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.