Frappe is a French word for ballet meaning "struck". The inclusion in daily routines of a striking movement of the foot along the floor, to a sharp point, is one of the best ballet exercises to build strength towards jumps and pointe work. The optimum result is muscle memory that contributes to a precise and sharp push into a finely detailed jump, such as battus in all their forms. Battement frappes is always included in the daily routines of barre work. It is a simple looking but finely detailed movement benefiting both working and supporting leg. Battement frappe imitates the movement o... (1644 more chars)
"Often ballet teachers find the specifics of training the foot strength needed for pointe work difficult as it came naturally to them. However for many people, the isolated strength needed in the feet must be specifically trained, especially nowadays, as many children who grow up in cities spend little time bare foot on different surfaces, which naturally trains the tiny intrinsic muscles of the feet. Understanding how these muscles should work when dancing is imperative in a long, injury free, career in dance." - Lisa Howell In addition to intrinsic muscle weakness, the foot and ankle can s... (1919 more chars)
Be in pointe shoes as much as you can. Once you've gone beyond beginning pointe work, wearing the shoes for barre work is a good habit. The sole of the foot, and ankle, have to work so much more with every tendu, degage, and rise onto demi-pointe. The shoe resists, and the muscles get a better workout. If the thickness of the sole makes your foot wobble because it does lie flat on the floor, use a wood file, and shave the sole down lightly. You can get the sole close to flush with the satin, so that your foot will be flatter on the floor. Straining the ankles from wobbling is distracting... (1379 more chars)
Students often used to ask me "should I pursue dance as a career?" My first thought was always - "if you can live without dance, do something else. If you can't, then pursue it". Sometimes Dance just doesn't let go! It may not be the practical choice for you. Yet it just doesn't go away. If you're young, I would say dance now, because it is a physical training that needs to be done while you're young. Especially ballet. That doesn't mean flunk high school or anything, but I know that grades can be re-created at a community college, and an academic career can ensue fro... (1390 more chars)
Nicky Category: Question: QUESTION: Hi My daughter is 11yrs old and has been doing pointe for a few months. Other dancing schools do not let students go on pointe until they are atleast 12 or 13. Could she be damaging her feet? Her dance teacher said she is strong enough, but she put a couple of other students on pointe who are the same age and they did not look strong enough to me. I have also been trying to get my daughter to change dancing schools as I feel she can learn a lot more, but she does not want to as she is happy. Should I just let her d... (2127 more chars)
Who is the most important person in a ballet store? It is the one who can help you get exactly the right fit in pointe shoes. You already knew that. If you have just started pointe work, or are hoping to, here is one thing you can do to strengthen your feet. You use the floor as resistance in every tendu and degage you do. You PRESS into the floor with the sole of your foot, every time you leave fifth or first position and stretch your foot into a tendu, degage, grande battement, or go through first in your ronde de jambe a terre. You also PRESS through the metatarsals on to full pointe t... (2327 more chars)
Summer Intensives offer a chance for increased flexibility. After your first morning class, you are partially warmed up for the rest of the day. That is, unless you are resting in between classes in highly air conditioned environments. I recommend not to do that. A cool but not cold place, perhaps shady outdoors somewhere, is better. Also, allow your ballet shoes and pointe shoes to dry as much as possible in between classes, they will last longer, and will not lose that exactly right fit so soon. Having two pairs of each helps, if you can do that. Intensive training in ballet means intens... (2689 more chars)
Recently I was asked this question: "Dianne, do you know any good websites for ballet? I'd like to know them. Also,How do I lose weight? I want to exercise but I can't get myself to. How can I do that. I'd like to run everyday.When's the best time in the day? Best exercise plan? And also, how do I lose my extra belly fat? I weight about 100 pounds and I'm only 11!I hate eating healthy foods but if it'll make me skinnier, what good foods should I eat? Thank you for answering these questions!!" Here is my answer and honestly, I truly tried to keep it short! "It is wonde... (3239 more chars)
Here is a truer test for turnout than the butterfly or frog position, where your hips are flexed and turnout will look like more than it really is. Lie on your stomach with your legs straight. Here your hips are in an extended position. Bend one leg to a 90 degree angle. (If your hip comes of the floor, then you need to stretch out your quadriceps and iliopsoas muscles, as in doing a runner's lunge.) You could have someone gently hold your hip down on the floor if you like. Then allow your bent leg to angle down toward the straight knee. Where the leg stops, this is the correct degree of ... (4195 more chars)
Eight out of ten questions I get from (mostly) teenage dancers, involves how to lose weight safely. They want to know how to find exactly the right fit in the size zero tutu. "Ballet is anatomically incorrect". Quote from - many, but recently heard, in my world, from William Forsythe for one. I had a weight problem when I was a teenager. At the National Ballet School of Canada we were weighed once a week. Our weight was posted publicly in the lunch room, from week to week. On Fridays when my class got weighed, we skipped breakfast but drank a lot of coffee - so as to stimulate urination,... (2573 more chars)
I get asked a lot, "do you think I should pursue ballet professionally?" And my immediate thought is, "If you can live without dance, do so, if you cannot, then dance." I say that because ballet is a subculture. That is not a bad thing, but like opera, music, and other art forms, training is intense and competition is fierce. That may be the attraction for some. Ballet attracts perfectionists, obsessed and oddly dysfunctional people, but also attracts incredibly gifted performers and brilliant broad-spectrum artists who excel at dance and related arts such as choreography, music and stage ... (2510 more chars)
High extensions and split jetes are a common attraction in ballet. If you were not born with long ligaments, muscles and tendons, is ballet a career builder for you? Since you will spending strength on fighting your own tightness, striving for that effortlessness in your ballet shoes and pointe shoes, other very flexible dancers are trying to reign in their movements to maintain form and balance. But, ballet being the way it is, they look better during the struggle than the tighter dancers. Sheesh..... What are you going to do if you are not in a full-time ballet school with 10 +classes a we... (4228 more chars)
I went to a performance "Enchainments", given by the Rozann-Zimmerman Ballet Center at Cal State University Northridge Sunday June 3. I really enjoyed the presentation of ballet, jazz, modern and some Flamenco as well. I could see the result of a lot of rehearsal and disciplined study. It took me back to the days when I was doing the same, along with schoolwork, homework, home chores, and washing out tights and leotards every night, darning new pointe shoes, and stretching on the floor while studying. One thing that I have now - and love - is my physio ball, also known as a gym ball or exe... (2589 more chars)
Ballet Blog
