Tendu - STRETCH it out

Tendu [tahn-DEW] officially relates to a movement that is stretched or held. In ballet, it refers to the sliding of the foot (with the knee straight) to a fully lengthened leg, stretched top of the ankle, and pointed foot. The step's official full name is BATTEMENT TENDU ("stretched beating"), but most teachers shorten it to just "tendu" (likely because it sounds significantly less violent). A tendu is generally done to the front, side, or back, but one can tendu in any direction and it is the starting and ending point for many more advanced steps. 

BONUS GEEKY STUFF: There are SO many kinds of battement tendus in the ballet vocabulary - Battement tendu jeté, Battement tendu jeté balancé, battement tendu jeté balançoire, battement tendu jeté en cloche, battement tendu jeté pointé, battement tendu pour batterie, and battement tendu relevé. Don't worry. We'll get to them all. (Though you'd think those ballet-step-naming folks would get a little more creative). 

WHY WE DO IT

Isn't it weird that when we wake up in the morning and "stretch", we actually contract our muscles rather than stretch them? And when we stand up from our desks at work and "stretch our legs", it's generally the same thing - contracting our muscles for a bit and then releasing them. (That's pretty much the opposite of actual stretching, people.) But, while tendu is considered the "stretching step", its main purpose is to warm up the muscles in the thigh and calf (and standing gluteus maximus if you're doing it correctly) through contracting (or engaging) them. 

Tendu is also part of many other, more fancy-pants ballet steps as well. For instance, you tendu on the way to and from a grand battement. 

***Note: If you want to become more proficient at your approach to a ballet step, consider what smaller steps it's made of!

HOW TO DO IT BETTER

• Most teachers, when correcting a lackadaisical tendu, will use the term "pull up".  The better option is to "press away" from the floor. By pressing your full weight into the floor, your upper body automatically gets longer, and you perform the stretch more effortlessly.

• Make sure, when you tendu, that your hips stay stable (and don't stretch outward along with your leg). Imagine that your hip bones (formed by your ilium, ischium, and pubis bones - if you want to get all technical), are the headlights of a car. No matter where the car turns, the headlights stay stable and shine directly forward and parallel to the ground (unless you need some serious auto repairs).

• Tendu to the side, unless you have perfect 180 degree turnout (meaning your toes, feet, and knees EASILY make a straight line from side to side in first position), should be slightly in front of your body. Your tendu to the side should more or less follow the line of your natural turnout which, for most people, will put it just in front of your shoulder. If you tendu too far toward the rear of your body, the working hip will begin to rotate toward the center of your body and you lose the alignment of your hips as well as some turnout. Also, it just looks weird.

Photo credit: John Manning

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