Books: The Ballet Bible

[Juli]

Sitting at my desk after a dance watching high ( two hours of " So you think you can dance?" with commecials being replaced with a dance program off PBS), I preformed a vague search for dance on Google. Somehow the search came up with this : http://www.ballet-bible.com/ and I was wondering if anyone has used the system or wether it's a load of dung.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

Juli

[intermezzo]

It's intriguing. I would be interested to see the photos of the "wrong"/"right" body alignments.

 

The whole thing just makes me laugh because it sounds exactly like those awful infomercials trying to sell you food dehydrators or exercise equipment (especially the part about the price.. I was surprised it wasn't 3 easy payments of $19.99).

 

What made me raise my eyebrow was the aggressive sales approach of it. It's great, it's fantastic, 100% guarantee you'll love it and it'll change your life forever! Here's the secret to perfect pirouettes for everyone! You too can become an instant prima ballerina!

 

Plus, some of the spelling errors such as balancé irked me ("ballonce".. unless that's something entirely unknown to me).

 

However, I'd be interested if anyone has bought the program and what they think of it.

[Malaika]

Oh my!

 

Quote from the site: "Is there anything I can buy to help me get better at ballet?" ummmmmm.....

 

My opinion: It sounds like humbug. But, what do I know?

I sincerely apologize if I am offending someone here and if it turns out that the book (is it actually a _book_?) is really worth what it advertizes.... but I personally am extremely suspicious. I honestly dont't believe that you can _buy_ anything to perfect your technique. Sure, there are a lot of helpful tips out there, often to be gotten from books - but one person having the knowledge to help everyone? One perfect guide?

 

Sorry, this certainly doesn't answer your question, but after looking at that site, I just had to state my opinion. It (the site, not my opinion ) honestly shocked me!

 

 

Oh, well, I know this post is not of any help -- but now there are three of us expectantly waiting for a post from someone who has worked with the "ballet bible" ... I am extremely curious!

 

many greetings!

-Malaika-

[Clara 76]

I'm in agreement. I'm pretty sure we covered this topic somewhere, so I'm going to keep looking, but until I find it- there's no substitute for hard work and a great teacher. No book or video can replace them.

[Hans]

Plus, some of the spelling errors such as balancé irked me ("ballonce".. unless that's something entirely unknown to me).

Actually, "balancé" is correct.

 

If you have a good teacher, you won't need that book, and if you don't have a good teacher, a book isn't going to fix your problems. I also didn't see any credentials that would imply the author knows anything about ballet history, &c.

[Mel Johnson]

And you also have to wonder about entrachat quatre. I wish I could recall why the author's name rings a faint bell with me. I can't say whether it's a good bell or a bad bell, but I do recognize it.

[jimpickles]

The name rang an Australian-sounding bell with me - so I did a Google search and found a couple (Michael and Anita) of the same name who have a photographic studio in Brisbane, the city where I live. However, I should say that I have never heard of Anita Leembruggen as a local teacher, but then there are very many ballet teachers in my city that I have never heard of (however, she's certainly not one of the best known ones). The model on the ballet site looks as though she could be the same as the person shown on the photo studio site, and you can link from the photo site through to the ballet book below.

 

It also appears she is selling a book called "The 3 Simple Rules of a Prima Ballerina" (If there are only 3 rules, and they're simple ones, maybe they're things like 1. Be nice to the press, 2. Be coy about your private life, etc).

 

Often, a teacher to establish his or her credentials would include information on where he or she has danced or taught: none of that was listed. Surely, if someone had worked as prima ballerina for many years (hence would have learned the 3 simple rules by experience), or be an experienced teacher, we would have been

told.

 

An advantage of a web site compared with a book, is that VERY many photos of correct and incorrect form can be included at minimal cost. I wouldnt subscribe myself, but I can see that someone might get advantage from it, as a supplement to classes, if they are not put off by the hard-sell hype (which to me is the complete opposite of what ballet is about). And they'd need to supplement it with a ballet dictionary, with the correct spellings, too.

 

Jim.

[intermezzo]

Hans: I guess I worded that funny... I know balancé is correct, but it was spelled "ballonce" in the advertisement.

[oliviafaye]

I had seen this a while ago and was wondering if it was ligit....but had an uneasy feeling about it. I agree that a book should and can give pointers, but is no substitue for a good teacher.

[Hans]

Sorry about the misunderstanding, intermezzo! Thank you for clarifying.

[cutiepi]

Yeah, the book seems quite gimmicky, and to be frank quite a few of the pictures were unimpressive. However, I have looked around the site some and read some free information. Anything ballet right?

[Claude_Catastrophique]

Mmmhhhh, this looks a bit like a cheap version of Gretchen Ward Warrens Classical Ballet Technique (was the first thing that popped in my mind when I saw the right/wrong picture (or only wrong))

[ToThePointe]

One thing that also bothers me about the pictures is what the model is wearing. To truly get a look at correct movement etc., she should be in just a leotard and tights, no skirt.