Fouette turns

[Dance_Scholar_London]

During the summer months, I had a lot of fouettes built into combinations. Some students seems to have the tendency to pull off a very 'travelling' fouette turn. Has this to do with spotting? Any problem-solving strategies? Thanks

[Victoria Leigh]

Traveling should happen by decision. If they are meant to stay in one place but travel, it is usually the body weight moving the actual relevé off of the center spot. Changing the spot would be more likely to change the direction of the end of the turn, but would not necessarily make one travel.

[Dance_Scholar_London]

Does that mean that I don't 'snatch under' each time I releve?

[Victoria Leigh]

That would be a part of it. If your foot moves every time you relevé, then you travel.

[ToThePointe]

I have found that when my students have a tendency to travel it is because they are not using the plié correctly to control the turn and their placement. They bounce out of the plié off balance and then need to put their foot under them in whatever direction they have sent themselves.

[Victoria Leigh]

Yes, ToThePointe, that is what I meant by the body weight moving. In other words, off center in the plié makes you off center in the turn, and vice versa, and that makes you travel.

[Myfairlady]

When I find myself traveling I practice without the turn and that helps me find the correction that I need to make.

[Dance_Scholar_London]

Thank you guys for the great advice. Now back to practice Hopefully I can work it out.

[ami1436]

Ms Leigh, does that mean that you wouldn't 'snatch' the releve under you, even en pointe? (I'm probably being dense right now so sorry if this is a random question). I think that would be even harder in having to move the body weight over the foot?

 

For me - the body weight thing, definitely. I also travel more if I'm tired and not concentrating on keeping my torso strong, so the pull/movement of my leg pulls me off the spot... and, if I'm not lifting up enough to come off the releve into the plie, hopping down too much and moving with that hop.

 

(Yeah, they need some work...)

[Victoria Leigh]

Nay nay nay! I was saying that NOT snatching the foot under would make you travel!

[ami1436]

Thanks Ms. Leigh - I think I read DSL's 'don't' as in 'so I shoudn't' as opposed to 'I'm not'... if that makes sense. Basically read his statement backwards, and thus came out on the opposite end of yours! Thanks for the clarification.

[insidesoloist]

Wait, wait, wait. I've just woken up so I probably shouldn't be trying to make sense of anything, let alone posting, but I'm taken with the topic.

 

In theory, strictly speaking, isn't it possible to relevé into fouettés, not moving the foot, and stay in one place? If the person's balance is maintained?

 

For that matter, if one uses a sous-sus action with the supporting leg (What can we call that when it's not "over" or "under" anything?) and then puts it right back down where it was, one won't travel either. So long as balance is maintained?

[diane]

It _is_ possible to do the releves for fouette turns with or without the "snatching" type of releve.

(the "snatch" is the one where the toes end up where the mid-foot was in plié, or?)

Whether or not one travels does depend on where the weight is in that plié, and also on where the leg (the one in air is) on the extension/rond. (dropping the leg somewhat will tend to throw the weight in that direction)

 

Interesting anecdote: when I was in school, we had to do 32 fouettes once a week at the conclusion of one of the pointe classes.

Regularly the dancers would start to travel, often forwards, _until_ they reached about a meter in front of the mirror (or the teacher :-)), and there they remained, quite on the spot, for the remainder of the turns.

:-)

(so, perhaps _imagining_ a stern teacher right in front of you would help a dancer to stay on the spot? ;-) )

 

-d-

[Victoria Leigh]

Isn't it amazing how, when there is something or someone in the way, the dancer is able to do what they were not doing before? I often stand right behind someone who is falling back, or the same for side or front, and suddenly they are able to go straight up. Hmmm.....

[Chinafish]

Sorry if this is off topic, but I definitely find that this "when there is something or someone in the way, the dancer is able to do what they were not doing before?" is true.

 

For me in particular during petite allegro.

 

e.g. Glissade assemble, glissade assemble, glissade assemble, sous-sus!

 

Starting at the back of the room, I would be able to travel forward 50% of the room by doing the above once, another 40% by the 2nd time, and then by the 3rd time I'm pretty much staying horizontally!

 

Good thinking, maybe I could do that in class, imagining a wall in front of me...!!

 

Fish