What You'll Learn
- How to strategically switch effort and ease to create visual weightlessness
- Techniques for making downward movements feel 'hard' to facilitate a 'light' ascent
- The secret to defying gravity through controlled descents and resistance
- How to apply the 'opposite effort' principle to improve your overall artistry
About This Video
At Broche Ballet, we believe that true artistry often lies in the manipulation of physics and perception. One of the most sought-after qualities in a dancer is the ethereal ability to appear weightless, as if floating effortlessly through the air. In this Quick Tip video, we explore the counterintuitive technique required to achieve this gravity-defying look by reimagining the relationship between effort and ease in your movement.
To look like you are floating, you must learn to reverse your natural physical instincts. Most dancers focus their energy on the 'up' phase of a movement—such as a relevé or a sauté—treating the ascent as the primary challenge. However, to create the illusion of weightlessness, you must switch where that effort is placed.
' This technique involves engaging your muscles to resist gravity during the descent, which creates a controlled, slow-motion effect. When the downward movement is performed with deliberate resistance, the subsequent upward movement appears to happen naturally, as if you are being lifted by an external force rather than your own muscular exertion. This principle can be applied across your entire practice, from your work at the barre to center allegro.
Imagine the air is thick like water, requiring you to push down through it to rise. By focusing on making the down hard and the up light, you transform your presence on the floor. Join us as we break down how to practice swapping which movements receive your focus, allowing you to defy gravity and achieve that signature floating quality that distinguishes exceptional ballet technique.
