LilBalletDancer1993 Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 Heey I've been en pointe for about 3 years now, and it's all going well, except for courus !! I know they're a basic step (they're one of the first things I learnt!!), and I've moved on to more advanced work now obviously... but I just don't feel happy doing them.... I mean, I can "do" them (notice the marks each side!!), but I just don't feel like I'm doing them WELL .... When I do them, I either feel like I'm doing them softly but in slow motion, or up to speed and a bit... heavily? Basically they feel a bit clumpy at times!! I've been watching lots of videos of professional dancers doing them, and their feet seem to never stop moving, but their hips are staying totally level, and their foot work is soft and light- the movement seems to "roll" through their feet (sorry if that makes no sense!! ).... When I do them, I can feel my hips moving with my legs at times (not good!! ), and my feet just feel stiff and heavy.... Does anyone have any advice/help/tips for how I can improve them?? They're something I feel like I should not just be able to "do", but do well by now... Heeeelp!! LBDxXx Quote Link to comment
vrsfanatic Posted April 15, 2008 Report Share Posted April 15, 2008 Breathe deeply LilBalletDancer1993 and put a smile on your face! It can only help! Assuming you are discussing the movement pas couru traveling forward...let's start at the very beginning! Begin with the easiest form of the movement, practicing very small steps on pointe in place. Traveling must happen after you have mastered in place. You must maintain very fluid knees over very pointed feet. Think as if your legs and feet move as your fingers work over the computer keyboard. Another good image is how a cat kneads the feet in a lap or on a sofa! Each step is defined but blended. When you start to travel your must move only the length of the lower leg as is reaches forward and outward. The shoulders and arms must remain forward of the feet as long as you would like to travel. The body must remain light, yet strongly directed where you would like to go. It may help to imagine yourself flying through curtains blowing in the wind. Quote Link to comment
LilBalletDancer1993 Posted April 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2008 Thanks for all the great advice!! I'm reaching for my pointe shoes right now!!! I think all the ideas of things to visualise will help a LOT, before I could only visualise the enviable legs of the professionals, which felt very unreachable as I kept practising- myabe now I'll finally reach it!!! Thanks again- I'll post here again if I'm STILL having trouble, and can specify what it is!!! LBDxXx Quote Link to comment
OxoXRoyal_Ballet_GirlXoxO Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Sometimes I think that I'm doing them on ice- I can't do them to heavily in case the ice will break, and also it makes me really feel like I'm gliding when I do them, so I try to show that in my upper body! Lots of Love, RBG_XoXo Quote Link to comment
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