Entrechats and Cabrioles

[TH28754]

For some reason I just cannot get these two jumps. I am fine with beats like "second beat second". I can even go from second beat and then close. But for some reason starting from fifth I'm having a hard time keeping my feet from going forward and back instead of out. Also, what part of my leg should I be beating? Finally, any tips you can give on cabrioles would be great. I'm so scared of falling that I never even attempt to take the front leg back to meet the back leg.

[Victoria Leigh]

For entrechats, the second position makes it easier because the legs are already open. When you go from fifth, the first move is open, not beat. The legs must go out/beat/out/close. Practice this lying on the floor and you will also find exactly where your legs need to beat.

 

For cabriole, think of it as just a temps levé in arabesque or effacé devant for a front cabriole. It's a light, easy movement, not a big heavy movement. Cabriole means "caper" It should have an easy, light moving action, especially the back cabriole, which is traveling more. Practice it with a very small one until your legs understand what they have to do, and remember that the beat is done by the temps levé leg, not the back leg. Allow the jump to stay in motion as you do the beat while traveling upward and forward. The back leg does not have to be high at all.

[Redbookish]

Thanks for that advice, Ms Leigh. I find cabrioles devant are easy & fun - a lovely expressive big jump, but I always find cabrioles derriere scary - I assume I'm going to fall flat on my face, and can't get the height required. I get very stilted & jerky. So thinking of it as a temps levé will help enormously (I hope).

 

But when you say 'the beat is done by the temps levé leg, not the back leg' do you mean by the 'temps levé leg' the leg on which one is jumping - as opposed to the leg that goes up into an arabesque-like movement?

 

Confused of Birmingham

[Garyecht]

I found a couple of things useful when learning jumps with beats. The first was doing a little exercise we did in modern class frequently where you would lie on your back with your legs perpendicular to the floor and essentially do beats. In modern class we did these both with pointed and flexed feet. For ballet, I’d skip the flexed feet, however.

 

I also found it very beneficial to practice these jumps quite a bit. Doing them only in ballet class just isn’t enough when learning as an adult I think. I don’t remember for sure, but I think it took me 2-3 years to go from awful to decent and that was with consistent home practice throughout.

[TH28754]

For entrechats, the second position makes it easier because the legs are already open. When you go from fifth, the first move is open, not beat. The legs must go out/beat/out/close. Practice this lying on the floor and you will also find exactly where your legs need to beat.

 

For cabriole, think of it as just a temps levé in arabesque or effacé devant for a front cabriole. It's a light, easy movement, not a big heavy movement. Cabriole means "caper" It should have an easy, light moving action, especially the back cabriole, which is traveling more. Practice it with a very small one until your legs understand what they have to do, and remember that the beat is done by the temps levé leg, not the back leg. Allow the jump to stay in motion as you do the beat while traveling upward and forward. The back leg does not have to be high at all.

 

Victoria, thanks for your response. I have been practicing the entrechats while lying on the ground. However, my problem comes when i'm upright....even when using the support of the bar. So it's not the height of my jump but more of a coordination issue for the entrechats? I thought maybe I wasn't getting high enough from the ground.

 

Finally, question for the cabriole devant. My temps leve is not very high, the leg barely gets off the floor even when i'm not trying to do a cabriole. Do you think I need to work on strenghtening my legs and getting better height of the floor in order to do the beat with the temps leve leg?

[Victoria Leigh]

Yes, I don't think you should do a cabriole at all until you have a decent temps levé!

 

Redbookish, yes, definitely it is the leg that does the temps levé that does the beating! The other leg just goes in the air. The bottom leg is the "beator", and the dégagé leg is the "beatee"

[Myfairlady]

After I had my first baby and returned to ballet, the cabriole derriere scared me too! I weighed more and was very weak from missing months of ballet. So I practiced at the barre for a while until I was confident enough to let go and not fall on my face. If you're not able to jump very high, maybe just go to the barre and practice some saute's on one foot first, and then in arabesque.

[TH28754]

Yes, I don't think you should do a cabriole at all until you have a decent temps levé!

 

Redbookish, yes, definitely it is the leg that does the temps levé that does the beating! The other leg just goes in the air. The bottom leg is the "beator", and the dégagé leg is the "beatee"

 

Victoria,

 

I'm pretty strong when jumping from both legs, but very weak on one leg. I do weight training and work my calves, but usually working both at the same time. Besides doing releves on one leg, what else can I do to strengthen my calves to get higher temps leve?

[Mel Johnson]

Practice more temps levés. Weight training will do nothing to help.

[dianec]

There's no short cut apart from just practising lots and lost of times, is there? I'm pretty bad at all beats but think it's improving slowly. One or even two or three in succession are manageable now but then somehow my head gets full or my legs get tired and I trip myself up in a longer combination....not graceful.

[Mel Johnson]

That's right. It's part of ballet. Really, the art is a stand-alone discipline, and while some things can be useful as a supplement, the basic article is to practice ballet.