A million tendus

If you're an experienced dancer with years of classes behind you, you've likely done thousands of tendus, thousands more degages, and perhaps a million demi-plies. As a teacher I try to structure my combinations so you don't realize you're doing the same tendus you've seen a bajillion times but honestly, there are just so many ways to combine steps at the barre.

But there's a very good reason for this: muscle memory. Just as baseball players and golfers practice their swings over and over and over again, we dancers must practice the same steps over and over and over again until they are so much a part of our bodies that we don't think about them.

cc lic Paul L Dineen "Big Swing"

 If we had to think about every muscle and every bone that must move and coordinate in order to do a grand jete developpe, we would never get off the ground!

Take a look at this breakdown of a baseball player's swing - and he's not even propelling his body into the air!

Baseball Swing Anatomy

Today I want to talk about the tiniest little things that have a BIG impact on your turns, your jumps and your lines.

Your toes.

cc lic melalouise Sous Sous

Ten tiny parts of you that really sell you as a polished dancer, no matter how many years you have been taking class. Your toes do so many things!

--they keep you on the floor
--they push you off the floor
--they start your pirouette
--they finish your lines
--they form the platform upon which you balance
--they are the basis of your pointe work
--they shape your foot and guide your leg through the air no matter what you do

cc lic Quinn Dombrowski, A Leg Out of Nowhere

 And they MUST be STRETCHED. This is an absolute MUST.

Teachers always tell you to point your toes but instead, think STRETCH, not point. We don't want to grip our toes or feet - we want to lengthen them. With the stretch/lengthen imagery, we will spring ourselves up to retire for a turn; we will spring to glissade and brush every jete.

Without exception, your toes must be stretched to a fully extended position EVERY TIME they come off the floor (unless the choreography calls for a flexed or soft foot) and they remain stretched until the foot returns to the floor. From the very first exercises at the barre (typically a plie combination), think about the toes adhering to the floor; think about them when you balance flat or en releve. Think about them as you articulate the foot during slow tendus. The more you engage the toes, the more you articulate them, the more muscle memory you're gaining. Soon it will feel weird for you to not point your feet.

Happy dancing~