Pointe Shoes Are Not A Crutch

I know I've written about this subject before, but a little reminder can't hurt.

Pointe shoes are not a crutch.

As most of you know, I'm kind of a maverick in ballet. There are things that just don't make sense to me, I have my own definite ideas, and I can support and prove my ideas with fact, much to the annoyance of others in ballet.

I don't care.

So, on to crutches.

If you need super strong shoes for pointe work, you are not strong enough for pointe work. (Professionals are a slightly different story, but they are strong enough, usually, that they don't need strong shoes, they just like them, but there's still a problem. Read on). I have two major pet peeves regarding super strong shoes (Russian Pointes, I'm looking at you!). The first is, the shoe is doing most of the work. Wrong. You should be doing most of the work. Like, 90% of it. Second, super strong shoes are usually super hard, which makes them super loud, which I DETEST! The magic of ballet is destroyed by loud pointe shoes.

Now, there are strong shoes that aren't loud, but I'm not turning this into a commercial for any specific brand.

Suffice it to say, if you need super strong shoes, the problem isn't your shoes, it's you; you're not strong enough.

Get into class, and get stronger.

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.

Testing vs Competitions

I'll choose competitions over testing, every time.

Yes, I know about RAD and I think Cecchetti also does testing, but I think, no, I know competitions (not the sequin crap), are more beneficial for many reasons, but this one, in particular:

Testing does not prepare you for what you'll do as a professional.

But, Jerry, what if I don't want to be a professional?

If you're in my class, I'm training you as if you want to be a professional.

As a pro, you're not going to dance in front of judges/adjudicators, in a studio, who will say, "Do such and such combination", and give you a certificate. You're going to be dancing in front of an audience. Testing does not prepare you for that. Oh, the highest level of testing might, but all the tests before that don't.

Competitions, on the other hand, do prepare you for what you'll be doing as a pro, dancing on stage in front of an audience.

But, testing gives you short term goals, and a codified, structured way to learn to dance.

I'll say this, again, testing doesn't prepare you for what you'll do as a professional.

It prepares you to take tests.

If you like that, great, go for it, but you'll still have to dance on stage, in front of an audience. There isn't a company worth the name that will hire you if you have only taken tests and never performed.

Why are you dancing? To take tests, or to perform?

Like I said, I'll take competitions over testing, every time.

See you in class.

Ballet and your butt

I go around in class poking glute muscles. If they are not being used, I'll say something like, "No mushy buns!" When I see a dancer with a big butt, (mostly female), who is not using their glute muscles, their butt, I know exactly what's going on in their head. They're thinking, "I don't want my butt to get any bigger, so I'd better not use those muscles, because that'll make them grow like a bodybuilder."

Wrong.

If you use them, properly, they will not get bigger, because you are not using weights like a bodybuilder. Okay, don't believe me. Then your butt will stay big, and mushy, and you won't have the requisite strength in your hips to properly hold your turnout.

Dancers who don't use their butts properly can't hold their turnout, can't lift their leg in arabesque, can't keep their weight forward, and can't even maintain a neutral pelvis.

Turnout from the inside of the thigh? Nope, that's not what those muscles do.

Lift your leg in arabesque from underneath? Nope, the muscle on top does the work.

Etc., etc., etc.

Your butt muscles are extremely powerful. Your grand allegro jumps are powered more by extension of the leg than by your plié. Don't believe me? Watch the big jumpers. They don't use as much plié as you think. (Petit allegro is different).

If you still don't get it, look at professional dancers. No mushy buns there.

Use your butt, or you simply won't dance well.

See you in class.

Online Coaching

I have started a new Facebook page offering online/Skype/FaceTime coaching. Using any mobile device, I can now coach dancers' classical variations around the world via Skype, FaceTime or video analysis. Go to Facebook and search "Professional Ballet Coaching, By Skype/FaceTime/Video Analysis". Fees are negotiable, but are usually $50-60/hr for Skype/FaceTime, and $20/variation for video analysis.

Auditions: Cutting Dancers at Barre is Stupid

A former student has been given a full scholarship to the RAD Geneé competition. She'll be flown from LA to Sydney, Australia, everything paid for, because she is a brilliant dancer. Out of thousands of eligible dancers from around the world, she'll be one of a small handful to receive a full scholarship that runs into the tens of thousands of dollars, but if you are one of those jerks who cuts people at barre, you'd tell her huh-bye after pliés. She has hip issues that make her grand pliés look awful, but everything else is fantastic. Beautiful legs and feet, spectacular jump, 5-6 pirouettes, strong as an ox, wonderful port du bras. 

Anyone who runs an audition, charges dancers for it (which I think is heinous), and cuts people at barre, is a fool. I know many dancers whose barre work is okay, not from lack of hard work or talent, but who can dance beautifully. I also know dancers who look astounding at barre, but can't move if you put a gun to their heads.

Yeah, yeah, I know, you're only cutting dancers because you need the room in the center. I don't care. They paid you. If you cut them, refund their money. Better yet, give them every chance to impress you. It's only your loss if you cut someone because they're not flat turned out, but can jump like an Olympian, or do nine pirouettes.

Don't be a snob.

See you soon in class (which I will let you complete).

Efficient Training

I started studying ballet the week I graduated from high school. Four years and ten months later, I was dancing for The Joffrey. I was not gifted in any way. I worked hard, and I found the most efficient ways to train. I did not adhere to one style or syllabus or curriculum; I found flaws in all of them. I picked the stuff that made sense to me, and that worked.

There are a lot of teachers/dancers who believe that one syllabus or curriculum is right and will teach you everything you need to know.

No.

Most syllabi teach you how to do specific steps. That's wrong. There are so many steps, classes would have to be hours long, and you'd have to remember way too much. There are actually very few specific things you really have to learn. It is far more important to train the body to function as a classical dancer, than to learn a specific step.

For example, there are only two shapes for your arm in classical ballet. Two. That's it. We're talking strict classical ballet, here, not Romantic, not choreography, just ballet. You have the curved shape, and the "straight" shape. The curved shape is virtually the same for fifth en bas, first, second, fifth en haut, etc. The "straight" shape (very slight bend at the elbow) is the same for any arabesque or elongee.

That's it. Two shapes.

Another example is relevé. We used to train on quarter pointe, with the heel just off the floor for turns. That's disappeared. Now, your foot is either flat on the floor, or full relevé, or en pointe. Three positions. Done.

See what I'm getting at?

Stanley Williams gave the simplest classes. Frustratingly simple, before we realized he was a genius. We didn't have complex grand allegro, which really pissed us off. He told us, "Boys, just do these exercises and everything will work." We didn't believe him. We didn't realize that by training the body to be a classical dancer, you'd be able to do any step you wanted. Sure we did exercises in all the required positions, but we didn't learn every individual step. We trained our muscles to hold our turnout, to point our feet, to use our core. We still didn't believe him.

Until one day.

After class, we were milling about the studio, frustrated that we hadn't been working on the big bravura steps we all wanted to do. I went to do a double saut de basque. We hadn't even done singles in class.

It worked.

I stopped, turned and saw everyone in the room was looking at me. I pointed to a friend. "You try it." It worked for him, too. We went around the room. Everyone could do doubles.

We realized Stanley was a genius.

He hadn't taught us to do double saut de basque.

He had taught us to be dancers.

If the syllabus or curriculum is teaching you to do individual steps, and not teaching you to be a dancer, it's wrong.

Stanley never said, "This is the Royal Danish syllabus." He just taught us ballet.

That's the way I teach.

See you in class.