Hi,<BR>I'm new to this board. I need some advice on my arabesque. It's only 80 degrees and if I'm doing an arabesque with my right leg, my right hip lifts a lot. I' ve tried to correct it but if my hips are both on the same level my leg drops. How can I improve the strength so I can hold my arabesques the correct way? <BR>I' ve the same problem on both sides.<P>Thank you for helping me out,<BR>yours truly <BR>Sous sus<P><BR>

Welcome to the board Sous sus - it's a pleasure to have you join us!!<P>Being able to do an arabesque is a combination of both the strength needed to lift and hold the leg and the stretch which enables that lift and rotation to occur. Obviously for some of us this is easier that for others. Some of it has to do with the individual construction of the hip.<P>Let's talk about the alignment for the arabesque. The shoulders and the hips must be square - sometimes we concentrate so much on the hips and height of leg, we forget about the shoulders - but they are every bit as important. Another common error is trying to sit up into the arabesque at too tight an angle. <P>If you take a picture of your favorite dancer in arabesque and run a ruler down the dancer's spine - it usually also runs down the front of the dancer's standing leg. And so many times we try to scrunch back, instead of lengthening, forward. Not lying down, of course, but forward. The spine is just at the front of the standing leg.<P>I think the truth here is, that as much as we would like that arabesque hip to be solidly down, there is going to be some give. I am looking at a picture in Celia Sparger's book "Anatomy and Ballet" and on page 59, and as I see it in the "correct" picture, the hip is slightly lifted. Yes, it is a line drawing - but it is labeled as "correct". <P>A great deal of the strength for the arabesque occurs, in my opinion, in the back. Those back muscles are very strong. You can access them in the following way. Stand with your left hand on the barre, and pointe your right foot behind you. Now WITHOUT PUTTING ANY WEIGHT on it, do a backbend over that pointing leg. As you come up from the backbend, lift the leg with you into arabesque. <P> Feel those back muscles engage - feel their strength. Don't lift the leg a second later, but absolutely with the back, keep lifting the leg to full arabesque and you can continue into penché. Come back up to arabesque. <P>You should also bring this problem to the attention of your teacher. Since she can see your body and is most probably aware of the construction of your hips, she can give you additional insights.<P>I hope this helped. Arabesque is one of the most beautiful lines of the ballet, and in my opinion, one of the most difficult.

If you have the Gretchen Ward Warren book "Classical Ballet Technique" you can see on pages 48-49 - the line up that I mentioned above - where the line of the spine runs down through the front of the dancer's standing leg. And the higher that leg goes, well that spine comes more forward.

Thank you Basheva,<BR>I' ll do the exercise you mentioned.<BR>I have the book of Gretchen, and now that you're pointing out what I have to look for, I'll keep it in mind every time I do arabesque.

I also did (and still do) this exersize for like 5 years to improve my arabesque, i always do it after class because then I'm very warm and reach higher and my hips are awake too . It really helps a lot!<P>Grrr, wish there were such a 'simple' exersizes to improve turns as there are for flexibility............

Anastasia - have you read the threads we have on turns? They might help. And some of the exercises are rather simple too.<P>Here is one in case you haven't read it:<P><A HREF=../../../ubb/Forum7/HTML/000274.html><B>PLACING THE PIROUETTE</B></A><P>

a problem with arabesque usually has to do with the back. Port de bras back always help... as well as yoga, which concentrates a lot on looseneing and opening the spine. Try not to think of keeping your hips square- though they should be very close- but rather of opening the working leghip up, don't lift it, turn the leg in the socket and open it.