). All of the versions of the step are performed in pretty much the same manner, BUT if the feet cross so that the front foot completely covers the back, it’s called temps cou-de-pied (time neck of the foot). VERY few people use this term, so it’s a great way to impress your other geeky ballet buddies.


Why We Do It

Sous-sus (or sus-sous) is . . .well . . .pretty. It is the ballet movement in which the body is at its most lengthened (vertical) position . . . and who doesn’t want to look super tall and thin, right? In short, it is the ballet equivalent of a sensible four-inch heeled pair of Louis Vuittons without the price tag. Sous-sus is also a great “ta da” at the end of a variation – like a gymnast at the end of a routine.

How to do it even better

• Most dancers tend to think mostly of the feet and ankles when sous-sus-ing which causes the knees to slightly soften. The softer the knee, though, the less stable the balance. The old “twenty dollar bill between the thighs” trick works wonders for remedying this! 
• When performing most relevés, less advanced dancers arch their lower backs ever so slightly. This is most prominent in sous-sus. Check yourself out from the side (or, even better, have a friend watch you). Slight arch? If so, think of actively lengthening the lower back AS you relevé. This not only corrects your alignment as you perform the step, but it also more than likely has engaged your lower abdominal muscles and will improve your overall balance. Two-fer!
• Please, pretty please don’t catch air on your way up to sous-sus. Rock a sensible sliding or snatching movement rather than a slight jump. Why? First of all, it’s not correct. Second of all, it’s really bad for your knees. And lastly? The force of the small jump causes a very unseemly rippling jiggling effect in the rest of your body. Not cute at all. 

Photo Credit: John Manning
Dancer: Erica Cohen

Ronde de Jambe - The Big D

THE TECHNICAL STUFF

Rond de jambe (/ˌrän də ˈZHämb/), officially "round" or "circle of the leg", connects the "dots" of tendu front, side, and back (or back, side, and front). Keeping the knee straight, the leg slides to tendu front, then to side, then to back, and then returns to first (or fifth) position. This rond de jambe (front to back) is called "en dehors" (rhymes with "open the door"). Rond de jambe back to front is called "en dedans" (rhymes with "John"). There are three kinds of rond de jambe:

• À terre (on the ground or - officially "down") - the tip of the working leg touches the ground as the leg circles in a semi-circular movement
• En l'air (in the air) - the leg is lifted to the side to either dégagé height or 90 degrees (hip height) and a small, oblong circle is made with the lower leg (not moving the leg from the knee to the hip). 
• Grand rond de jambe en l'air ("great round leg in the air") - the working leg is extended as far as possible from the ground and moved in a semi-circular pattern, either front to back or back to front

WHY WE DO IT

Rond de jambe begins the transition at the barre from linear movement to more fluid, larger movement. Rond de jambe is also an effective way to gain momentum before a large jump or turn. Physiologically, this movement acts to loosen the hip socket and to transition at the barre from movements that require less flexibility to movements that require more.


HOW TO DO IT BETTER

• When executing rond de jambe, imagine your toe drawing the shape of a capital "D" on the floor below you with the tip of your toes. The point of the imaginary letter should be either directly in front of the heel of your other foot (American - Balanchine) or directly in front of where your toe was in first position (Russian - Vaganova). EITHER WAY, the inclination is to round out the corners of your "D" and make the circle of the leg smaller. DON'T do that! Keep your D intact!

• PREVENT INJURY!! Make sure to get your heel down on the ground when passing through first position (consecutive ronds de jambe - see that cool pluralization? - always pass through first position). Your achilles tendons will thank you when you're over 30. 

• Rond de jambe should feel expansive, grand, and regal. Whatever that means to you, it's probably right. The end. 

Photo: John Manning

Dancers (L-R): Sydney McPherson, Giana Forgione, Hannah Russell

Dégagé - Dynamic disengagement

Dégagé [dā-ˌgä-ˈzhā] means to "disengage" (like we do with negative people, right?). It is also sometimes referred to as "pas dégagé" (disengaging step). Dégagé is the same general movement as tendu (see previous blog), except a few inches off the floor (thus, "disengage"). And it's generally more dynamic. Depending on the style of ballet you're doing, the full realization of dégagé is either two inches off the floor, half-way between the floor and your knee, or on the same level as your knee (don't worry - your teacher will tell you which). Dégagé can either be done with an accent in (meaning spending more time in one of the five positions) or out (spending more time with the leg out in the extension of the dégagé), though the more common accent for the step is in.

WHY WE DO IT

Dégagé is the second preparation in the traditional sequence of ballet exercises for center jumps (the first being plié). By extending a fully straight leg with an lengthened ankle and pointed foot, you prepare to shift weight from your standing leg to the extended leg. It is also part of the progression from tendu (on the floor) to grande battement (ideally, head-height - stay tuned for that one!)

Dégagé is also a great warmup for your adductor muscles (think ADD the legs together), the muscles on your inner thigh that aid in quick movement and transitions!

HOW TO DO IT BETTER

• Depending on whether the accent of your dégagé is in or out, pretend there is a large rubber band attaching your ankles together (accent in) or a very sticky wall in front of, behind, or beside you (accent out) to make your dégagés more dynamic and exciting.

• When finishing your dégagé, either in first or fifth, think of pushing away from the floor to make room for your very long leg to close back into position. Basically, growing out of the floor like a tree (that has very long, stabilizing, invisible roots!)

• Depending on your ballet class, dégagés can be very fast. The more compact your muscles and efficient your movement, the quicker you can be. For instance, hummingbirds move much more quickly than pigeons. (And they're WAY cuter).