If you missed them, you may want to listen to the first podcasts in this series on basic movements of ballet in theory and practice: 014 “Powerful Plies” 016 “Tendus & What it Means to Stretch” 018 “Relever & Rising,” 019 “Tourner - turning, rotation, and creative U-turns,” and 020 “Sauter, Jumping, & Leaps of Faith.” Stay tuned for “Élancer - to dart,” the last installment of the series, still to come!
In yoga, we cultivate steadiness and ease in our movements, which can create a graceful, smoothly gliding impression. Mentally, we practice detachment, a lack of resistance, skimming past obstacles, letting go of sticking points, and awareness of what serves us and how to let go of what does not.
Moving towards winter, I especially enjoy Frederick Ashton’s ballet “Les Patineurs,” a playfully gliding riff on an ice-skating rink. But truthfully, in ballet we do like a bit more friction between our feet and the surface beneath us than an ice skater does.
Much of our early work as dancers is developing a relationship with the floor as well as with our own bodies, learning to balance and to slide with poised control. Indian actor Salman Khan said, “Have you ever seen a duck gliding smoothly on water? Does it ever look like it is paddling furiously underneath the surface? I don’t have to show that I am working very hard,” to me this encapsulates the hidden effort of ballet.
The exercise of tendus (discussed in more depth in episode #016!) are a practice in sliding one foot across the floor, and they eventually lead to glissade, which is a jump that involves sliding the feet across the floor and is performed either low-to-the-ground as a connecting step or with some elevation.
In the book of her Russian ballet technique, Basic Principles of Classical Ballet, Agrippina Vaganova clarifies, “It would seem that the very name of this step indicates the gliding characteristic of it. Yet we see that this movement is very seldom distinguished from other movements, and is lost on the stage.” (p.96) Indeed, it is these small connecting steps that form the glue that creates the smooth whole of our dance performance.
If you’re listening in real time, we just passed the Autumnal Equinox and fall has officially arrived. Many seize this seasonal transition as an opportunity to let go of their own burdens where they can, allowing them to relax and enjoy the harvest time or move powerfully into the final quarter of the year.
What can you release this season? May you glide into your week and this spectacular time of year, and visit me at ablythecoach.com for more helpful resources!
