First Ballet-Class Video (Mid-Term)

 On October 11th, 2012 our Ballet class watched the video of our first Mid-Term of the semester. We were asked to watch the class in general but mainly ourselves. Watching past videos as well as this one has helped me see some things that I feel and need to work on as well as the things I have improved.

 Sometimes I saw myself bending my knees slightly. Moreover, it is not about gripping but elongating the legs. When Cambre I saw that I was starting a habit of tilting to one side when shoulders need to be in a straight line with each other and the arm on fifth should not be the reason to twist. I observed that my arms on fifth need to be more rounded instead of almost being straight up. I saw sometimes tension on my shoulders when going through an exercise. When I Grand Battement en avant the hip does not move, it stays square and I saw a wrong hip placement. When I did Pirouette preparation I tent to wind up a little bit before turning instead of using more plié and I feel it happening more when I Pirouette en dehor. The leg in Arabesque is behind my head, not to the side. In Grand Allegro I need to have more control of arms. I have to remember that feet and arms are to opposite things in my body that work differently. Arms work as being delicate and graceful when feet work as being sharp, strong and fast.

 I really enjoy watching myself and the class when we have opportunities like this because I learn a lot from my mistakes and other classmate’s mistakes. In conclusion, watching videos is the best prove of my strengths and weaknesses.

Ballet Video Class

           On September 4th of 2012 our Ballet class sat in a classroom to watch ourselves in a video recorded the last class we attended. Us students had to watch, analyze, and make corrections by annotating while observing the video. I personally was not on the video but I did applied some notes to myself by watching the other students. In general, the class needs to be more synchronized, specially the arm movements that most of the time get mix up by other different movements. Balancing in any position looks and feels harder because the weight shift is far back and the is not engagement of the torso. I saw a lot of arm placement just passing through the position instead of sending the energy through the fingertips and giving life to make move softer and easier. Tondus, pasees, queue de pies were sequel ed and to make it easier to come down from any position, toe, ball, heel is crucial. When closing in any position the class needs to brush through the floor. When doing a cambree the head should be slightly to the side to prevent damage to the neck and go back as farther as possible. In any combination in the bar or in the center following the rhythm of the music and graving every movement until the last minute gives more stability to the body to keep the energy level until class ends. A lonchee is a soft movement that sometimes can be a little stronger but we always have to make sure to not flit the hands because it looks aggressive and sloppy. The accent in batu is out. When we fondu we have to use all the counts and remember that both opposite legs come and go at the same time. Spotting on pirouettes makes them easier then they are because spotting gives force and firm stability. When tandu we need to make sure to have both legs straight. Arms are falling behind when beginning a pirouette. Promenades are not done hopping on the supporting leg but passing through with mini steps to get to the other position. When doing arabesque the supporting leg needs to be turn out, the other leg behind our head and hips square to the front. In the center, when doing petite allegro there is not a lot of traveling because the word says fast and small and the arms should be used as followed. This class video was very helpful for me because I always find something new about every dance mate and that also can be helpful for my body alinement in general.

Arabesque

Arabesque is one of the basic poses in Ballet. Arabesque takes its name from a form of Moorish ornament. In ballet it is a position of the body, in profile, supported on one leg, which can be straight or on demi-plié, with the other leg extended behind and at right angles to it, and the arms held in various positions creating the longest line from the fingertips to the toes. The shoulders must be held square to the line of direction.

There are different types of Arabesques. In first arabesque the body is held upright from the waist and is supported on a straight leg with the other leg extended and at right angles to the supporting leg. The shoulders are square to the line of the arms extended. In second arabesque the arms are reversed so that the forward arm is the opposite of the supporting leg. The head is slightly inclined and turned toward the audience. In third arabesque both arms are extended forward to the side of the supporting leg. The fingertips of the arm farther from the audience are in a lone with the center of the space between the eyes while the arms nearer the audience are in a line with the shoulders. In fourth arabesque the supporting leg is nearer the audience and is in demi-plie. The arms and head are in the third arabesque with the arm farther from the audience being the higher. In fifth arabesque the arms and head are in the third arabesque with the arm farther from the audience being the highest. The supporting leg is the leg nearer the audience and is in demi-plie. The fourth and fift arabesques are usually taken facing the right front corner of the room if the supporting leg is the left or facing the left front corner if the supporting leg is the right.

Different types of Glissade

Glissade is a Ballet step that is done by sliding side to side brushing feet to the floor. Glissade is a terre which is a step that is used to link other steps. After doing a demi-plie in fifth position the working foot slides along the floor, brushing the floor to a strong point a few inches from the floor. The other foot then pushes away from the floor so that both knees are straight and both feet are strongly pointed from a moment. The weight is shifted to the working foot with a fondu.

There are six glissades, devant derriere, dessous, dessus, en avant, en arriere. Devant means in front so it implies that the working foot is closed in the front. Derriere means in the back and it means that the working foot is closed in the back. Dessous means under and it indicated that the working foot passes behind the supporting foot. Dessus means over which is that the working foot passes in front of the supporting foot. En avant means forward and it is the direction from the execution of the step used to indicate that a given step is executed moving forward, toward the audience. En arriere means backward, it indicated that the step executed moves away from the audience.