Going En Pointe

What's the difference between dancing en pointe and dancing in soft shoes?

Is your placement different?

Not really.

Is your turnout different?

I hope not.

Is your technique different?

No.

Yeah, I can hear you all, now. Jerry, you never danced en pointe (I've been en pointe. No, there are no videos), you have no idea what it's like, how different it is.

To quote Master Yoda, "No! No different! Only different in your mind!"

If it's so different, then all those years preparing for it were a waste of time.

Your technique, your turnout, your placement should all be so solid, and your body must be so strong, that the only difference is the shoes.

But, Jerry- No. If you keep protesting that it's different, it will be difficult. Do you want that? Yes, the skin of your feet has to get tough. Yes, you have to try five, ten, a hundred pairs of pointe shoes before you find the right ones, but this is the only thing that matters.

Ready?

If you look at it my way, the transition to pointe work will be relatively easy. If you continue to look at it your way, it will be hard.

Do you want to be right, so much, that you will ignore an obviously better way?

One of my students asked if they could have a pre-pointe class one day. My response?

"Every class is a pre-pointe class."

See you in (pre-pointe) class.

Most contemporary choreography is lousy

I hate most contemporary choreography. It's pretentious claptrap. Is there good contemporary stuff?

Sure, but very little.

It's like modern art, where a museum will pay thousands of dollars for a rock. Not a sculpted rock. A rock.

I could choreograph a piece where one dancer (wouldn't even have to be a dancer), stands in the middle of the stage and doesn't move, while dancers dance around them, and say, "It's about the futility of most human existence." People would say, "Wow, that's deep!"

No, it's not, it's a con job. It's bull.

And there are choreographers who are paid gobs of money and travel the world, who do this garbage.

Now, I'm not a great choreographer by any stretch of the imagination, but if I didn't have any integrity, I could create pieces like the one I described, and probably make a fortune. However, I like to be able to look at myself in the mirror, and know I'm honest.

See you in class.

More myths dispelled, or, Jerry pisses off more teachers

I asked my students, How many of you have been told to lift your arms using your back (or something like that)?

Every hand went up.

I said, You can't.

Blank faces.

I then used one of them to describe what your back muscles do. I showed where the latissinus dorsi originate and insert. I showed and explained what the trapezius does. I then asked, can you use those muscles to lift your arms?

No.

I then showed and explained the deltoids.

I asked, What lifts your arms?

The deltoids. (More specifically, the anterior and medial; the posterior pulls the arm back from in front of the body, but only when the elbow is above the shoulder, otherwise, your back is doing it).

I explained that when you hold your arms in a proper second position, you are activating your back muscles, and you should always use your back muscles to help stabilize your body, but it is anatomically impossible to lift your arms with your back, the way most teachers say to.

See you in class.

Plié. I don't think that word means what you think it means.

No, not the literal translation, you probably know that. No, I mean do you know, really know how to plié?

Probably not.

Most dancers, even some professionals, simply relax their leg muscles, bend their knees, and catch themselves at the bottom of their demi plié. This is a waste of time. Not only does it not develop any leg strength, it makes your landings from jumps lousy.

Here's how to really do plié.

Stand in first position, heels together, legs straight (never stand on hyperextended legs). Pull up on your quads, lifting the kneecaps, actively straightening your legs. If you don't see your leg muscles- especially the vastus lateralis, the outside quad- (in the mirror, don't look down), they're not working. Now, keeping the feeling of actively straightening your legs, start your plié. You must keep pulling up as you flex your legs, not just bend them. Resist bending your legs. Pressing your heels into the floor, continue to your demi, then to your grande, keeping the heels close to the floor. On the way back up, you must push as if there is a ton of weight pressing you down. Of course, this is done slowly, feeling the muscles working all the time.

Once you have returned to a straight leg position, if you have done it right, you will say what one of my young men said, when I taught them how to do it correctly in men's class.

"That's exhausting!"

Yup. It's also the best way to build strength.

See you in class.