What You'll Learn
- The 'runway' visualization technique for controlled and powerful grand battement takeoffs.
- Proper foot articulation, ensuring a fully pointed tendu before lifting the leg into the air.
- Alignment strategies to keep hips and shoulders square and level during high leg movements.
- Coordination of port de bras with leg extensions to improve overall fluidity and expression.
About This Video
Welcome to Broche Ballet’s Beginner Chopin Barre, a comprehensive 46-minute practice session designed to refine your foundational technique through the lens of visualization. Set to the lyrical and inspiring music of Chopin, this class focuses on the essential mechanics of leg extensions and elevation. Our primary focus is the 'runway' analogy—the concept that a leg must travel fully along the floor through a pointed tendu before it can safely and effectively take off into the air.
This visualization is particularly crucial when executing movements like the grand battement, ensuring that dancers do not 'cheat' the floor, but instead use it to build the necessary power and control. Throughout this class, we will work through a traditional barre sequence, including plié, tendu, and battement exercises. You will receive detailed instruction on maintaining square shoulders and level hips as the leg moves into higher positions.
We also address the coordination of the arms, ensuring your port de bras moves in harmony with your lower body, especially during side movements. By focusing on the entire trajectory of the movement from start to finish, rather than just the final height, you will develop a lighter, more graceful quality in your dancing. This class is perfect for adult beginners who want to build a strong technical base while enjoying the expressive nature of ballet movement.
