Where exactly should I be working for a sissone?

[Chinafish]

Hello!

 

Last week we started on Sissones. (travelling sideways)

 

And I think nearly the whole class knew what to do, so the teacher didn't really explain the mechanics of it.

 

I tried to do it and the only thing I could do is to jump upwards, but I couldn't go sideways, and I couldn't get my leg to open up.

 

Which resulted in the whole class moving sideways while I was staying on the same spot - not nice... I would have loved to move with the whole group but I just couldn't do it?

 

What muscle groups exactly should I be using? So I can start strenghtening them (or do they just come with time? )

 

Cheers,

Fish

 

P.S. Sorry if I'm flooding, I've just got so many burning questions!!

[Victoria Leigh]

Chinafish, a sissonne is a jump from two feet to one. To travel sideways, if the sissonne is over, that means that you push up from two feet just as if you were going to do a soubresaut except that as soon as you jump you open the back leg to the side as the body moves in the direction of the front leg. You then land demi plié on the leg that was front and lower the side leg into the plié closing it in front. It is not a huge sideways move, although it can be later on, if one has enough jump. So, if your right foot is in front, you will move to the right, closing the left foot in front after you land on the right leg. The left leg will need to move slightly forward as it leaves the fifth in order to be in a nicely rotated second. The move sideways happens because when you push out of the fifth your body weight moves in the direction of the front leg. You just push yourself up and over on the jump.

[Chinafish]

Thanks! *lightbulb bling*!!

 

Cheers,

Fish

[Garyecht]

My advice to any adult learning the basic jumps is to take some time outside of class and just get the feel of the jump. Completely ignore any and all technique (excepting perhaps the brush in an assemble or jete). So in a sissonne, just do some jumping from two feet to one foot in whatever way seems natural to you. Experiment a little by trying it different ways, but always two feet to one. Once that seems reasonably comfortable, then you can start to add some technique, perhaps doing some closing the feet (fermee) and some leaving the leg open (ouverte). Then, again outside of class, I’d practice whatever combinations you learn that use sissonnes. There are tons of different sissonnes, so be prepared to learn something new just when you think you’ve got it down.

[Dance_Scholar_London]

Try it out at the barre. Especially if it goes sideways, the barre can be a great help