Spotting

[Guest Lukayev]

Every Saturday, I take classes with a teacher who went to SAB from the very beginning of her dancing years, then graduated and went to Miami City, and later, Carolina Ballet.

 

I think two Saturdays ago, she was making a point of the en dedans pirouttes done while in fourth croisé. Not only did she remark that the leg in the back was to be straightened with the weight on the forward leg, but the actual spotting should be done facing front while turning, as opposed to spotting our "corners" of the "box". Apparently, this spotting of the front of the room was "Balanchine"'s way of letting the dancer's face be seen even while in a flurry of turns. And so, chainés and piqués that class were also done spotting front, even while moving on the diagonal.

 

Now, I've gotten used to this sort of spotting thing and it's actually really helped to reinforce my spotting in general. I suppose before I was just sort of pseudo=spotting without really aiming to catch a fleeting glance at my spot then whirl around to find it again... more like going through the motions, if you get what I mean.

 

Do you think that this spotting technique would be acceptable in other classes, where the teacher may come from a different learning background? So far, my Vaganova teacher hasn't said much, but I mean... should I go back to say, UBA for an SI, would I be asking for a crack on the cheek for being so... Balanchine-y?

[Mel Johnson]

It's best to be able to know how to do both ways of spotting, so that if you get a part where spotting front almost all the time is important choreographically, you can do it without taking rehearsal time to figure it out. Same goes for en dehors pirouettes with the front arm held flat, in the Balanchine manner. Be multiply convertible. Sometimes it comes in handy. Just imagine what you'd have to learn if you had to do Bournonville!

[Guest Arak]

I've always been taught that you spot where you want to end. How exactly would spotting the front while moving on a diagonal work? I would think that you would end up drifting farther forward than you intended to go.

[Mel Johnson]

That is, indeed, a hazard. What is needed is a sense of a larger propriocentricity, that is, not only feeling the body correctly, but being aware of where the body is in space, and how it travels. It's doable.