Tips from a Ballet Teacher - Aplomb (important things to know)

[@juliecronshaw7013]

Hello dancers! If you like my videos then feel free to explore our official website (Ballet's Secret Code) for lots (LOTS) more! www.balletsecretcode.com/ And you can watch the documentary film free right here on youtube: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHi3ZZpte62GrKM Also, if you find my work useful and would like to donate something to help the cause (of any amount at all - it all helps!) then you can PayPal us a donation to [e-mail]. We really really appreciate it! Lastly - here is the full list of videos available on our website. We worked really hard on them. Enjoy :) Monday: 1 - Assemblé Cecchetti 2 - Commentary 3 - Adage; Coupé et fouetté 4 - Commentary 5 - Temps levé, chassé, coupé, fouetté, posé, assemblé, entrechat trois, en avant et en arrière 6 - Commentary 7 - Développé croisé avec relevé, glissade, entrechat six de côté 8 - Commentary 9 - Demi - contretemps, entrechat six de côté (en diagonale) followed by pas de bourrée entrechat six en tournant (autour de la salle) 10 - Commentary Tuesday: 1 - Adage; Developpé fouetté Cecchetti 2 - Commentary 3 - Adage - Pas de chaconne Cecchetti 4 - Commentary 5 - Adage - Tour en dedans pirouette renversé développé à la seconde 6 - Commentary 7 - Pas de bourrée, dégagé, petits battements, dégagé, fouetté, jeté, chassé, pas de chat 8 - Commentary 9 - Relevé, petits battements, posé, petits battements, pas de bourrée, pas de bourrée avec allongée 10 - Commentary 11 - Jeté battement, rond de jambe sauté, etc. 12 - Commentary 13 - Pas de bourrée, posé, fouetté to arabesque, tombé, pas de chat 14 - Commentary 15 - Douze ballonnés, piqués, tombés, pas de bourrée 16 - Commentary 17 - Jeté, petits battements, deux ballonnés en avant 18 - Commentary 19 - Jeté, petits battements, deux ballonnés en arrière 20 - Commentary Wednesday: 1 - Adage; Pas de la Mascotte 2 - Commentary 3 - Jeté rond de jambe sauté, deux fois, jeté, trois ronds de jambe sautés 4 - Commentary 5 - Salvo - Temps levé développé, temps levé fouetté, jeté, gargouillade volée, deux jetés, etc. 6 - Commentary 7 - Muriel - Temps levé développé, temps levé fouetté, jeté, gargouillade volée, deux jetés, etc. 8 - Commentary 9 - Deux (slow) gargouillades en - dehors, deux (quick) gargouillades en - dehors, etc. 10 - Commentary 11 - Ronds de jambe relevé retombé, etc. 12 - Commentary 13 - Demi - contretemps, rond de jambe relevé en dedans, jeté devant allongé à l’arabesque, etc. 14 - Commentary 15 - Coupé dessus en tournant, septs ronds de jambe en tournant en-dehors, etc. 16 - Commentary 17 - Full contretemps, assemblé dessus, ronds de jambe sauté, réleve en attitude, etc. 18 - Commentary 19 - Double rond de jambe sauté en dehors, posé en avant, etc. 20 - Commentary Thursday: 1 - Adage -Pas de l’Alliance 2 - Commentary 3 - Glissade derrière, jeté to arabesque croisée, dégagé en tournant, entrechat six 4 - Commentary 5 - Jeté, relevé, posé, coupé, cinq fois (with ending) 6 - Commentary 6B - (Additional observation) 7 - Glissade derrière, jeté à l’arabesque croisée, etc. 8 - Commentary 9 - Pas de bourrée, jeté en attitude, quatre fois etc. 10 - Commentary 11 - Pas de bourrée couru grand jeté en tournant, pas de bourrée couru, fouetté sauté en tournant dans 1ère arabesque 12 - Commentary Friday: 1 - Adage; Glissade Cecchetti 2 - Commentary 3 - Adage; Glissade de Mami 4 - Commentary 5 - Glissade cabriole devant, glissade cabriole derrière, etc. 6 - Commentary 7 - Brisé volé en avant, brisé volé en arrière, grand pas de basque, entrechat trois 8 - Commentary 9 - Pas de basque battu, etc. 10 - Commentary 11 - Posé, cabriole devant, trois fois, pas de bourrée dessus à la quatrième arabesque allongée 12 - Commentary 13 - Entrechat quatre, entrechat quatre volé, deux fois, trois entrechats quatres, entrechat six 14 - Commentary 15 - Brisé dessus, cabriole devant fermée, entrechat quatre, entrechat trois, brisé volé en avant, cabriole fouetté, jeté battu, cabriole derrière fermée 16 - Commentary 17 - Pointework Observations - (with Emma Moran) 18 - Pointework Observations (with Madeline Squire as a Student) Saturday: 1 - Adage - Six relevés 2 - Commentary 3 - Adage -Deux grands ronds de jambe en l’air avec arabesque 4 - Commentary 5 - Fouetté sauté à six temps en arrière 6 - Commentary 7 - Coupé sauté, ballonné, jeté en tournant, posé, jeté, posé, jeté 8 - Commentary 9 - Temps levé, chassé en arrière deux fois, temps levé posé deux fois, jeté élancé à l’attitude, pas de bourrée renversé, assemblé coupé derrière, entrechat six 10 - Commentary 11 - Temps levé, chassé croisé, temps levé en arabesque croisée, coupé dessus, ballonné, grand jeté en tournant, posé 12 - Commentary 13 - Additional steps for men - Deux temps levés, chassés en arrière, assemblé devant, double tour en l’air 14 - Commentary 15 - Commentary only - Pas de l’ange (additional steps for men) En Diagonale: 1 - Pas de bourrée en dedans, jeté, fouetté en tournant en dedans, développé à l’arabesque 2 - Commentary 3 - Coupé fouetté, coupé fouetté en tournant, coupé, pas de basque, tour en attitude renversé 4 - Commentary 5 - Pas de bourrée en tournant, coupé trois temps levés en 4ème arabesque en tournant, etc. 6 - Commentary 7 - Temps levé chassé, deux fois, deux tours en dehors (with arm movement and renversé) 8 - Commentary 9 - Additional steps for men - Double tour en l’air, chassé en arabesque, glissade, cabriole etc. 10 - Commentary Barre: 1 - Pliés 2 - Commentary 3 - Pliés - Additional Summary 4 - Battements tendus, relevés and dégagés 5 - Commentary 6 - Ronds de jambe à terre avec ronds de jambe jetés 7 - Ronds de jambe à terre - Commentary - Muriel 8 - Holding the arms in à la seconde - Commentary 9 - Battements frappés 10 - Commentary - Salvo 11 - Commentary- Muriel 12 - Petits battements 13 - Petits battements - Commentary - Muriel 14 - Ronds de jambe en l’air 15 - Ronds de jambe en l’air - Commentary- Muriel 16 - Adage movements - Commentary 17 - Grands battements & battements balancés 18 - Commentary - Salvo 19 - Commentary - Muriel 20 - Value of the Cecchetti Barre 21 - Barre Summary Centre Practice & Pirouettes: 1 - First set of Ports de bras - Salvo 2 - Second set of Ports de bras - Muriel 3 - Commentary 4 - First set of Ports de bras & grands battements - Muriel 5 - Commentary 6 - Battements tendus & dégagés 7 - Commentary 8 - Ronds de jambe à terre 9 - Commentary 10 - Battements frappés & petits battements (with 2nd ending) 11 - Commentary 12 - Grande préparation pour pirouette en dedans (in 1st arabesque and on the knee) - Muriel 13 - Commentary 14 - Grande préparation pour pirouettes en dedans - Salvo 15 - Commentary 16 - Pirouettes en dehors sur le cou-de-pied 17 - Commentary 18 - Deux tours en-dehors, rond de jambe à l’attitude croisée, etc. 19 - Commentary 20 - Série de coupé, rond de jambe, pas de bourrée renversée 21 - Commentary Interviews with Katharine Kanter: 1 - Cecchetti - Why take on the challenge? 2 - Muriel Valtat - interview 3 - Salvatore Nicolosi - interview 4 - Muriel Valtat & Julie Cronshaw - interview 5 - George Massey - interview 6 - Morta Grigaliūnaitė - interview 7 - Florence and the Hamlyn School 8 - Nicoletta Santoro - interview 9 - Alessandra Alberti - interview 10 - Elisa Corsini - interview www.balletsecretcode.com/

[@smartballet]

Thank you very much for spending your time to explain, film and publish on KZbin. My teacher taught us the same principles of alignment at Bolshoi ballet academy. These days I’m a head of retraining department at Vaganova St.Petersburg and we fight every day for good old school, for those fundamental principles in your film.

[@juliecronshaw7013]

Thank you for your comment, this is so good to hear.

[@joyvan0827]

The fundamental training is so so important. The focus of ballet training now is to have prodigies (very flexible young children) learn variations that are meant for finished professional dancers, and to take part in as many competitions as they can. One only needs to take a quick look at the first two exercises in a company class to find out what kind of dancers get picked to join the company. Buttocks sitting back in every plié. Shifting weight before every tendu. The height of the legs and the multiple pirouettes can only act as the spice, not as the main course. In this case, I don’t think the audience is merely the one to blame. It should be the artists, the school principals and the directors who set the standard for the public eyes. Of course there will be people who will have fast food once in a while, but it’s the wholesome food that is sustainable and healthy for all involved.

[@juliecronshaw7013]

Yes this is so true and well observed! Change however, as my teacher Roger Tully said, will come from the wings...or maybe when we eventually emerge from these difficult times.

[@ritawing1064]

I recently watched the YAGP rounds: your comments reflects absolutely what seemed to me: very young dancers tackling incredibly difficult variations which they could "get through" and little more. One wonders how they will go on when they have "got through" everything by the time they are 18.

[@joyvan0827]

@@ritawing1064 It seems that many of them experience "burn out" very early. After winning mutiple medals, it is hard for one to start from the corps and be in the back of the line. Too many young dancers are getting injured too early as well. Hip surgeries and knee surgeries are common phenomena these days. In my opinion, the demand for insane flexibility is one of the main cause of injury.

[@firebird2]

Thank you. We worked so hard on this! Instead of leaning sideways the effort goes up. It is so much better for the joints. Salute to great teachers everywhere.

[@jencorea8748]

Love it .. aplomb... the pure foundation... you understand that and the magic can begin. I spent a lot of my younger professional career thinking and retraining myself... it physics on that leave,. Having hyper extended knees .... I knew it had to be easier... and found it. Trained and worked in 70s 80s and 90s, pure ballet russe linage and watched the change as all of have. Thank you for your wonderful post 🙏🙏🙏 for your knowledge

[@juliecronshaw7013]

Thank you for your comment and confirming that this notion of the aplomb is not just a 'Cecchetti principle'. I studied this principle in depth with Roger Tully who was a student of Kathleen Crofton who was herself a student of Olga Preobrahenskaya, ballerina of the Imperial Theatre, St. Petersburg and pupil of Cecchetti. Crofton danced in Anna Pavlova's company. Roger Tully also studied with Lydia Kyasht who was a ballerina of the Imperial Theatre St. Petersburg who had also trained with Cecchetti and Legat.

[@virtualpilateshub]

Very informative! I’m going to apply this technique to my standing Pilates work. Thank you 😊

[@lindadibenardo7791]

Fascinating!! So informative for any sport

[@caitlinrose3572]

Yes! So many dancers miss out on truly stregthening their deep external rotators and instead rely on their glute medius for support when they shift.

[@GeorgeOu]

That's an impressive inside turn at 0:05.

[@katherinewhitfield2780]

Very interesting! So keeping the plumb line at barre is mostly used as a preparation for center jumps? In a Cecchetti class, would you ever be asked to balance and take your hand off the barre when doing a releve degage like you showed in the video? If so, would it then be appropriate to shift your weight, or are advanced Ceccheti students able to maintain the vertical line while balancing?

[@juliecronshaw7013]

Dear Katherine, Great comments thank you! Yes, my Cecchetti teacher Richard Glasstone said that Cecchetti’s barre was to get the dancer ready for jumping. And Roger Tully, my teacher of more than 20 years, said that the barre was to find your aplomb by midway through the barre, usually on relevee, when you can start to take your hand off to test for the balance. Cecchetti does this too and the idea is not to shift and sit on the leg if possible! All Cecchetti’s exercises from the barre are shown in the streaming package. Cecchetti and Bournonville both did very short barres with this goal. You can see in old books of ballet technique from the Vaganova school in St P and Choreographic school (Bolshoi Academy) in Moscow that the children do indeed have assured plumb lines in photos at the barre and then again in the centre. I’ve used one b/w photo twice in the film to illustrate this.

[@justme9818]

Thank you for your videos, I trained in the English style so I'm fascinated by this information. Have you any videos on how training with the aplomb line feels in the body compared with training in the transfer of weight method? Or how the anatomy works? The musculature must surely work very differently. Looking forward to the rest of your channel!

[@juliecronshaw7013]

Thank you for writing in! The best way to understand how this training works is to adopt it in the ballet class. I’m not an expert in anatomy and yes of course the way the musculature works will also be different. I teach it as an ongoing, long term plan with new students, it is not an easy fix. Many years ago I sat watching archival ballet films (from more than 100 years ago up to the 60’s) with Roger Tully at the British Film Institute and we noticed how the sense of aplomb changed the style of dancing, from decade to decade. Surely this research is possible to do today on KZbin as so much footage is uploaded regularly? You can see in old ballet books, to a certain extent, how the shifts in aplomb cause subtle changes in the body. It is easier to see the shifts though, in the films.

[@justme9818]

Thank you for your reply. I think you may have misunderstood me a little -though your advice is still useful. I was trying to ask how this Cecchetti work is experienced by students in comparison with their experience of dancing eg. English technique. Ie. The feedback you might commonly receive from students switching to Cecchetti style. How their bodies respond to the different approach. I did try 'aplomb' briefly in my kitchen...! I thought all the musculature worked more (but not necessarily harder) and posture seemed to self correct more naturally. I felt a lot more alive too. I imagine the barre in Cecchetti might feel a lot more like dancing!

[@sixpoems]

@@juliecronshaw7013 I am very, very curious to read from you what kind of changes in dancing style were observed. Please let us know. 🕵🏾‍♂️

[@juliecronshaw7013]

Thank you for your comments! Several years ago I visited the Archives of the BFI (British Film Institute) with my ballet teacher Roger Tully. We sat in a room on the lower ground floor and watched many short films of English ballet, (mostly) dating back 100 years. The idea was to get a gist of how ballet training, had changed over the decades. The first film was a snippet of Nijinsky’s Faun, also there was footage of Ashton and the first group of English dancers, like Markova, also the young Fonteyn and then the Royal Ballet when they moved to the Opera House. We stopped at the 1960s. Even in the 1930s, although it is subtle one can see how the emphasis on dancing in the aplomb changes, we (Roger and I) sensed a shift in ‘groundedness’, for want of a better word, and more emphasis on other aspects of technique. The way that Roger Tully taught about the aplomb was unique to him and his classes. It is not a Cecchetti thing, it is a universal physical principle. As teacher who teaches Cecchetti Method and who had studied with Roger for more than 20 years, I have tried to integrate it into my teaching and daily practice. Hope that helps!

[@blurryface139]

I've just discovered your channel and I would say that I totally agree with you. I feel like your ideas concur with Conrad's. I wonder if you know him and what do you think of his ideas.

[@juliecronshaw7013]

Thanks! I don’t know Conrad....

[@blurryface139]

@@juliecronshaw7013 I see. He has a KZbin channel, 'Ballet Conrad'. I really think you'll be interested. His ideas are from Vaganova but his way of training is quite different: greatly focusing on the fundamentals like doing demi and micro plies in the 2nd position before doing it on first. He also insists that grand plies are unnecessary. There are a lot of things he doesnt agree with the modern ballet (like the things you point out in your documentary video, Ballet's Secret Code') which makes him like a controversial man in the ballet community.

[@juliecronshaw7013]

Thanks will check it out!

[@marcosacosta5120]

@@juliecronshaw7013 Definitely check him out!

[@absolutetruthgirl]

Wish I'd known this when I studied ballet.

[@gerbertela]

Hi there! Is finding your aplomb reserved for the Italian and Russian methods, or could you find this in Balanchine’s technique (in the USA, for example)?

[@juliecronshaw7013]

In my experience no, because there is a different emphasis on weight placement but generally the notion of aplomb as I have learned it, is not taught in any system but only by teachers who have had it taught them. (Maggie Black taught it but I cannot corroborate this as I never had the opportunity to take her classes). When I lived and worked in the USA in the late 80’s and early 90s I was fortunate to gain experience in different ballet techniques and to study with several teachers including those who were from SAB or who had had careers with NYCB or similar companies. The weight placement was over the toes for dancing Balanchine BUT! In those days there seemed to be was more knowledge or at least an awareness of correct aplomb than came later as many teachers said that they had originally been taught to keep the weight more centralised.

[@gerbertela]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge about this! I think it's definitely still good to know about my true center, so I know what is happening to my body when I'm moving it around. I like to be aware! Thank you :)@@juliecronshaw7013

[@juanmanuelgranadosdavila4984]

"Aplomb" or how to make the line of gravity (body) fall on the base of support.

[@jesseyliau3278]

hi Julie, im interested to learn cecchetti classical ballet. how can i start i. btw im in Malaysia. as i know no one is teaching this method here.

[@juliecronshaw7013]

Hi Jessey, The nearest Cecchetti organisations to you, at least regarding time difference, would be in Australia and Japan. You could start with online classes maybe. Good luck!

[@sixpoems]

@@juliecronshaw7013 I'm surprised to find that Japan might have an option for learning Cecchetti's method. I live here and will check it out.

[@bearvillebear1468]

Keep strong. Dont forget that despite the struggles in this world, God is full of justice, mercy and love. Justice said we broke His perfect law - causing the world's previous perfection to be destroyed - and therefore we deserve Hell (like a punishment in any legal system but this is eternal as His perfect law is eternal too). Don't think you fit in that category? Ever done one of these?: lying, stealing - regardless of how small the object EVER, hating others - which is murder in God's perfect law, lusting (plus God sees our entire thought life). Justice says "the soul that sins shall die" - if we break one in thought/word/deed it's as if we're guilty of all of them. Quite simply, living by the law (which is doing everything perfectly) is impossible for sinful humans . The law shows us that 1. We will die in Hell if we fail to follow it and 2. We cannot save ourselves BUT, 3. God's perfect, immovable law points us to Christ, who followed and fulfilled the law in thought, word and deed perfectly in our place. He did what we couldn't and did it on our behalf. He was then sentenced to death on a cross, and took our personal punishment for our sin, paying our penalty (like paying our fine) completely FOR us, and has given us freedom. If we turn from the sins we have committed and repent (pursue the opposite direction of love through Christ) He will, overtime, recreate us back into that previously perfect image through The Holy Spirit which Jesus sends to all who accept Him as their personal Lord and Savior of their life. He will help us through the struggle, the stress, and anything we experience in the world. It's about letting Christ in to guide and teach you and obeying Him through His power (not ourselves, we need Him to help us as it's impossible without depending on His power and instruction). He is our substitute in His life, death and resurrection. He essentially rewrote history in our place so that, if you believe in Him, it will be as if you had never sinned if you accept Christ's death as our own in our place. He is in Heaven right now preparing a place for us so that He can take His faithful, believing children home with Him when He returns. He will ressurrect us from death when He returns, giving mercy to those who accept His love, instruction and teachings in their life, and give justice to those who refuse it. He doesn't want ANY of us to go to Hell and die for continuing in evil and rejecting His way to life, thats why He died FOR us. Hes giving EVERYONE a chance, He wants everyone to take the free gift of salvation from Hell. He wants us to be His and begin to follow His life of love and service through His power and abiding (staying) with Him. So long as we keep our hearts near to Christ through His strength, strive to follow His will of perfect love revealed in the Bible, and let Him lead in the midst of (very certain) pitfalls and struggles, we will, in time, win the ultimate victory over sin, pain and DEATH through Christ. Even if you are willing to be made willing, pray for Jesus to come in and He will do what we can't. Give us The Holy Spirit who will guide us in the right way. NOTE: You are NEVER too sinful or messed up that God cannot turn your life around through Jesus. EVER. Regardless of what you've done or what you're going through you CAN make it through Jesus. If you have any questions let me know x

[@jan-christinejohnson8852]

Ms. Cronshaw: Very much like your dark ballet tunic outfit. Looks like what women wore over 100 years ago.

[@GeorgeOu]

At 1:52, I think you might have exaggerated a bit too much pulling away from the barre such that even your nose is past the outside of the vertical line away from the barre. Perhaps this was inadvertent, and you are slightly more towards the balls than the heel than what you show there. On the Aplomb alignment, I think I'm 80% with you and 20% towards the extreme slant you show. I think most dancers and schools teach putting the bellybutton over the standing shin bone and have the weight split between the heel and ball, but favoring closer to the heel than the ball. I don't agree with putting all the weight over the ball of the foot when flat, but the weight can't be completely over the heel either especially when you can't hold onto the barre. I think you're exaggering the slant of the other schools. They do slant the leg but they bend at the hip to get the torso vertical again. I don't agree with their method, but we shouldn't exaggerate the amount of lean they employ. For non-turning passe en pointe, the center is going to be over the shin which is over the box of the pointe shoe. For turns, the center will be past that and the hip is a bit more "sitting" to counter the rotational force of the knee being thrown outwards from the centrifugal force. Single turn will be closer to non-turning position, double will sit a little, and triple pirouette will sit a bit more. For a la seconde turns, it requires even more of a slanted leg and sitting past the standing foot to counter the weight and centrifugal pull of the working leg.

[@juliecronshaw7013]

Thank you for your observations. I can only say what I see here at the vocational dance colleges in London and the 'slant' is quite extreme. Dancers are right over their toes. Yes the position of the torso when on one leg en pointe is over the standing leg and hopefully the dancer is on the box and not pushing over the arch, but I do not think it is a good idea to 'sit' in any turn- sorry, maybe I am not understanding you here? For turns in open positions or 'planer' and for preparation for turns 'en dedans' my teacher Roger Tully used to say 'Go out on the dangerous side' as we would tend to just 'sit' on the weight bearing leg, from years of previous training. Anyway, after working for a while with Mr. Tully, one learned that the initial thrust of rotation made by the torso enables the upward spiral movement of the first turn, holds the form vertically and sustains the momentum and form thereafter, of subsequent turns. So imho there shouldn't really be much if any slant in the standing leg.

[@GeorgeOu]

@@juliecronshaw7013 Not sure what happened to my other reply which included photos. I'm not suggesting that dancers should sit and lean the standing leg as much as they teach in those vocational dance colleges you speak of. I mean something between straight and that lean over the standing side, but closer to straight.

[@juliecronshaw7013]

@@GeorgeOu Thanks, for your comments, it's so good to have this discussion. I cannot find the photos on the earlier reply..

[@JonathanDavidDummar]

This video has helped me so very much! Julie, thank you and may God bless you and your important work.

[@wanderingbutts]

Do you offer online classes?

[@juliecronshaw7013]

Only for children at the moment. If there are more requests I’ll offer a class.

[@wanderingbutts]

@@juliecronshaw7013 thank you for your response! I loved the documentary. If you do end up offering classes for adult dancers I think offering video classes so that people can replay it, and pause it however many times they want would be very valuable.