Grand battement derriere

[Guest Megan Leigh]

When I’m doing a grand battement derriere, my active leg is slightly bent, especially when I’m on pointe…could I be doing something wrong?

[Mel Johnson]

Yes, you're letting your working leg bend. Don't do that.

[Guest Megan Leigh]

I know that…Obviously I’m not doing it on purpose. Why do you think that’s happening? Am I not pulling up enough on my supporting leg?

[Mel Johnson]

That could be, or that you're transferring your weight onto the working leg almost completely, nearly making a coupé between each battement.

[Victoria Leigh]

If your legs are hyperextended it is much harder to feel whether it is totally straight in the back or not. It's something you have to work extra hard on, because sometimes when you think it's straight, it really isn't.

[Ballet Bunnie]

Question: I hear two versions of grand battement --

One is fast up and slow down -- this is the way that I learned as a kid; and I was also told that if we bring it down fast, the hamstrings cannot activate/deactivate in time to straighten the knee (especially in grand battement derriere), and we need the "slow down" to fully straighthen our knees because hamstrings reacts slower than our quads.

But I heard another version today in a open class: fast up, fast down, and spend more time standing in fifth. The reason was that slowing down in the air will make our quads grip and cramp... I've never heard about this before, so, is this reasonale right?

[Victoria Leigh]

The slower coming down is for control. If you do that too slowly, it could be a problem, but just enough to control it is not a problem.

[Ballet Bunnie]

Haha... This reminds me of the famous phrase: " Moderation is the key". Thank you, Ms. Leigh!