Last class, we started with a very well-known variation – the Bluebird variation. In ballet, variations are solo dances (though more than one person can perform them at once, of course) with traditional choreography. The bluebird variation is from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty. Long story short, the princess does a dance with a bluebird. The variation that we did is the part of the princess, as everyone in the class is female.
When I danced at Krupinski’s, we did the variation all the time as a warm-up. It’s one of the easier variations, so it allows dancers to really work on very picky, specific things, like flowing of movements, exact angles, and so on. Last week, it was turned on at Dance Arts, and it was practically instinctual to start doing the dance. I’d done it so many times at Krupinski’s that I snapped into it, even though it’s been years. Now, I’m not as flexible as I was, so my leg didn’t go as high, and it wasn’t as good as it was, but it worked. It was nice to have that happen – to have everything just click. Muscle memory is a good thing. I’d wondered if dancing would be at all like riding a bike – you know, they say you never forget how. It turns out some things are – things like memory of choreography, turning out, and so on, but other things, unfortunately are not.
On the other hand, I would give quite a lot to have them remember how to do good pirouettes. Part of the problem is that pirouettes were always my weakest turns, when I was dancing all of the time. There are so many things to think about before, during, and after the turn – don’t pop your heel when you go up on relevé, snap the leg up to retiré at the same time the supporting leg goes up on relevé, spot (spotting is focusing on a spot in front of you and locking your eyes onto that spot until you absolutely must turn your head, and then whipping your head around so your eyes focus back on that spot. The idea is to keep you steady, and if you’re traveling while turning, it keeps you going in one direction, instead of going all over the place), keep your arms low (don’t want to whack your partner), don’t use your arms for momentum – and I’ve just covered about the first second of a pirouette. And if just one of those things is off, then I wobble, or my retiré doesn’t hold, my supporting foot doesn’t stay in its high relevé, the turn doesn’t work correctly.
Now, all I need is time to work on that. Time, time, time. If I could just get 36 hours in a day, I’d be golden. And if any of you figure out how to do that, please, give me a call.
When I studied the body in school I found out that we learn movement in one part of the brain, but remember it from another. This means that it moves to a more permanant place in our head, quite literally, allowing us to tap into muscle memory.
Unfortunately, with turns this isn’t quite the same. The fluid in your inner ear must once again adapt to the sensation of turning, which takes time, and much practice (as you stated!). It will come back though, if you do it enough!
Nice post. Nice blog!
Huh, interesting! Good to know that there is actually a physical reason that it’s my turns that have suffered the most from my lack of practice.
And thanks for visiting.