Apprenant comment danser

Ballet class in some ways is what I expected, but there were still a few things about it that surprised me. I knew that ballet class would consist of repeating a step several times in order to perfect it. I also expected to learn the terms in French, and use both the barre and floor. A few things I didn’t expect though were exercising in the beginning of class, learn that there is a recital at the end of the semester, or think it would be this much fun to learn ballet.

Ballerina Posing for a Photograph- Edgar Degas
The activity I am enjoying most about ballet class is the time spent practicing different positions at the barre. Specifically I like doing the ron de jamb and port de bras. I appreciate the time spent on the barre because I can concentrate better on what I am doing, I can see what I am doing on the mirror, and it’s easier to practice certain positions. What I find a little frustrating is putting all the different steps together and executing them on the floor. I feel I can do them rather well independently, but once I am on the floor I have a hard time making them all come together. When I was in gymnastics I also found doing a floor routine challenging, which is why I preferred to work on the uneven bars. Another thing that’s challenging is doing a releve with either a devant or derriere cou-de-pied. I can only do it for a few seconds before I lose my balance.

The combinations we have been working in class so far consist of the following: port de bras, tendus, releves, and sautés in cou-de-pied position. Speaking about sautés, I feel that I have to work on them a lot more because as of now I don’t feel satisfied with the distance I’m getting. The ones that are fun to do are they ones that include doing port de bras or tendus. The one thing I have to remind myself is to keep my head up when I’m doing the sautés in cou-de-pied position across the floor.


My ballet teacher gave us all advice that would aid us with our balance or routine. She told us that it can be very helpful to imagine either a place or situation, so we can get in a proper state of mind which would assists us keeping a certain appearance. One image that I think of is being out in nature, some place near either a lake or ocean. I find that water has a very soothing effect on me, and so this can aid me when I’m trying to get in a certain state of mind. I can not only imagine a certain scene, but I could also think of certain songs. Some calming songs that I could think of are Archipelago by Mirah, Quelqu´un m´a dit by Carla Bruni, or Limon y Sal by Julieta Venegas.

L'introduction

Going out of your comfort zone is an act that not every person is willing to do in fear of failure, and this unfortunately results in people having limited experiences. As someone who has never taken any dance classes I was a little hesitant taking ballet as a college class. Before I came to college, however I was determined to make an effort to try new things and as cliché as it may sound I wanted to expand my horizons. So far I believe I have done a pretty good job at achieving my goal and taking ballet would help me maintain it.

Being a part of the class didn’t feel quite real until I had actually bought my leotard, tights, and ballet shoes. Although I’ve never taken any dance classes, ballet does remind me somewhat of gymnastics, which I was involved in when I attended high school. Some similarities I found between the two are the use of leotards, the importance of connecting the steps, and the attention that your body requires. Although the leotard I used in high school looks nothing like the one I use now for ballet, the pattern is nearly identical. My gymnastics leotard was blue and made of spandex, while my ballet leotard is black and made of cotton. In gymnastics it was also very important to connect each step so the result would just be one fluid movement. By connecting the steps you avoid having a choppy appearance. In gymnastics, just like any other sport, muscle conditioning helps you achieve better results. The focus on your body is also relevant to both. For example, in gymnastics when doing a handstand you must remember to squeeze in your stomach and derrière to help you keep your balance. I’ve found out that when doing a releve for ballet the same concept applies to maintain balance.

Just like many different activities or occupations in life have their own terminology, I was looking forward to learning the jargon for ballet because I knew it was in French. Since I took four years of French in high school I was hoping having some background in the language would help me feel more comfortable while learning ballet. I have learned that so far I have found the terminology easy to remember, which makes me feel relieved. Since I was exposed to several French related experiences I am reminded of a famous impressionist artist by the name of Edgar Degas. He considered ballerinas one of his favorite subjects, which explains why they make up over half of his total work.Danseuse- Edgar Degas
Degas is said to have been intrigued by the artistry and power of movements the dancers portrayed. Not everyone assumes the previously mentioned about dancers. Some may believe that dancers don’t really work hard or that not much goes into performing a dance. Although I’ve never performed a dance in front of a crowd I have realized in the first few weeks of ballet that it requires effort and hard work. People have to acknowledge the fact that a single dance is composed of many steps, and that each step has to be executed properly in order to have a polished result. On top of that, all of the steps have to be combined in such a way that no gaps can be detected, and instead it can appear to be one continuous move. In order to achieve such a thing, practice is crucial and repeating something multiple times takes both time and energy. Another assumption that people may make is that to dance you must only practice the dance itself, but in reality you have to do other additional things that will help improve both the dancer’s strength and flexibility.