What is a Piqué Turn? Generally when a dancer is asked to perform a piqué turn in class, he/she understands that it is likely they are being asked to perform a traveling turn that begins with a step onto a straight leg, as demonstrated at the start of this combination (note: this video is an [...]
A Jeté That’s Truly Grand
January 11, 2009 By 5 Comments
Talking Technique
December 18, 2008 By Leave a Comment
There are several posts here at Dance Advantage that offer understanding and tips on certain technical elements of dance. So far, I’ve offered a smattering of the basics. More recent posts have received quite a few hits but some older posts have gotten buried along the way. Because I think all of these posts could [...]
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Turnout – Part I
October 10, 2008 By 1 Comment
Although we sometime use the word turnout as a noun or a position (i.e. “Your turnout could be better.”), it is more appropriately thought of as an action, a verb. Because outward rotation is not the body’s natural state, the work does not stop once the position or desired degree of rotation has been attained. Instead, outward rotation of the hips requires continual action within the body, even when the rotation is held in a position (like ballet 5th).
Vertically Challenged: Improving Your Jumps
August 18, 2008 By 4 Comments
The secret to jumping is not so secret, it is the same hard work that goes into most everything in dance: proper alignment, solid technique, and practice, practice, practice! These thorough, step-by-step pointers, however, will help you as you practice vertical jumping and can even be applied to traveling jumps or leaps.
Classic Confusion
July 7, 2008 By 3 Comments
What is classical dance? The most inclusive definition I’ve found is used throughout K-12 educational documents and refers to classical dance as: “Dance that has been developed into highly stylized structures within a culture. Generally developed within the court or circle of power in a society.” Rooted in Europe, ballet would probably be considered the [...]
Sickling and Rolling In
June 24, 2008 By 24 Comments
The terms sickling and rolling in are often used in dance classes to define issues with ankle alignment. However, I have found that many students do not have a clear understanding of the actions of the ankle and foot and, therefore, do not know how to correct these issues when asked. I hope this post [...]
What is Modern Dance?
June 18, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Battement
May 15, 2008 By 1 Comment
I’m sure that students reading this blog have used or heard the term battement before. If grand battement immediately comes to mind, I’m not surprised, as the word battement is commonly dropped from the name of other familiar terms. A mother, father, brothers, grandparents, uncles, all share a family name. In a similar way battement [...]
Plié
April 9, 2008 By 4 Comments
I’ve heard somewhere that the beginning is a very good place to start. So let’s start with the alpha and omega of all dance movements – the plié. Plié means “Bent, bending. A bending of the knee or knees.” Here is the full definition of plié found at the ABT (American Ballet Theatre) ballet dictionary. [...]
What Is My Core or Center?
April 8, 2008 By 9 Comments
What is my centre? An article called Dancing from the Centre, talks about this sometimes confusing term and offers several tips for “finding” your center. This bit that gives some insight about what a teacher usually means when he/she talks of the centre. I have discovered there are several terms used to talk about this [...]
