CriticalDance Forum

I 've got my RAD Grade 7 exams in about a month and I've got a serious problem with my jumps. I can't jump high! I have to do a lot of jumps on one leg and you know...the supporting leg is supposed to stretch and be pointed in the air....well I can't do that. I can't find the strength to do it. Any tips?<BR>Oh, and another thing related to jumps. The allegro section of the exam is very difficult and I get tired very easily. All you dancers out there, is there a 'secret' on not panting so much, and being able to breathe after a long grande allegro?

The only thing I have learned for jumps is to do I good warming up with your feet. <BR>IWith jumps I just try to breathe slowly in and out and not to start breathing very quickly. If you practise jumps a lot your condition will become better and you will get used to it, you can jump longer before you are really tired.

Annie - I have several suggestions for you. The first one is to reread your post and count the number of times you used the word "can't" - now you have to delete that particular word from your mind. We NEVER say "can't" in ballet class - LOL.<P>Usually the problem with a jump is in the preparation - the glissade before the jump or the brush off for the jump. Let's take assemblé, for instance. In that jump you have to have a very strong brush off with the assemblé leg - you can't expect the other leg to do all the work. So really push off from the floor. Use the floor - it's a great tool. It's your friend. <P>In an petit allegro combination don't see each jump individually - see each jump as the preparation for the next jump.<P> If you have a combination that is glissade, jeté, coupé, assemblé - these are not four separate movements/jumps - they are one continuous "sentence". The glissade is the preparation for the jeté, and the jeté landing is the preparation for the coupé, which is the preparation for the assemblé.<P>You are not finished until the completion of the combination. This is a mental thing as well as a physical thing. Don't let your body sag between jumps - that will tire you out, make the jumps harder, and interrupt the flow of both your breathing and the sequence of steps.<P>As for breathing, breath through your nose, it is more efficient, as well as more attractive. That doesn't mean you will never breathe through your mouth - but try to keep it with the nose as much as possible.<P>In grand allegro - it is basically the same thing. The preparation is the most important part, don't see each jump as a separate thing. You also have to learn to pace yourself, using only the amount of energy you need for each thing and no more.

And MOST of all - always say <B>I CAN DO IT</B>.

I have always learned never say I can´t do it, but I can´t do it yet.

.....or "I am working on it"....

As Basheva said use the floor, use the resistance you get from it and think about converting it into the energy that will help you soar into the sky! Also use the demi plie that a lot of allegro steps have as preparation and ending, feel the power surging up through your body as you straighten the knees from the demi plie to help propel you into the air.<P>Another point on the "heavy breathing" and being tired easily. Have you checked whether you are breathing through the enchainements. I know this sounds silly but if I am dancing in a situation when I am nervous (i.e. in an exam) i have found that i sometimes forget to breathe and this certainly makes me out of breath when I finish.

Some other advise that I've seen....<P>Be sure you are using your turnout and demi plie before and after jumps. You can't jump high if you aren't bending your knees. If your turnout isn't aligned properly, the demi plies you are using won't be as effective.<P>Be sure to hold movement in your upper torso to a minimum, unless it is choreographed. Moving your upper body to jump higher doesn't really help. It uses more energy and looks sloppy.<P>Don't look down, look up above the direction of your jump. Even if you are choreographed as looking downward (as in some assemble's), mentally look up.<P>Mentally ignore gravity. There's enough gravity on this Earth without you stockpiling it in your brain.... <P>hope this helps...

Advise I've heard about getting tired through combinations....<P>When you practice your combinations, do a run through twice in a row. If you practice like this you will increase your stamina. Then doing it once will be a breeze.<P>We do this will our recital dances when they are pretty strenuous. I've also heard of competition dancers doing this.<P>Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen a professional ballet dancer heaving and gulping down breaths after their solo/pas de deux.....

It may sound crazy but I sometimes pretend that there isn´t a floor under me but a trampoline. Than I can jump higher.

When I used to rehearse for a performance, I ALWAYS ran through it twice in a row, that way I KNEW I could have no trouble getting through it once.<P>And Joanne is right, when you are nervous you just naturally breathe faster and more shallowly, so you have to be aware of that in perforamnce. About professionals breathing heavily after a variation or a pas de deux......if you look closely you will see their chests going up and down, but they are not gulping through their mouths.<P>And, again, as Joanne said, use that plié, that is part of the preparation - and it is the preparation that will make the jump happen. <P><BR><p>[This message has been edited by Basheva (edited May 08, 2001).]

Thank you all a lot! You've certainly helped me. I have tried all the advice you gave me and it really helped. Now I 'm not scared anymore <BR>Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I wanted to add another thing that helped me a lot:<P>RELAX YOUR ARMS! FEEL LIKE A BIRD! LET THEM FLY!!!<P>I also used to harden my arms to keep them from moving too much, but in for example grand jeté I've let the fly once, twice, and felt sooo much lighter! In petit allegro I still have problems with having hard legs and soft arms, but in grand allegro that is near to perfect, I feel so free, although i believe there is no perfect in ballet LOL

hi annie - sounds like you've gotten a lot of great advice - mind if I add my 2 cents?<P>a director suggested this to me while I was trying to recover from a puffy variation - take a deep breath in through your nose, hold the air a couple of beats, and exhale slowly through your mouth. Obviously you can't do this while dancing, but it helps you recover quicker!! Something about allowing oxygen to get into the system.....<P>as far as jumping goes, don't underestimate your feet! They're your last contact with the ground and can give an extra push all the way to your toes!! I'd try some stregthening excercises with a theraband as well....good luck!!!

Hello Landell - welcome to the board - it's great to have you join us. Your post reminded me of the following:<P>Vaslav Nijinsky said that at the height of his grand jetés, and he was very famous for them, he would inhale and that this would help him to suspend the jump in the air.<P>That is excellent advice. If you have not already read this thread you might want to have a look at it. Where you place your breath can affect much of your dancing. <P><BR><A HREF=../../../ubb/Forum7/HTML/000264.html><B>BREATHING THROUGH YOUR DANCE</B></A><P>And you are right - you have to remember that the jump begins with the demi plié and ends with that last wonderful push off with your feet - the strength going throuhg your toes. Push the floor away from you.<P>Once again Lansdell - welcome.<BR>