Your second leg: the easiest thing you can focus on to up your technique!

Hello beautiful dancers!

While watching students in a class that was not my own, I was struck by a common element that seemed to distinguish beginner dancers from experienced ones, messy technique from clean technique:

The Second Leg

No matter what the student was doing - a glissade, a pique turn, chaine turns, pas de chat - the second leg, that is, the leg that follows, was an afterthought or placed incorrectly. The first leg - the lead leg - was fine! In some instances, it was great! But the second leg...

...not so much. Some problems I saw:

In a glissade, the second leg is turned in and placed into fifth instead of extending to second with energy and the toes melting into the floor before the foot closes.

In a pique turn, the second leg steps across the lead leg instead of cutting under it.

In a series of chaine turns, the second leg both turns in and crosses over the lead leg instead of staying in tight first position. 

In a pas de chat, the second leg doesn't propel the body to the side but instead lifts in place by the knee and turns in.

There are many, many more examples I could use so okay, let's talk about some of them too:

In a pirouette en dehors, the second leg - the standing leg - doesn't push up to a full releve but spins in place on the ball of the foot.

In a grand jete developpe (or saut de chat), the second leg doesn't actively battement off the floor but drags behind.

In a grand jete en tournant (or tour jete), the second leg doesn't kick higher than the lead leg and gets turned in.

In a pique arabesque, the second leg doesn't maintain its rotation and gets turned in.

And on...

Do you see where I'm going with this? 

**Focus on your second leg. 

**Focus on the leg that you're not actively thinking about. 

We spend a lot of time thinking about stretching the leg fully for a pique, and we brush the leg very high for a grand jete, but we forget about the leg that follows - the Second Leg. Where is it? What is it doing? How does it need to be activated? Is it staying turned out?

All of these things should become second nature to you and when they do, then your technique will be clean. Remember, it's not about height in a jump, not about the number of turns you can do, not about the speed of your traveling turns...it's about proper placement of the feet and and maintaining rotation. 

And it's also about safety! If your second leg isn't working correctly, if you're overcrossing, you will spin out of control on turns and run into other dancers or off the stage. If you're not kicking that back leg on a jump or pushing for a pas de chat, you can land badly and hurt your knee or your hip.

So next time you're in class, take a moment to focus differently. Learn to love your Second Leg!

Happy dancing!

(And don't forget to sign up for Gentle Ballet on Sundays at 11:30AM AND get your tickets to the streaming event of Hotel at the End of the Universe on July 9 &10!)

 

The cast striking a silly pose

 

With my 3 cheeky bellhops!

April 2020 Newsletter

April 2020 schedule Classes are suspended through the end of the month, due to COVID-19. With luck and lots of social distancing, we will hopefully be back in the studio sometime in May. (Stay inside! Wash your hands! Don't touch your face!) In the meantime, please join me every morning at 11AM PST for Your Daily Barre with Leigh, live via YouTube. Each morning I broadcast a 45-55 minute long barre free of charge. The video is then posted on my channel for 24 hours so you can "take" it later if you miss it live. After a day, it becomes unlisted and the next day's video goes up in its place. Here is the schedule: Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday - beginner level Monday, Wednesday & Friday - intermediate level Saturday - beg/int level with pointe/pre-pointe exercises Donations, if you have the means, or use of your class cards is greatly appreciated. If you would like access to ALL of the videos, you can pay for a monthly subscription for $50. This will allow you to view every video from the current and previous months whenever you want! (e.g. pay for April and get both April and March; pay for May and get May and April, etc.) You can subscribe or donate via my website. You can also do a private or group lesson via Zoom. Contact me for more info about that. Thank you! VARIATIONS WORKSHOPS - update We will pick back up the first Sunday we are back in the studio! Videos from previous Bluebird workshops are available if you want to practice at home. Just email me!   Taking Class while Safer at Home! I love seeing all of you participating in the livestream classes or practicing ballet in your homes. You are all so resilient! Whether you're using a countertop, a chair, a table or your own barre facsimile, it's been so inspiring to see you finding space to do ballet. Some of you graciously shared photos of yourself at home which I am happy to include here. (top row: Annett Bone, Cornelia Tzana, Jenny Holland; middle row: Yvonne Tiffer, Rae Aaselund's "bar", Daniela Strong; bottom of the page: Sharon & Steve Collins) Special notes If you've enjoyed class, whether it's a regular technique class or the online classes, please consider leaving a review on my Google, Facebook, or Yelp pages. Your positive feedback can give new students a place to thrive under these unusual circumstances. Thank you! I am immensely grateful to have all of you in my classes and company.     Featured tip! Build your own home studio, even in a small space. Dancing at home! More fun links: This one comes from Daniela Strong - a nurse, mother and extraordinary dancer! If you've got a slippery floor, it's hard to work properly in flat slippers or feel stable en pointe; getting a piece of marley flooring is not cheap or, in these times, convenient. Daniela suggests this marley "hack": PVC Shower Pan Liner! In her words, " It has a similar texture but much cheaper." Thanks, Daniela!   LPBC News Currently, the company is not in rehearsals. The fundraiser is scheduled (for now) on May 23rd but that date is, as everything, subject to change. We are scheduled to perform "Sweet Sorrow" in October! The dates (for now) are October 17 & 18, 24 & 25 at the Manoukian Performing Arts Center. With fortune on our side, we will hold those dates!

Shelter-in-place means dancing at home

One minute we were in the studio, rehearsing for our spring fundraiser, enjoying our pointe variation workshops and taking class together and the next...

Lockdown. Shelter-in-place. Safer-at-home. By now, most of us are working from home (or trying to!), navigating the new waters of being indoors most hours of the day (or trying to!). Those of you who typically drive to an office have had to set up a home office, including computer and videoconferencing and everything else necessary to communicate with your co-workers. Kids are home from school and parents are spending more time helping them do their coursework online.

To say this is unprecedented is truly an understatement. We were not prepared.

As dancers, we are not equipped to be immobile. We need to move.

Ballet is in our blood and our souls and our brains. 

We need to express ourselves creatively and in ways that are not simply aerobics or running (nothing wrong with either of those things but they fulfill different needs).

Some students who have been dancing for a while likely have a dedicated space at home that allows them to do some small exercises. Others need to move things around to give them the space for this so it takes a bit of work.

But there are others who are still very new to dance, or simply never thought to have a studio at home because they go to a beautiful one every day, who are standing by their kitchen sinks or grabbing onto a dining room chair. These are not bad options for the short-term but let's face facts: we are looking at long-term. As I write this on March 26, I expect that California will not go back to work for at least 2 months. That's another 7 or 8 weeks inside. No studio. No group classes. No teachers (like me!) to tell you what to do!

Home studio with furniture and Blossom

The past week has seen the dance community come together like never before, with all kinds of classes and workshops being offered across a multitude of platforms: from livestreamed barres on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook Live to Zoom classes in contemporary and hip-hop and modern to videos created by teachers in their empty studios; dancers and teachers have been reaching out to support one another and connect with their desperate and detached students.

In some ways, this is all awesome, isn't it? You can't get to your classes so your classes come to YOU. But...what do you do in your own home? You can't hold onto the counter for 2 months!

Build your own studio!

(When I say "build" I mean that as loosely or as literally as you want it to be.)

First choose the area you want to dance in.

**The best place is obviously one without carpeting, preferably a wooden floor with some give to it, rather than concrete.
**If you can find a space that doesn't have a slippery surface, that would be ideal.
**Make sure there isn't any furniture around or if there is, it can easily be moved out of the way.
**If you only have carpet or concrete, you can purchase a mat online that gives you a smoother surface with a bit of give. Here is a mat from Harlequin. But there are others!
**You may also need a table top on which to place your computer/laptop/tablet with an outlet nearby if you need one.
**If you can find a quiet space, one with a door that can close, that is also ideal. You will want to be able to hear the teacher and the music and it's more conducive to setting aside this area as "home studio."

You might want to leave some room for your pet to dance too!

Next the barre:

1. Order one online - either free-standing or wall-mounted. Keep in mind you will have to put the parts together. Be sure to measure your space properly so you can order the right size for your dance area and check your walls before you get a wall-mount.

Here is a free-standing one -

The Beam Store

And wall-mounted - 

VitaVibe

Both of the above businesses are independently owned but you can also order from Amazon if you prefer.

2. DIY - again free-standing or wall-mounted

YouTube metal barre free standing tutorial

Wall mounted barre DIY

There are LOTS of different options out there. Check Pinterest or search YouTube for videos. Some pieces you can have your local hardware store cut for you (in California they are essential businesses so you could call ahead and have them cut pipe for you if you need it and then pick it up for minimal contact).

Finally, set up an area for your computer/laptop/tablet.

**Place it at a height that can be easily adjusted as you move from one side to the other.
**If the class is interactive (i.e. your teacher can see you), put it somewhere that the camera will see you properly. Sometimes this is a low angle and far away so the teacher can see your feet.
**Always practice with your computer's webcam before your lesson so you don't waste time adjusting or missing a combination.

A guard pup is helpful while you're busy dancing.

A few reminders about taking class at home:
DO try to keep to a routine, whether it's the same day or time as your in-studio class or a new routine that fits with your new schedule; this will make it more likely you will continue your technique classes. 
DO use class to help your mental health and connect to others.
DON'T stress if you can't follow online easily: it takes a few tries to figure out how to follow someone on the screen.
DO take class at your current level and
DO watch more challenging classes prior to participating so you know what's coming next
DON'T jump unless your floor is sprung or raised
DON'T be tempted to do more pointe work than you are ready for without a teacher's guidance
DO take the opportunity to try new teachers and new dance styles!

Whatever you do, just keep moving!  Happy dancing and stay healthy!