Ballet Rocks!
The Foundation of Dance
Ballet dance is the foundation that all other dance forms build their structures on and incorporate ballet’s elements into their moldings. If you were to look closely at the basics of any jazz movement or tap step, you could find ballet technique hidden within its parts. A Broadway or jazz dance auditioner can tell by watching the casting call candidates who has had ballet training by the strength, flexibility, and finesse of their movement. What is it about ballet that makes heads turn? Where did ballet dance come from? What do you wear for a ballet class, and how do you strengthen your own body to participate in ballet dance?
Ballet is graceful, effortless movement that is full of control. It’s a series of turned out moving shapes that defy gravity and balanced poses that stop time. Ballet dance is often set to classical music. There are no words or dialogue to tell a story, but rather lots of pantomime and facial expression to get the message to the audience. More contemporary ballets of our lifetime have included singing, world music, and even silence as the soundtrack. In the early 1990’s Joffrey Ballet went so modern as to create Billboards, an entire evening of dance set to the music of Prince. It was one of the first modern rock music ballet pieces choreographed.
Ballet dance first started in the late sixteenth century in the courts of Italian city states, and its appearance looked nothing like what we see today on stage. Dancing during this time looked more like a series of poses or a parade of wealthy people emulating Greek gods and goddesses in the privacy of the courts. It was a hobby for the elite. Catherine de Medici was responsible for bringing ballet from the Italian courts to France, and King Louis XIV was one of the largest supporters. The aristocracy would wear elaborate, layered costumes and heeled shoes. Their petite footwork was all for show, and these men would rarely break a sweat. As dance moved to the public realm for viewing, women were not allowed to participate. These dances included poetry, music, and dialogue. It wasn’t until the late 1700s that stories and emotion united the dancing. The Romantic Ballet period morphed movement into story ballets. There was a hero, a princess in peril, and more acting onstage. Ballerinas were considered spirits and other worldly beings. Skirts were above the ankle and the romantic tutu, which looked like a puffy cupcake, was born. Women had a bigger role, and the first pointe shoes emerged into the scene, allowing dancers to stand on their toes and be lifted up “ethereally” into the realms of angels. As ballet dance traveled through Europe, its core qualities remained in tact, but different countries added a special touch of their own. A typical ballet class today may include elements from the Russian, French, and Italian schools.
Preparing for a ballet class today starts with your attire. Traditionally, girls wear a solid, black leotard, pink tights, hair in a bun, and pink ballet shoes. There are leather and canvas ballet shoes, and as a teacher, I prefer my students to wear the leather ballet shoes to strengthen their feet by breaking in the leather. Boys wear a white t-shirt, black men’s tights, white socks, and black ballet shoes. Some dance schools have their youngest levels wear only a leotard, socks, and ballet shoes—no tights! That is mainly for the teacher to observe muscle development in their students’ legs. Only the most developed female dancers graduate to the level of pointe shoes. Once we see our middle school aged students coordinate the actions of their leg and foot muscles, we can confidently train them in pointe work.
Preparing one’s body for the rigorous activity of ballet can be explained in three sections: flexibility, turnout, and repetition. Ballet dancers have to be flexible. Simple toe touches done standing or sitting in the pike position with your legs parallel in front of you will lengthen out your hamstrings. Head rolls and shoulder rolls will loosen joints and relax muscles in tense areas. We need our head loose to “spot” pirouettes and our arms ready to move through a phrase of music and coordinate with our footwork. The “cat stretch” on your hands and knees, while arching your back can also increase mobility. Turn out is the outward rotation of your joints and appendages. When you practice the “frog stretch”, you begin on all fours and change the weight distribution from the front of your knee to the inside section of both knees as your hips open up and your knees slide slowly sideways. You rest your weight on your elbows and forearms, as you come off your hands and get closer to the ground. It’s important to initiate turn out from your hip and not your knee or ankle twisting in odd directions. Repetition of the exercises also increases strength. Foot pedals, which are parallel presses from flat feet to the balls of your feet and back down again, can put your focus on alignment. The straight line between your knee and your toes helps you sense all five toes on the ground while monito ring body control. It’s the small movements that are done with great attention that strengthen your body and muscle memory to do these steps effortlessly.
Ballet dance is the foundation of all kinds of dance. It’s the paradox of a look that is effortless and light with the inner work being full of control and sweat inducing. All movement generates from within, and our arms, legs, and expressions grow from our core. Whenever a ballet dancer is falling out of a pirouette or can’t land a jump on balance, they return to the ballet barre and strengthen the basics. They return to their technique foundation to propel forward with their movement. The dance world is constantly changing, but its roots are deep in ballet dance.
Posted in: Moves That Groove
