dancing together

[pas marché]

I have been rehearsing for a duet role in the Nutcracker this year (but not a pas de deux) and my partner and I have been having difficulty dancing in unison. We are going across the floor together as often as possible, and making sure that we have the right counts in rehearsal, but we are still off. What can we do to correct this?

[Mel Johnson]

It sounds like you two have a difference in phrasing. Keep an eye on one another both directly and in the mirror when you rehearse. You may be hitting all the beats, but getting to those counts may be where your timing falls apart. Try to adjust to one another.

[Victoria Leigh]

Hello pas marché, welcome to Ballet Talk for Dancer

 

When dancing together it is important that you both hear the music the same way. The teacher or choreographer should be able to help you with that. It's about timing, but you also have to learn to do the steps at the same height, if it is jumping, or extensions, or whatever you are doing.

[pas marché]

Thank you Major Johnson- I'll work on that, but I do have a tendency to look in the mirror too much.

 

And Ms. Leigh- that makes a lot of sense about doing the steps at the same height, because my partner is significantly taller than me.

[Mel Johnson]

And if you have a "mirror dancer" problem, then look, and I mean really LOOK at one another directly. As Yogi Berra once so wisely said, you can observe a lot, just by watching!