Professional advice for dancers & teachers
Begin in 5th position
1-2 Grand battement à la seconde close 5th back
3-4 Grand battement inside leg front close 5th front
5-7 Grand battement derrière, en cloche battement thru 1st to front, en cloche to
battement back
8 Close 5th back
1-8 Repeat from back
1-16 Repeat all
1-3 Grand Battement front, lower to point tendu, close 5th (arm 5th en haut)
4-6 Repeat side
1-6 Repeat back and side
1-2 Grand Battement front, close 5th (arm 5th en haut)
3-4 Grand Battement side, close 5th back (arm 2nd)
5-6 Grand Battement back, close 5th (arm to arabesque)
1-5 Cloche Battement with inside leg fbfbf
6 Close 5th position front
1-24 Repeat all from back
If you haven’t yet discovered the piano music of Gill Civil, then you’re in for a treat! Here you can find two musical selections for grand battement in 4/4 to go along with the combination below. One is called Cavalcade, the other is Jubilee Stride. These are from her album called Dancing Keys 2.
5th position at the barre
1 Tendu devant (front)
2 Lift to grand battement devant
3 Lower to point tendu devant
4 Close 5th position
5-6 Grand battement front, close 5th
&7 Passé close 5th back
&8 Degagé side and close 5th front
1-7 Repeat side
&8 Degagé back, close 5th back
1-16 Repeat all from back
Repeat a second time with pirouette from 5th instead of passé
Music available from http://pianomusicforballet.com
Having a pianist accompany your ballet class adds an element of liveliness that you just can’t get from a recording. I plan on interviewing some folks who accompany ballet classes for a living, but for now I wanted to share some things I learned today.
The definition of Mazurka (in Polish, mazurek) is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the second or third beat. (wikipedia.org)
There’s a blog post here by Jonathon Still about about using the mazurka in place of a waltz for some ballet combinations. He even points accompanists to a website with American Memory Sheet music where you can search for and find sheet music.
And here is a combination that would go well with a mazurka!
1-3 Grand battement devant, lower to tenu close 5th (arm 5th en haut)
4-6 Repeat to the side (arm 2nd)
1-6 Repeat back and side to complete en croix (arm arabesque, side)
1-2 Grand battement devant, close 5th (arm 5th en haut)
3-4 Grand battement side, close 5th back (arm 2nd)
5-6 Grand battement back, close 5th (arm to arabesque)
1-5 Cloche battement with INSIDE leg fbfbf (arm 5th en haut)
6 Close 5th position front
1-24 Repeat all from the back.
Rond de Jambe en l’air with Grand Battement
5th position
1 Brush to 90˚ á la seconde
2 Single rond de jambe en l’air en dehors
3-4 Double rond de jambe en l’air en dehors close 5th back
5-8 Repeat from back en dedans to finish 5th front
1-2 Elevé in 5th, lower to 5th plié
3-4 Relevé passé, close 5th plié front
5-8 Pirouette en dehors to close 5th front
1-2 Grand battement front, close 5th
&3 Grand battement front faster, close 5th
4 Petit passé at cou de pied height to close 5th back
5-8 Repeat last 4 counts to back
1-4 Repeat last 4 counts to side, finishing 5th back
5-6 Relevé passé to plié 5th front
7-8 Pirouette en dehors, finish in attitude derrière to balance
