Arabesque

[Guest live2dance115]

I am having trouble with getting my arabesque high. I feel that it would only look complete if I had my leg up higher in the back. Does anyone else feel this way? What are some execises to get it up?

Thanks!

[Victoria Leigh]

Live2dance, getting your arabesque to 90º and above is essential, and you have to work very hard to do that if it is not there naturally. It involves the back muscles as well as your hip flexibility, and also involves understanding how to move the body weight to allow the leg to go up. Talk to your teacher and be sure you understand HOW to get the leg higher. Also realize that this is not instant, and can sometimes take quite a while to achieve.

[Mel Johnson]

If I had my druthers in a student, I'd rather see her get the arabesque position absolutely correct, then we can worry about greater extension. A correct arabesque is well-pulled up and lifted out of the supporting leg and hip, and the working hip has to be opened very slightly to allow the leg to rise to its maximum potential from that hip. At the same time there has to be a certain amount of resistance from the muscles around the hips so that the hip just doesn't fly wide open! Ecch! The torso and parts above have to move forward and up, not down. Remember that the arabesque is basically a spiral design, which starts its curve behind your head, then continues down through your body, and out along the line of the working leg. Get a good arabesque, and then we can begin to do something with it!

[Guest elleballet]

i find it really hard 1 to get my arabesque high and 2 to hold it without looking like an aeroplane !!! any suggestions are welcome

[Victoria Leigh]

elleballet, the advice is there, above, in terms of getting the leg up, but as for the airplane part, that has to do with your upper body and your port de bras. Much easier corrected than getting the leg higher! Be sure you are staying upright and moving only forward and UPWARD, not dropping your back. Study how the arms are supposed to look in all the arabesques and practice in front of a mirror. The head is also important. It needs to be straight, not tilted, and quite lifted, although not sticking it up in the air! Be sure you are moving forward and not backward in the upper body and the weight of the body.

 

The best way to get a good arabesque line is to practice your tendu back. When you have that line correct, then lift it off the floor a bit. Work on the whole line though, not just the leg. The whole body is involved in arabesque!

[Mel Johnson]

Hi, elleballet, and welcome to the Young Dancers forum on Ballet Talk for Dancers here at Ballet Alert! Online!

 

While "looking like an aeroplane" good as a simile, and very evocative, I don't know quite what you mean. Do you have a black area on the front of your nose under which there is radar equipment? Do you have long lines of windows down your sides? Are your power plants attached under your wings or to your backside?

 

I suspect, however, that you mean that you believe that you present a far too rigid profile. The arms in any arabesque, while straightish, are not straight to the point of locking the elbow joints. Further, the torso ought not to be kept "high and tight", but must be allowed to reach forward and upward, allowing the working leg to...WORK!