If you an older ballet beginner and are still figuring out the reasoning behind your ballet barre exercises, (never mind all the French words for ballet), following are some explanations. Understanding the focus of each basic ballet move, will help you learn basic ballet positions, and improve your muscle tone.

The demi plie and grand plie exercise at the beginning of the barre is almost a full body workout. Except for the arm movements (port de bras), this is a strenuous exercise. It involves maintaining spinal and pelvic posture, holding your degree of turnout, and correct placement of the feet on the floor. Done correctly, the plie develops the thigh muscles (quads, adductor muscles and hamstrings), strengthens the lower abs (core muscles) and develops the concentration required to do all of the above while breathing, relaxing the neck and shoulders, and moving the arms in an elegant fashion.

The battement tendu or stretches of the foot, is designed to use the resistance of pressing into the floor to strengthen the soles of the feet and develop sensitivity to each part of the foot. The exercise also is a learning pattern of basic ballet positions, front side and back, (devant, a la seconde and derriere), done ‘en croix’ or in the shape of a cross. Turnout must be held, spinal and pelvic posture maintained, with the upper body showing a lack of strain.

Battement degage is similar to battement tendu in foot muscle development, but has a different quality. The position it takes ends up off the floor about three inches at the completion of the stretching movement. However, it is not lifted by the leg, but it “pops” off the floor due to extreme pressure of the foot, including the straightening of the toes. This is similar to the sharp quality you want when pushing off for a jump, for a quick elevation to the height of your jump. Flabby foot muscles, especially at the point of take-off, will not result in this special quality for petit allegro (small quick jumps).

In any ballet move when the foot points, the toes should be elongated in the shoes, and not curled. If you intend to dance ballet in pointe shoes, you must establish this habit from the first class.

Learn more about ballet pointe shoes, pink satin flat ballet shoes, pink tights and tutus – the stuff dreams are made of. Get dance education like The Perfect Pointe Book, The Ballet Bible, and Deborah Vogel’s ‘dancing smart’ products for injury prevention, and become the dancer in you . Dianne M. Buxton trained at The National Ballet School of Canada, The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and Toronto Dance Theater. She was led by her career teaching and directing professional ballet dancers, to study ballet/sports/fitness, nutrition, and the mind/body connection.

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