I wrote a poem.
Ahem.
Sit on the side and visualize,
Sit on the side and visualize,
Saute, tombe, pas de bourre, glissade,
Sitting in the eye of your mind.
Please memorize. I may ask you to recite this poem if per chance you are sitting on the side and not dancing.
Speaking of sitting on the side and not dancing, please post your written responses here to the blog within two days of sitting out. Watching is just as valuable as doing (and visualizing!). Your written responses will help the entire class.
Here is Sylvie Guillem in Kitri's solo from Don Quixote. Sylvie is a star of the Paris Opera Ballet.
Visualize yourself doing this combination just like Sylvie. We may just do it at the end of the semester.
Here she is in performance
About Me
- Louis
- My efforts toward enlightenment through creativity and physicality are what my dances and my teaching are all about.
31 comments:
Hope this is not too late...
Let me post my notes from viewing classes this week. This may also help your going over.
[Monday]
It was snowing and really beautiful outside.
*Today's typ*
Keep the axis of your body vertically!
The pelvis should be horizontal to the floor.
Especially, when you do Degage, Passe, or Rond De Jambe, you should be carefull not to raise one side of hips.
*Today's technique*
Pirouette
The most important thing is Plie as a preparation for the spinning. You should do proper Plie so that you can rotate smoothly and quickly without inbalancing or tamble. Your body axsis must be straight as usual, and imagine you are spinning with the least movement, like a top. You should quickly turn your face to the directon you are landing. During the spin, the arms are not swinging, but fixed in 2nd position.
[Wednessday]
*Today's typ*
When you do Tendu, Degage, Rond De Jumbe or Battement, imagine you are massaging the floor with your toe. Your toe point will be on the floor until the last moment your foot flies above the floor(except for Tendu).
I learned so many things from watching everyone dancing. In my head, I was actually imaging that I was dancing, going over the steps and typs. It was quite effective. I felt I could dance more expressive and naturally when I was back onthe floor on Friday.
I really liked watching the class especially when you are dancing with a big smile. I just want to say, you guys are awesome!!
Sylvie Guillem is like nothing i've ever seen! The second video i noticed her control and thought in terms of the upper back muscles. Who ever thought shoulder blades could be such a key ingredient in a performance! The other thing i noticed especially is the concept that, once you have control of your core, you can move it around and twist and fall as sylvie does so beautifully.
-erika bergman
The first video of Sylvie Guillem was fascinating! She has such amazing flexibility, and she is able to kick her leg up with such ease that it looks like she doesn't have to try at all. Her lines were beautiful, and every move she made was graceful, even when she was moving rather quickly.
From Friday class I observed...
-the dancers that follow their arms when doing bar activities look so confident and all around better dancers.
-Some people do better when they stand in certain parts of the room, i personally do this to. i learn better when i stand on the right of the teacher and i think its good we do musical bars because sometimes you can't always stand where its most convenient for you.
-Those with strong arms look confident even if they mess up.
Things i learned from class...
-reach into the ball of your foot when doing stuff; it should feel like a massaging feeling
-keep your back straight when doing jumps
-When we were doing out jumps go to 5th position.
-TRAVEL
I loved the distinction between Sylvie Guillem's manner of dancing in the studio tape versus the performance. Though they were different solos, I always find it so amazing what a difference a live audience makes on a performance! You can just see the sheer energy flowing out into the audience and it was funny to hearing the multiple clicks of cameras as Slyvie began her solo. I had to watch this video over and over, because the subtly and seduction of Kitri's solo was absolutely mesmerizing! These kinds of subtlties are what distinguish any art form.
Ballet is about the presence and confidence to play the part of a dancer, which I thought was reinforced by what Milana said about confident arms being helpful in class! I had never really thought specifically about that.
Sylvie's Don Quixote performance makes me want to add more sass and flavor to my attitudes and ankle switches that accompany frappes. Very inspiring!!
Oh, and here are my thoughts on last Wednesday's ballet class:
- Reach into the ball/point of your foot, use that strength, push into the floor like you would with your hand.
- Try not to watch legs too much, it'll throw off your balance.
- Ballet is about putting yourself out on the line
(I feel that this is true with any art form - art is an expression of the human condition and how we feel, be it music, theatre, dance, art)
- Keep alive (Like Slyvie, she kept even her slowest most subtle movements alive)
- Visualize your success! So good!!
- Fingers shouldn't stick together
- Piroutte * think up in passe, focus on something, ARMS need to do work
- When everyone sang through a combination with confidence, it was like beautiful poetry!
- Some very great characters with the ogres and such, it's very important to be facially in character (Slyvie was excellent about staying in character even during her bows, she was an amazing presence/seductress/etc.)
Wow she is really incredible, and as you said in class today, she seems like she is 7 feet tall with the way she uses her arms and legs. Her flexibility really added to the length of her moves. And those pirouettes at the end were unbelievable. Her technique seemed flawless as she traveled across the floor. That video provides a great visual to the way we should focus on dancing while at the barre or across the floor. It is important to always think of yourself as lifted and constantly in motion to avoid slumping down without even realizing it.
That was a so pretty! she is so limber and so long! I love to watch professionals because they do it so easily, they take the length they need and they make the music follow them instead of acting like they have to meet each count at each time. Makes me think about how I dance... Do I enjoy the dancing at each moment or do I try to focus on each count being where it should be? I think that it is important to enjoy dancing while we have the chance. So much length in how she uses her arms and how she is free when she dances to just love the dancing in that moment. It is so cool to see all that in these clips.
Wow, that was so beautiful. It's amazing to watch her flexibility combined with her strength and grace. Watching these videos just makes me even more inspired to try harder in class. Also it makes me inspired to practice outside of class and to stretch so that hopefully i can become more flexible like sylvie. :)
Wow, Sylvie Guillem is an incredible dancer. She seems to be aware and in control of what every part of her body is doing, and does it so gracefully...it's so inspiring. And as Louis mentioned in class, we can really see the way she extends and lengthens herself. This also makes me want to work on my strength, flexibility, and elongation while I am dancing!
Sylvie is so beautiful! I can really see what it means to extend beyond your personal range of space with her dancing! She is a gifted dancer with exceptional extension but you can see her love of dance in the way she holds her body and the release she uses to propel large jumps. Her turn sequence on the diagonal is crazy! She hardly even plies in between each pique turn!! Her foot just partly settles on the floor before she springs back up onto pointe. This really illustrates the use of arms and how they along can provide enough momentum to carry you around in a turn.
She is amazing! Sylvie looks so graceful as if she was floating across the stage! Her arabesque and jete show her strength in her core even though she looks like a twig! She makes everything seem effortless and lengthens every move! Fascinating!
Class on 2/4/08
Observations...
-The new rock and roll part of class is awesome! It was tons more fun to watch because everyone was feeling the music and was so into it.
-Those who have trouble balancing lean forward a lot.
-When we do activities we have done man many times everyone is so confident and facial expressions show that, but on the newer ones everyone is so much more serious and not enjoying the music as much.
-When we do activities with our eyes closed, moves are so much bigger because i think people feel that if their eyes are closed no one can see them and they feel less embarrassed.
Learned...
-When you Plié you should do it like a carousel- straight up and down.
-fuete=to whip
-bring both legs around even standing leg or else you do a weird twist.
-when doing arabesque you should
-lift leg up naturally
-don't dive upper body
-leg is open/turned out position
-arms are extended
-DON'T LIFT HIPS
-everything should be in line on a diagonal.
over all class was interesting to watch and i love the music selection!
Wow, Sylvie Guillem is awesome. Every movement is lifted and strong. I watched the video of her in the studio a few times and I found that although each of her movements are very strong and precise, they are relaxed at the same time. I find it sometimes hard to combine strenght and softness in a movement. Her pirouttes are awesome to watch. The second video compared to the first one are different but it's nice to see her in a studio and then on stage. I think I'm flexible...but not THAT flexible compared to Sylvie!
Sylvie Guillem is truly amazing! I love how graceful she is, why at the same time so strong. Her extensions and lines make her look so tall. It seems like she is actually lifting off the ground because she keeps reaching and growing. This video was very beautiful.
okay, so i will visualize this lady when i dance. she was so beautiful, i could not take my eyes off of her feet. her ankles looked like rubberbands, they were so flexable. i also noticed how long her lines were, it was a continous line from thigh to toe.
She is a beautiful dancer. Her technique is very clean. I also like how she used the clapping step to add personality and strength to the dance.
Speaking from strictly an aesthetic perspective, Guillem is a beautiful ballet dancer. She has unbelievable presence and captures the attention of her audience.
From an anatomical perspective, she is quite ugly. Hyperextended knees, forced turnout, and knees moving in the sagittal plane during plies are all very unappealing anatomically. She is only able to sustain such movements because her body, like other famous ballerinas (Patricia Barker comes to mind), is a genetic anomaly.
Oh what I would give to be as flexible as her! She makes it look so easy! All her movements connect and flow into the next one. Her dancing is never choppy and the steps are not broken up. It's very beautiful...
Her lines are absolutely gorgeous. Like Louis mentioned in class though, I think that a lot of her presence and visual appeal has to do with how long and lean she is.
I've found with learning the new adagio combinations that we've been doing, visualizing it while the other group is dancing really has helped. Sometimes I'll close my eyes for a few seconds to make sure that I have the counts right and that I'm still doing the same movements as everybody else. That way when I get out onto the floor I feel more confident in the more technical aspects and can put a little more dance into it.
Wow, Sylvie Guillem is so beautiful. Her extensions and control seem so effortless. She is so flexible, yet so erect. She really shows control of her core.
I think that I have a much better chance of visualizing myself performing like Sylvie Guillem then actually being able to dance as she does, especially by the end of this quarter. I do feel that watching her and imagining myself performing like her helps me control my body better.
SUCH a graceful dance she is..! HOW does she move so beautifully AND EXTREMELY light? All her moves were presented like she never needed to exert any energy or effort. SO jealous. =)
I think I have to agree with Thomas a bit about this one. Guillem is certainly a talent, yet I was a little horrified watching her (mainly in her performance). Her body did not seem the least bit natural, which is perhaps a characteristic and preferred aesthetic of ballet? What I did really enjoy about her performance, was the subtle ways she moved her head to lead a few of the movements - I found that absolutely stunning - and not very typical to other ballet videos that have been posted. Also, I actually really loved her bow, and getting to see a close up of her face smiling.
She was control and strength all in one. Her execution of technical steps was impeccable. I could see that her body was capable of so much. Which is why it made me a little sad that we couldn't see that energy, that passion, a smile.
Here are some thoughts on Friday's class which i was only able to observe. Thinking of the three planes which our bodies operate on really changed the way people moved. After the discussion of how these planes direct our movement, you could see a signifigant change in how each person moved (this was very apparent in the side to side stretches we do at the barre).
Another idea that provoked a lot of change in each person was the idea of using your core to develope. Later at home I practiced engaging my core vs. using my leg muscles to hold up my leg in a develope and it made it much easier to support and lift my leg. I also felt an ability to lengthen my line and reach my toes forward since my muscles in my legs were not bogged down with the entire weight of my leg.
Working on alignment is always facinating to me, since we all have such different and unique body structures we often force ourselves to mold into the "ballerina" which utlimately is hurting our dancing rather than making it any easier.
She is such amazing dancer because her movement is not just clean to watch and also her movement is very fast, her body balance makes me feel that she have such light body. I think the most impressive movement that she done which surprise me a lot is the spinning. As she can do 30 seconds non-stop spinning i was very surprise.
Sylvie Guillem, just a such amazing and beautiful dancer.
I feel that when she was preparation process, she have the strong leg holds up her and then she start to spinning, the balancing body of spinning takes a lot of practice. I think if i have to done such spinning, i have not just practice eveyday and i also have to train my muscle to be strong.
Wow. That's pretty amazing. She stays so upright the entire time - very good posture. :) I think the best part, along with everyone else it seems, was the pirouettes!
It should be interesting to see if we do learn this at the end of the quarter.. I wonder if those who visualize it will learn it faster/better....
Watching Sylvie makes me crave to extend my legs as high and long as hers. The lines she creates with her body are astonishing. It amazes me that it is possible to dance with so much strength, agility, and balance. I wonder if I were to watch this video everyday, if I would become a better dancer overall.
It is amazing how visualization helps with engaging with the movment at hand
however in class at times it is difficult to visualize without the prior technical knowledge and body sensorial memory of what the steps feel like.
yet in class I challenged this notion and just visualized the steps like I had seen done in pictures like above or pictures I have cut out on my wall to remind me of what I am aspiring to dance like.
Ashley Howisey
Wow Sylvie is rad. Watching her and then visualizing myself matching her lightness and fluidity helps me to realize it when we're on the floor. Sometimes I get so heavy - my head on my shoulders, my legs in my hip socket...I need to remember to lift out of my joints, pull myself upward, and "radiate the sunshine". Not only does it make the moves look better, bit it is so much more fun to dance when you aren't feeling like you have to fight the weight of your body.
I love her feet articulations. She has such control over them. It's this sense of power and control I would like some day (though I won't be a professional dancer)
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