Monday 17 October 2011

11.10.2011 - My weakest link

“Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.” Martha Graham


 In ballet again we had an hour of barre work to prepare our muscles and warm our bodies up for the remainder of the class. I really enjoy the Barre work as it allows me to recognise where my weaknesses really lie. I do think my de jambe en dehors, and rond de jambe en dedans have improved but I am still focusing on maintaining the strength in my feet to fulfil a full circle on the ground with my foot.
 This week we learnt a new jumping sequence which contents was as follows: Glissade, Jete over, Faille, Assemble and then one changement (then repeats to the left)
When we are taught small phrases, I think I can pick up material and choreography quite well. However in Ballet I find it a lot harder to retain the information as I still don’t feel as comfortable in this technique as others. I am working on using my whole foot when practicing jumps, especially in quick paced set sequences such as this one. As it is quick paced I sometimes lose which foot should be leading me and tend to just guess which foot I should be using. I would like to work on achieving the intricacy in the feet work of jumping sequences especially bringing my feet back into fifth position after each jump.
 I also would like to improve on my pirouettes and my landings. At the moment I do believe I use my head to spot well during pirouettes, and the placement of my feet is generally in the right place. I would love to improve on my pirouettes especially when attempting a double or triple. I will try to achieve this in the preparation exercise remembering to bring my legs in straight from the tendu up to the retiré devant then after the second tendu remember plié just before I attempt to pirouette. Both is elements are key in this exercise, and hopefully it will help me improve when practicing pirouettes across the room.
When leaving Shaun’s ballet classes I am still feeling a sense of achievement as again ballet is for me ‘stepping out of my comfort zone’. However I thoroughly enjoy the class as like many others it pushes me to really persevere to achieve the best of my ability.

This video highlights a pirouette on my right and left side. I know I need to focus on my spotting and choose one single spot to use in stead os several. I would also like to work on my foot placement.

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