Just Ilona today

Forgot to add from yesterday that the bending of the front knee in tendu as described by Mary in the Ballet U blog seemed to make it easier to close fifth. But if you don't have a tight fifth, are you supposed to bend the knee?

Ilona mentioned something about it the other day.

We talked about the rhythm of glissade, grand jete. I don't think I got it. will need to ask again. and how it differs when you grand jete with the same leg. and how big is the glissade?

Should also follow up on the part of the foot that makes sure it doesn't flop. Not the toes, Ilona, said. At least, that didn't always work.

Ashley told me that I wasn't spotting my turns a la seconde with my arms up in fifth. It's true, once I added the spot, I was more on balance.

I think I also turn in my turns a la seconde. Need to check. and also, Ashley said my knees aren't straight.

Tendus en tournant pivot in 5th and then tendu, but they happen pretty quickly.

working on keeping the fillé turned out, especially from arabesque.

also, placing the foot on the floor is more important than how we leave the floor, at least in terms of what I need to work on now.

Gino thoughts

work through the feet, even the toes, to have that smooth, even feeling. in tendus, in jumps, everywhere.

hmm...guess that's the main one.

Figuring out the mechanics of the steps

Marcus' Modern:
The psoas is what is being strengthened by the Graham work. (not sure exactly how that works, but it's worth thinking about more.)

Also, an idea I want to try out is the Russian idea that you breathe in on the effort. Maybe I should try breathing in on the contraction.

In the spiraled attitude on the floor, I had much more rotation than I thought I did with the right leg in attitude, spiraling to the left. The left attitude, spiral to the right needs work.

The épaulment is tricky in the spirals in second. Take a left spiral. It starts with the right hip pulling back, but the upper body, I'm still not sure about. I know that when the right hip pulls back, the head goes to the left.

The contraction to the ground is still tricky for me. Marcus said I get stuck in the contraction before I roll back. He said think of a steam roller, or a wave.

In the combination, Marcus told me to find the drama in the phrase.

Molly:
On the soutenu to the développé écarté devant, Molly said to use the upstage arm, the one in second, as a brake to keep the pelvis (and body, really) in the écarté line.

Going for the tour jeté, The second leg was in a flexed foot, as I took the leading leg into a chassé. Also, the feet need to keep strongly pointed for the jumps.