Professional advice for dancers & teachers
Combinations for ballet class
Begin in 5th position, R foot front
1-4 Developpé devant to 90°
5-8 Retiré and developpé to arabesque
1 Close 5th position back
2-4 Developpé inside leg to arabesque
5-6 Promenade to face the barre, let á la seconde
7 Retiré facing 2nd side
8 Close 5th front
1-8 Repeat on L
1-16 Reverse and repeat L
Note: stop halfway means to stop between 1st position and fully stretching the foot in tendu, working through the metatarsal. In this stopping place, the part of the foot with a pad covering it (shown in the picture) will still be on the floor while your foot itself is still pointed.
Begin in 1st position
1 Begin tendu devant, stop halfway
2 Finish tendu devant, fully extended pointed foot front
3 Flex only toes, keeping foot pointed
4 Return toes to point tendu devant
5 Close to 1st position with straight knees
6 Tendu devant without stopping halfway
7 Close to 1st position in plié
8 Straighten knees
1-8 Repeat first phrase to the side
1-8 Repeat first phrase to the back
1 Flex foot 45° front, plié on supporting leg
2-3 Rond de jambe working leg to 45° side, then carry to 45° back in fondu
4 Close and straighten knees in 1st position
5-8 Repeat the last counts 1-4 starting from the back, side, then front
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.
5th position at the barre
1-2 Brush to 45° devant, plié in 4th – arm 5th en avant
3 Straighten knees and carry working foot to 2nd at 45° á la seconde, arm to 2nd position
4 Plié in 2nd
5-6 Carry working foot to 45° devant, close 5th position front – arm 5th en haut
&7&8 Degagé devant 2x closing 5th front both times
1-2 Degagé side, plié in 2nd position – arm 5th en avant
3 Carry working foot to back 45° and straighten knee – arm 2nd
4 Demi plié in 4th position – arm en avant
5-6 Carry working foot to 45° side, close 5th back – arm 2nd
&7&8 Degagé side 2x closing 5th front, 5th back
1-16 Repeat all from back with arm in arabesque instead of 5th en haut
Begin 1st position
1 Tendu devant, or front
2 Flex foot at ankle
3 Point foot
4 Turn in 4
5 Turn out
6 Close 5th position plié
7-8 Chassé devant, point tendu inside foot back, close 5th
1-2 Tendu devant, close 5th position
3-4 Petit passé (ankle height) to close back in 5th
4-6 Tendu side close 5th front
7-8 Petit passé to close in 5th back.
1-16 Repeat all from back
1 Tendu a la seconde, or side
2-3 Flex and point tendu side
4-5 Turn in, turn out
6 Close 5th position front in plié
7-8 Chassé away from the barre to the side, close 5th front
1-8 Repeat last 8 counts with inside leg, finishing with chassé toward barre
1-8 Demi plié relevé to cou de pied (foot at front of ankle, not wrapped), balance arms 5th en avant