Thanks for answering all my questions, sorry I haven't posted lately but I am doing my A-levels and practising and I haven't time for much else. I am still working on the splits, it is getting better slowly. Are they essential to a good solid technique or can I get away with not completely doing them. I am wondering about 180 degree arabesque, it seems a very popular showcase move at the moment. Does anyone use toe protectors, my darning is not very good, I have had mixed reports. My teacher asked me to ask lots of people as she personally doesn't use them.<BR>I thought people might be interested in this, I found an old (general) book on ballet circa 1940's. The author says re pointe work 'Only one part of ballet technique, under normal circumstances neither difficult nor painful to acquire. It comes naturally to the Cossacks, for example who can rise on their points without blocked shoes' this book also states that those starting above the age of sixteen cannotpossibly consider a professional career(girls). I think this will provoke some interesting thoughts when we think how much effort goes into aquiring a good technique en pointe etc

Ballet Girl - I have seen those Cossacks dance - as far as I can tell they do not wear blocked shoes, but also they seem to be completely knuckling over. I certainly wouldn't want to look at their feet!!<P>I think that would be an invitation to arthritis and all sorts of problems. It's fun to watch them, but it is not beautiful. It's not meant to be beautiful like pointe is, it's just means to be fun and exciting. It's folk/ethnic dance.<P>Here is a review that I wrote - it is in the Review section of this board. See at the very top of the board where it says "Reviews"? here is the link to it in case you want to read it.<P><BR><A HREF="http://www.criticaldance.com/reviews/georgiannational-001007.html" TARGET=_blank><B>GEORGIAN NATIONAL DANCE</B></A><P>

I wouln't want to dance like that either! Another question I forgot to ask is, that whilst I don't have many problems with pirouettes, fouettes seem to evade me. Has anyone got any good tips, I can only seem to think in slow motion when I am doing them which is not very useful! Also I can only manage an entrechat quatre ( and that only rarely) my feet can move quickly but not for this! If anyone can help me I would be very grateful.<BR>Thanks<BR>

Since these are questions - about dance technique and such - I am going to move this into the Students' Questions Forum.<P>So follow me there - hope that's ok.

And here we are!!<P>You don't have to think in fast motion for fouettés, you only have to think in rhthym. That is the secret to them. They are not that fast - nor is the leg that high.<P>If you do a search on "fouettes" you will come up with lots of information.<P>Here is a thread to help you get started:<P><A HREF=../../../ubb/Forum19/HTML/000059.html><B>FOUETTES</B></A><P>

About entrechat quatre - there are a number of ways to think about beats. Some people recommend that you think about beating your thighs together - and some recommend beating your calves together.<P>I personally like the idea of thinking about the calves. It seems cleaner to me - a sharper image. You can of course practice these beats whilst holding onto and using the barre as a support, so that you get the feeling of it.<P>The commonest error, in my opinion, is using too much energy for beats. This not only muddies up the beat, but causes a "back/front" motion of the legs rather than an "in/out" motion. You have to learn just how much energy is necessary, and use just that much and no more. An entrechat quatre for instance, takes very little energy. Try to do one and see just how little energy you need. Keep paring it down.<P>Then to go beyond the entrechat quatre - think - "engtrechat quatre - and just one more". Part of the problem is mental - we sometimes get excited/panic at the though of another beat, and then put too much energy into it as a result.<BR>

Entrechat quatre is one of the movements that I teach using rhythm. The syllables match the movement: en (jump up) - tre (first half of beat) - chat (second half of beat) - quatre (land). I have students do this lying on the ground with legs in the air to help them conceptualize. Once the rhythm is there, and assuming enough height in the jump to have time to beat without undue panic, these are fun to do.

Yep - for sure, Nancy....rhythm is very important. <P>I have taught them also, with the legs up in the air, and with using the arms. Both I think are good ways for the students to truly understand that it is not a back and forth movement - but an in and out movement.<P>Sometimes we would do them sideways into the mirror so the student could see whether the foot/leg was kicking back too much. That seemed to be helpful, too.