April 4th, 2012

In watching these three performances, I found Petrouckha to be the most interesting. Although all the ballet's were beautiful and fascinating  in their own way, Petrouckha told a story which is a rare quality for many ballet pieces. The story was not only deep but let the mind contemplate about its symbolism.

Petrouckha 
The first ballet, "Petrouckha" performed in 1911 and choreographed by Michel Fokine, is a story of a Russian traditional puppet named Petrouckha, who comes to life and develops emotions. The ballet starts off with a colorful carnival setting, with two dancers entertaining the crowd, when suddenly a curtain rises from the tiny theater placed in the background, revealing what seemed to be three lifeless figures, Petrouckha, played by Thierry Monge, a ballerina, played by Monique Lourdieres and a moor, played by Jean Guizerix. With a simple flick of the Charlatan's wand, the puppets come to life and begin to perform their vigorous Russian dance amongst their astounded audience. During the remainder of the performance, Petrouckha portrays his sadness towards the audience because of his love for the ballerina who in turn is in love with the Moor. The ballet performed with many precise and straight movements returns to a carnival scene once again where Petrushka is killed by the Charlatan and the ballet is ended by Petrushka's ghost appearing on the roof of the little theatre.  I personally enjoyed the performance with its exaggerated movements and mixture of emotion, it was nothing short of colorful, lively and interestingly quirky!

Monotones
This ballet performed by Joffrey Ballet in 1966 was choreographed by Frederick Ashton. Consisting of three dancers, Elizabeth Parkinson, Glenn Egerton and Tom Mossbrucker costumed in white unitards, performed slowly and precisely, showing off their flexibility and talent.


Sinfonietta 
The last ballet our class watched  was performed in the Nederlands Dans Theater and was choreographed by Jiri Kylian and composed by Janecek. Starting off with a piece performed by all male dancers,  the dance starts off upbeat and transforms into various pieces performed my many dancer all through out the performance.

Guest Teacher- Jillian Michaels

On March 21st, 2012, our class had the pleasure of having a guest instructor, Jillian Michaels.  Ofcourse with the absence of Mr. Plotch's therapeutic bar exercises and regular routines, I was eager to see what new styles and exercises Ms. Michaels had planned. During class we executed normal routines in her particular style of ballet as she critiqued and gave advice. The exercises really worked on strengthening the calf muscles and helped greatly for warming up. After various barre exercises Ms. Michaels allowed us to have an individual stretch period and then introduced a pirouette exercise. This exercise really showed the class the importance of the arms and how to use them during turns. She then taught us combinations that included movements that we learned in previous classes, such as glissade, pas de bourre  and pas de chat. Ms. Michaels style and choice of combinations allowed for an interesting and satisfying experience. Her uplifting spirit and clever tricks to making movements appear easy reminded me of my passion and potential for ballet. I thoroughly enjoyed her class and would love to have a class with her again!

Jumps

The magical world of the ballet has enthralled audiences for hundreds of years. From the intricate steps of the ballerinas to the most majestic leaps of the male dancers, ballet requires great strength and stamina. Most of the famous positions, jumps and leaps have particular names and some are performed in specific ballets
Changement de pieds

A jump from fifth position that changes feet in the air to land with the other foot in front, in fifth position. Literally, a change of the feet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeg8forfxx0&feature=player_embedded

Tour en l'air

Often performed by the male ballet dancer, the tour en l'air means a jump straight into the air in which the dancer makes a complete turn before landing in the fifth position with feet together. This can be a single, double or triple turn requiring great control.

Soubresaut 


A jump both taking off from and landing in fifth position with the legs tightly crossed and feet pointed in the air.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytKyS3odmjM


Entrechat

Interweaving or braiding. A step of beating in which the dancer jumps into the air and rapidly crosses the legs before and behind each other. Entrechats are counted from two to ten according to the number of crossings required and counting each crossing as two movements, one by each leg; that is, in an entrechat quatre each leg makes two distinct movements. Entrechats are divided into two general classes: the even-numberedentrechats, or those which land on two feet-- deux, quatre, six, huit and dix-- and the odd-numbered entrechats, or those which land on one foot-- trios, cing, sept and nuef.

Dance in America: "Jewels"

     According to reviews, George Balanchine, the original choreographer,  made ballet a modern art. Premiering in 1967, "Jewels" is the choreographer's only plotless work in three acts.The abstract ballet illuminates, with clarity and brilliance in its three movements -- the romantic "Emeralds," the jazzy, neoclassical "Rubies," and the classically inspired "Diamonds.""Jewels" literally shines, as the dancers' costumes are imbued with the brilliance of the stone for which each section is named.

  On February 20th, 2012, the class watched the ballet performance from the video, Dance in America. Of the three parts we only watched two, emeralds and diamonds.

     Emeralds (Merill Ashley, Gerard Ebitz: For the first part, the dancers wore green leotards lined with jewels at the top and tutus, It features staccato movements of the arms and legs then soft and slow walking movements. In the second part the piece contains many lifts. 

     Diamonds(Suzanne Farrell, Peter Martins): With music by Stravinsky,  for the first part the costumes consisted of white leotards studded with jewels and short white tutus, featuring many penches in their movements. In the second part, the dancers change into a more traditional ballet costume consisting of black leotard tights and skirts for females and white shirt and black tights for males. This part includes quick movements and features two sets of pas de deux (dance for two) which shows the dancers using a different style with bent knees and incorporating a series of back bends in the piece. The other, using wide second positions and a lot of intertwining arm movements. The last part of this piece consists of the dancers wearing black or pink tights and incorporates a folk style of dancing with a lot of foot work.
Overall the pieces, emeralds and diamonds, with their elaborate costumes and unusual movements captivated the audience making it a remarkable ballet for all to enjoy. 

Ballet 249: Glissades

Ballet 249

Glissade Dessus: Glissade Over. This glissade travels to the side and is commenced with the back foot, which finishes in the front. Fifth position right foot back; demi- pile and slide the pointed toe of the right foot to the second position. With a slight spring from the left foot, shift the weight to the right foot, bending the knee, and slide the pointed left foot to the fifth position back, lowering the heel and bending the knee.

Glissade Dessous: Glissade Under. This glissade travels to the side and is commenced with the front foot, which finishes at the back. Fifth position right foot front; demi-plie and slide the pointed toe of the right foot to the second position. With a slight spring from the left foot,shift the weight of the right foot, bending the knee, and slide the pointed left foot to the fifth position front, lowering the heel and bending the knee.

Difference: Glissade Dessous meaning under, which indicates that the working foot passes behind the supporting foot whereas Glissade Dessus meaning over, indicates that the working foot passes in front of the supporting foot.

Glissade Devant: Glissade in front. This glissade travels to the side and is commenced with the front foot, which remains in front at the finish. Fifth position right foot front; demi-plie and slide the pointed toe of the right foot to the second position. With a slight spring from the left foot, shift the weight to the right foot, bending the knee, and slide the pointed left foot to the fifth position back, lowering the heel and bending the knee.

Glissade Derriere: Glissade in back. This glissade travels to the side and is commenced with the back foot, which remains in the back at the finish. Fifth position right foot back; demi-plie and slide the pointed toe of the right foot to the second position. With a slight spring from the left foot, shift the weight to the right foot, bending the knee, and slide the pointed left foot to the position front, lowering the heel and bending the knee.

Glissade en avant: Glissade forward. This glissade commences with the front foot and finishes with it in the front, traveling en avant, croise en avant or efface en avant. Fifth position right foot front; demi-plie and slide the pointed toe of the right foot to the fourth position front. With a slight spring from the left foot, shift the weight to the right foot, bending the knee, and slide the pointed left foot to the fifth position back, lowering the heel and bending the knee.

Glissade en arrière: Glissade backward. This glissade commences with the back foot and finishes with it in the back, traveling en arriere or efface en arriere. Fifth position right foot back; demi-plie and slide the pointed toe of the right foot to the fourth position back. With a slight spring from the left food, shift the weight to the right food, bending the knee, and slide the pointed left foot to the fifth position front, lowering the heel and bending the knee.