Chaines (sp?)

[Guest IrishKitri]

Hi,

 

I´ve just returned from ballet class and I have SUCH a hard time with chaines in first position ... I really try to hold my feet together but I always end up in a wide second while I do it.

And although I spot, I completely loose the line ...

 

Can anybody please help me?

 

Thanks!

[Victoria Leigh]

Kitri, your spelling is correct, except that there is an accent mark over the "i", which, for some reason I am unable to show you tonight. It usually works, but right now every time I try to do it, it erases this box! Anyway, it's the upside down "v", which is done by holding the Alt key and typing 140 on the numerical keypad. (This only works on a desktop computer, not on a laptop without a numerical keypad on the side.)

 

Anyway, I really can't even help you on the chaines in first, since I only do them in fifth and can't even do them in first anymore!

[Guest Medora]

Chaines in fifth? I have only learned in first. How do you do them in fifth? How do you keep your feet from getting tied up?

[Victoria Leigh]

One stays in front of the other It's like doing bourrées turning! Much prettier than first, IMO.

[Guest Medora]

Wow. I need to watch some videos of mine and see the difference. Cool. I'll try it tomorrow during my break. :cool:

[Guest IrishKitri]

Thanks for your replies ... Chaînes ... right?

[Mel Johnson]

"Tours chaînés déboulés" to give it the full treatment, but "chaîné" is the universal shorthand.

[Guest Medora]

I tried them today, and they are easier! Or at least they feel easier, I need to ask my teacher to watch me do them so I know I am doing them right, but yeah, I like them!

[ConstanzaElisabeth]

i didnt know chaines were ever done in fifth. my feet always end up crossing but i am told not to, so i try to hold them in first which makes an unpleasant little fourth. do some schools teach only in first, or is first used for younger students, or is it just my weird school?

[Mel Johnson]

In general, chaînés are taught to younger students in first, then the whole thing tightens up as the students gain strength and proficiency in turning, because unless you are really, really strong, trying to do them in first really fast will make your legs splay apart into that nasty loose fourth you describe.

[Guest Feet2004]

Most problems with chaines have to do with two major things: Either under rotation or over rotation, so be very spesific about where you are placing your feet. Those are problems usally because either you aren't holding your turnout at the top of your legs, you don't have your stomach pulled up, and you aren't directly over your feet (which feels like you are about to fall forward). Or the other major problem people have is their arms, make sure they are supported, and don't let them open and close unless you are going very slow, really remember your mid-line, and don't let your arms be more to one side then the other. The other problem is with your head dropping down between spots, ask someone to look at your head while you are turning, and see if it is straight across the whole time. Those are the only problems I can think of right now. I hope I helped, Chaines are the one of the hardest turns to do well. My ballet teacher was setting a piece on a local company and she spent a solid half-hour with these girls trying to get them to go straight! And these were girls who could do solid double turns.

[ConstanzaElisabeth]

for nutcracker, i had to do quite a few chaines, and norman realized they werent quite my thing, so he spent a lot of time in pas class working on them. he still insists that we do not cross our feet, but keep teh heels very close. after drilling them over and over, i am finally becoming successful, although i failed horribly during the snow pas because i had just hurt my ankle and i could only get halfway onto pointe, so i kept falling off pointe. quite not fun.