-a singular barre combination involving picking long, black hairs off the marley floor
-"A real-life situation is defined as 'on stage'. "
-failli turns jumpy in grand allegro, but is not a jump; is a gathering movement

It's true that the province of ballet is in the air, but there's no doubt that it comes from the province of the ground. ~K (in critiquing our manner of jumping like marionettes with no solidity in landings. And in fact, to emphasize the point with a demonstration, he did dance like a marionette for us.)

-must experience low energy to experience high energy; know heaviness to know lightness
-purpose of turns through first: to experience energy transfer from floor to body as a reverberation
-counterbalance, if not inherent in the movement, is provided through correct head/arm placement
-in the ongoing quest for equilibrium: depress shoulders, squeeze inner thighs, close rib cage
-oranges may be held as well as squeezed; they are a multipurpose fruit
-hands have flavors

Things that can be squeezed:

-oranges
-lemons
-toothpaste
-lots of clothes into a really small suitcase
-lots of booty into a really small pair of jeans
-sponges
-the hand you are holding
-people you love
-legs when you gotta go really really bad right this instant
-inner thighs during temps-lie elance
-buttocks during a fondu
-yoga blocks during bale'ates

...and squeeze! and squeeze! and squeeze! and squeeze!...

What is the ultimate secret to a good turnout?
(a) inner thigh muscles
(b) the turnout kissy face
(c) Kip's foot digging into your supporting heel and holding it there with all his might and willpower

Where do pushups belong in the grand allegro?
(a) between the forward and back cambre
(b) pushups?...Is that in the Vaganova handbook? I read the whole book and the closest thing I could find was "pushups come from the heart."
(c) is grand allegro French for "bootcamp"?
(d) is "pushups" English for tombe pas-de-bourree?
(e) nowhere; overdeveloped biceps are actually an impediment to achieving good turnout
(f) anywhere, as long as you're at Symmetry

"...you're in ballet class...Thursday...October 21st...2010...6:30 pm..." (Uh-oh, Kip just established the date-- a sure sign that his patience is wearing thin)

-A discombobulating class. Intermediate class has reached a critical juncture. From now on, we walk through that door ready to think, count, reverse, and participate...as well as to dance. Now reverse it.
-We do not make X's in ballet. Now reverse it.
-What is the purpose of school? A shared methodology and style. Now reverse it.
-What are Kip's reasons for teaching us? Multitudinous, but above all, to make us able teachers of ballet. Now reverse it.
-Reverse it.

PS: What's a dew drop doing in the Nutcracker? Oh well...back to the clock...

-engage latissimus dorsi; the difference between buoyed arms and flat, lifeless ones lies in the engagement of these broadest muscles of the back
-Russian ballet dancers ponder the Questions of the Universe only in passing
-similarly, the grand plie is in essence a position assumed over a toilet or hole and is not to be dwelled on; as a concrete example
-in our new set plies, this "pondering" look under the high arm coincides with the bottom of the grand plie because both indicate that the combination has not yet reached its conclusion
-in passe-plie-developpe, the plie is delayed; the rotators are relaxed; pull comes from the knee
-4-5! 2-5! 2-3-5!
-shoulder phone chat transcription: "Hello! Hi there! I'm in ballet class!"
-every time we throw confetti in the air, a small part of Kip dies inside
-to know, or to KNOW; there is a difference


Form fits function

-rounded shoulders and the "look of the lyre" reflect fleeting, stylistic notions of their respective era
-when you strip ballet of style, what is left is pure, unadulterated function
-The Principle of Purposeful Movement: the 'Modern architectural' view of academic, classical ballet is founded on this notion that the beauty of a given pose or movement arises naturally from its function with respect to the human body; for instance:
-the port-de-corp en rond demonstrates a torquing of the body from the scapula, not the shoulders; shoulders should remain depressed and in their sockets
-the coupe in coupe pas-de-bourree is not an arbitrary pose; it has a purposed function, which is to initiate movement; thus, it should be performed as such (ie: with a great sense of movement being initiated)
-the function of the 3rd port-de-bras is to show plasticity of form, esp. the legs & spine; the hand speaks volumes and must therefore be immediately tucked in out of the way

Elancer

Definition: "to dart/launch/throw forth"
Nondefinition: "to dart-and-wobble"
Example: To avoid the "dart-and-wobble" in the temps-lie elance, Nureyev advises us to step just beyond the foot, aiming for its shadow

Caveat: ...in the midst of innumerable technical advice for temps-lie elance, pirouettes, and other moves, it's easy to allow energy to dissipate. But energy is what breathes life and emotion into the movement or pose. It must be maintained and manipulated: shaped, stretched, kneaded, pushed, pulled, thrown and caught...or else the resulting movement is flat and unimpressive, and does not qualify as "dancing". Stated mathematically,

Dance = technique + energy

Today's class was marked by:

-syncopated barre combos with an encore appearance of the soft battement; it is time to become musical dancers
-a quest for the lost adagio sequence
-a flying hairnet, powered by an assemble kick
-grand jete marathon
-new bamboo drawing

Also, it was established that M is young

Day 4 of Ballet Week (BW):

-pirouettes en arabesque are motivated through the small of the back
-turns through 1st position integrated into grand battement exercise
-a bun became undone during the barre, putting a symbolic end to what was effectively the last class of BW
-Seinfeld reference (the tragedy that is Elaine's dancing)
-you are exactly the age you should be to start ballet

BW legacy: organization of lines w/o obvious maneuvering of the head
Regarding mirrors: What do they reflect? How I see myself. It is a reflection of an image that already resides in my mind's eye...a pre-conceived notion of myself
Regarding images: discrepancies exist between one's outward projected image and the inner self. This discrepancy is often chasm-atic in the ballet world

Ballet En Silhouette

Day 3 of Ballet Week 2010, in images:

Photo credit: Kip Martin

Ballet looks lovely in silhouette. In real-time ballet, we use perspective to flatten out figures and emphasize lines, but in these images, silhouetting enhances the effect by blackening out distracting interior details.

"It's not enough just to be here. You have to be HERE to be here. Fondu..."

Renverse tips:
-only flail your arms if you are actually drowning; otherwise, they should circle into 2nd port de bras
-head tips to counter-7 as soon as foot touches ground

Pirouette tips #87, 88, & 89:
-consolidate center/ribcage/abs
-do not forget tips #1-86
-if the previous pirouette was disastrous, forget it and redouble your efforts for the next one; don't forget tips # 1-88

Our Barishnikov number:
Aside from technical tips, this evening's later class proved to be an exceptional time for ballet stories. Nureyev thought he could make bad things go away by covering his eyes. Barishnikov on the other hand was very nice. When Kip met him, he was rather short, wore green shorts, and had just gotten knee surgery. Jurgen Schneider took Kip under his ABT wings despite his skinny legs (some things never change). Kip took class with Barishnikov. I take class with Kip. Thus, I am two degrees of separation from Barishnikov! And one degree of separation from Kip.

Envisioning

-in temps-lie elance, envision where you want to be, then aim higher than standing level since going from plie to demi-toe
-in pirouettes, envision where you want the knee to go, and envision/feel with feet how much force is needed to get there

Ballet As Music Without Sound

After every combination, the hand falls into preparatory stance, the head looks out, and silence and stillness prevail, just as the last note of a musical piece is left to resonate, linger, then fade away into oblivion. More and more, my body is comprehending that dancing is the physical expression of music via the human body. If sound could not make a sound, if the lungs could not sing or scream, then the body would dance...all the time.

Why the Ballet Uniform?

Beyond uniformity, traditional classroom ballet attire serves a deeper purpose. We want nothing getting in the way of pure form and clean lines, and so we do away with distracting colors, jewelry, loose clothing, stray hairs. We wear tights that are footed in order to perpetuate the illusion already created by our pointed toes, of a single unbroken line all the way down to the toes.We wear shoes that match the color of the tights in order to give the illusion of wearing no shoes. In brief, traditional ballet attire serves to both reveal the human form, and simultaneously hide its imperfections.

Day 1 of Ballet Week

-focus on distribution & transference of weight
-pull & counterpull
-count 1 of forward cambre is an upward growing of the spine with a corresponding breath of the hand
-a lugubrious rond de jambe combination

Aristotlian Syllogism

Premise #1: Flexibility improves quality of life.
Premise #2: Dancing = Life.
Conclusion: Flexibility improves quality of dancing.

QED

A paddle sits on the windowsill. We now submit to ballet.

Pulse-pulse, pulse-pulse. The memory of an old ballet master beats in double-time

What is the worth of a bun? In the meantime, hairs drift like autumn leaves onto the silver marley floor.

Class mood: light-hearted, intimate, jumpy

Elements of a pirouette from 4th: back foot peels off into low attitude, plie deepens, and foot quickly tucks under into passe.

The Role of the Working Leg in One-Legged Balances

Refocusing energy into the working leg of a one-legged balance creates the desired feeling of "lift". In other words, the working leg must lift your body just as much or more than your supporting leg holds/lifts it up. This rule applies in coupe, passe retire, arabesques,...it must work.

I survived. Morning class is always a special challenge. Two questions (in the order of less to greater importance):

(1) What is the best method of surviving really fast frappes?

(a) attempting the actual combination
(b) frappe'ing the hell out of your leg and trusting in the God of Probability that your leg will strike on most of the right counts
(c) creating your own frappe combination. Get creative. Use the music. Be sure to add some doubles here and there, and repeat on releve.

Today, I used a combination of (b) and (c). And (a).

(2) Where is Kip's Rosin Box?

It looks a lot like the one on 20th & Sansom St. (that's "street" not "saint") except a lot smaller and there are no ballet shoes inside it, nor leotards, nor nice folks named Len and Jen. Only rosin. If anyone is aware of the location of Kip's Rosin Box, please re-locate it to 1923 Chestnut St. ("street"), 3rd floor. Please Ring For Symmetry.

"They've gone crazy with the tape!"

-action is directed by the working leg; that is to say, the working leg wears the pants in the relationship. Wappah!
-renverse is a tipping, not a turning movement; the turn arises naturally due to the movement from efface to croise and the ensuing momentum of the attitude leg
-LINE! TAPE! TAPE! LINE!
-Evil was successfully shut down...at least until 7am tomorrow morning
-Kip had too much coffee this evening

a binary kind of day...

failli:
-is a connecting step in which you jump from 5th and ALMOST fall into efface back, but then your back foot PASSES THROUGH first and into croise fourth
-in everyday French, the word is used with other verbs to mean ALMOST
-eg: "J'ai failli tomber" = "I almost fell (but did not)"; note the implication that the fall failed to take place, that I was saved from falling
-in ballet French, has come to mean TO MAKE WAY/PASS THROUGH

We did 3 long combinations at center. My inner compass was tragically malfunctioning. 2 tips for better recall of combinations:
-note how many croises/effaces
-markers (eg: on what count do you developpe?)