“With care, and skill, and cunning art, 
She parried Time’s malicious dart, 
And kept the years at bay, 
Till passion entered in her heart and aged her in a day!”
– Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Seven Basic Movements of Ballet

This week we have been exploring the theme of darting as part of my series on the 7 Basic Movements of Ballet. Hummingbirds and bees hover, then dart. When we throw a dart, we zero in on our target, take aim, and strive to send it with swift efficiency to the center of the bullseye. Darting movements are required for fencing or tennis, and many other sports.

The feeling of darting is powerful, decisive, assertive, direct, strong, even a bit risky and brave. Stabbing, slicing, bounding, pouncing, snatching–all involve the sharp quickness of darting. 

The Laban Movement Analysis Effort most closely resembling darting is “Punch,” which is direct, strong, and quick. This type of movement has a specific focus or sense of directionality, and moves in that dimension very suddenly.  

Although individual parts of the body may also dart in dancing – they eyes, an arm, a leg, we generally think of darting the whole body through space, as in the jumps of petit and grand allegro, especially speedy ones like glissade, jete, sissonne, and entrelacé. Which is your favorite allegro step, and which do you think best represents the quality of darting?

Don Quixote as exemplar of balletic darting

The ballet “Don Quixote” includes some of my favorite examples of darting in classical ballet with virtuosic feats of speed, amplitude, and sheer energy. It’s really such a fun, thrilling performance to participate in as well as to watch. I can’t decide if I prefer the Barishnikov/Harvey version or Acosta/Nunez. Who do you think does it best? 

Eliza Gaynor Minden states in The Ballet Companion:
“In music, allegro means ‘at a brisk tempo’; in Italian it means ‘merry.’ […] allegro is ‘grand’ when it includes big, traveling jumps and turns and ‘petit’ when the steps are smaller and faster. […] those moments when dancers devour space, attain and maintain amazing elevation, change position midair, and land with effortless precision–those grand allegro moments are ballet at its most electrifying.”

New Ballet Technique Podcast & Video

This week I recorded “Élancer – Swiftly Darting,” the last in my podcast series on the seven basic movements of ballet. 

Getting down to the specifics of how to dart in ballet, this week on my YouTube Channel I’m sharing the exercise of battements frappés, which is a beat of the leg, striking the ball of the foot against the floor, triggering the toes to point in a stabbing sort of kick. These movements are explosive and forceful, yet precise and controlled. 

When we use this sort of force to spring into the air and then land on a new foot, it becomes petit jeté, and later we perform our largest leaps in the same way, with the leading foot brushing into grand battement and then coordinating movements through plie and with the arms, head, and entire body throwing into spectacular flying shapes in the air.  

Yoga Practice

In yoga, we don’t typically dart through space, but we do practice the focus required to respond appropriately to what is whizzing all around us, to act with discernment and avoid impulsivity. We can move quickly when necessary, but also maintain control. I have been using the tools of yoga and coaching recently to maintain some equanimity in the midst of frenetic energy.

In fact, I experienced a recording malfunction while attempting to capture a full-length practice this week, and I sadly didn’t have time to re-record the whole session. Life happens! I’ll record again next week, but I did want to share a little taste of the practice, so here’s a new little 10-minute breath and meditation about the release of Autumn: 

Where do you need to take quick and decisive action right now? What do you need to practice to move powerfully in the direction of your choosing? May you move with swiftness and clarity in the direction of your dreams!

Blythe Stephens, MFA 
she/her or they/them

“Beauty, like ice, our footing does betray;
Who can tread sure on the smooth, slippery way:
Pleased with the surface, we glide swiftly on,
And see the dangers that we cannot shun.”
– John Dryden (appointed England’s first Poet Laureate in 1668!)

That exhilarating sensation of gliding

A soaring hawk, riding thermals high above the mountainside, the grace of a dolphin catching a wave, a swan gliding across a mirror-calm lake, an olympic hopeful skimming their way across an ice rink, these are the images that come to mind when I think of gliding.

In order to get that sensation of gliding, there must be a lack of resistance from the surrounding environment, such as moving through the air or across a slick surface such as water or ice.

7 Basic Movements

This week we have been exploring the theme of gliding in yoga, ballet, and coaching sessions. This is part of my series on the 7 Basic Movements of Ballet, and you can explore more about each of the movement ideas in my corresponding YouTube videos and podcasts:

The relevant YouTube videos that I created previously describing the first basic movements of ballet are:

1. “The Seven Basic Movements of Ballet”
2. “Powerful Pliés”
3. “Plush Paralleleves”
4. “Tempting Tendus”
5. “Saucy Prances & Sautes” &
6. “Tourner – to Turn”

To start practicing the skill of gliding in dance, I also recommend my

• “Kicky Floor Kicks”
• “Sweet Leg Swings”
• “Amazing Under-Curves”
  and to develop a gliding quality in the upper-body and arms,
• “Port de Bras Story”

The & Basic Movements podcast episodes are:

1. #014 “Powerful Plies”
2. #016 “Tendus & What it Means to Stretch”
3. #018 “Relever & Rising”
4. #019 “Tourner – turning, rotation, and creative U-turns” &
5. #020 “Sauter, Jumping, & Leaps of Faith”  

Also, stay tuned for “Élancer – to dart,” the last installment of the series, still to come!

To Glide

Laban Movement Analysis classifies the Effort of “Glide” as direct, light, and sustained. This type of movement has a specific focus or sense of directionality, and continues uninterrupted along its path, flowing weightlessly. 

Anatomically, many of the joints in our bodies are classified as gliding joints, which articulate at flat surfaces between bones, such as those of the fingers and toes, at the clavicle, and the facet joints of the vertebrae in the spine (vs. ball and socket, hinge…) When we suffer from disorders such as arthritis, the movement of our joints is impeded, but in many cases gentle exercise such as walking, yoga, or pilates can help prevent and manage these conditions and help us keep gliding [of course consult your medical professional for advice on your specific situation!]

Yoga and Gliding

In yoga, we may not be sliding, gliding, or floating anywhere, but we cultivate steadiness and ease in our movements, which can create a graceful, smoothly gliding impression. Mentally, we practice detachment, a lack of resistance, skimming past obstacles, letting go of sticking points, and awareness of what serves us and how to let go of what does not. Here is the 40-minute practice I created called “Get Gliding Yoga,” focused on this theme. 

Gliding in Ballet

Moving towards winter, I especially enjoy Frederick Ashton’s ballet “Les Patineurs,” a playfully gliding riff on an ice-skating rink.  But truthfully, in ballet we do like a bit more friction between our feet and the surface beneath us than an ice skater does. The floor still needs to be essentially smooth and free of obstacles for us to produce this quality of seemingly-effortless gliding that is one of the hallmarks of classical ballet technique. 

The appearance of gliding in ballet performance requires supreme control and coordination, cultivated during years of practice, to attain this smooth otherworldliness. Much of our early work as dancers is developing a relationship with the floor as well as with our own bodies, learning to balance and to slide with poised control. Indian actor Salman Khan said, “Have you ever seen a duck gliding smoothly on water? Does it ever look like it is paddling furiously underneath the surface? I don’t have to show that I am working very hard,” to me this encapsulates the hidden effort of ballet.

Glissade

The exercise of battements tendus is a practice in sliding one foot across the floor, and it eventually leads to battements glisses, which fly just off of the floor, and then to glissade, which is a jump that involves sliding the feet across the floor and is performed either low-to-the-ground as a connecting step or with some elevation.

In the book of her Russian ballet technique, Basic Principles of Classical Ballet, Agrippina Vaganova clarifies, “It would seem that the very name of this step [glissade] indicates the gliding characteristic of it. Yet we see that this movement is very seldom distinguished from other movements, and is lost on the stage.” Indeed, it is these small connecting steps that form the glue that creates the smooth whole of our dance performance. 

Eliza Gaynor Minden states in The Ballet Companion: “Done neatly and correctly, connecting steps add elegance to your dancing and provide the preparation you need to launch what comes next; done carelessly they dull your polish and undermine the propulsion needed for elevation and ballon […] The successful timing and coordination of […] any difficult jump depends on the rhythm, the momentum, and especially the final plie of the connecting step that comes first.”

Gliding into Autumn

If you’re reading this blog in real time, we just passed the Autumnal Equinox, which means fall has officially arrived. Here in Cologne, the leaves have just begun to turn, and a few trees have started to release their leaves for the coming season.

Many seize this seasonal transition as an opportunity to let go of their own burdens where they can, allowing them to relax and enjoy the harvest time or move powerfully into the final quarter of the year. 

This week I have been deeply saddened by the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an phenomenal voice for equality, and I grieve with you if you are feeling similarly crushed. It is appropriate to feel the loss of such an influential and empowering, indeed liberating, leader. Though we know it is inevitable for us all, a death of a loved one or icon can be hard to take. May we mourn this loss, and then use our feelings to fuel our motivation to continue important work.

Speaking of letting go of things which do not serve us, in the US it is about time to cast our votes for the next president, so if you’re a US citizen make sure to register and make your voice heard with your vote: 

• https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote (to register)
• https://www.vote411.org/ (for nonpartisan voting information)

I’m also excited to participate in an initiative called “Dance the Vote” to promote voting rights, more about that to come!

So, what is weighing on you, slowing you down, holding you back from the life you dream of? What can you release? May you glide into this spectacular season!

Blythe Stephens, MFA
she/her or they/them
A Blythe Coach: Dance Education & Coaching 
move through life with balance, grace, & power