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Tips on taking barre
by Finis Jhung
1. Don't pull on the barre.
You can push it as much as you like, but don't pull. Ballet is a performing art. Your job
as a performer is to give. When you go to a performance, don't you want the performer to
give to you? You've paid your money, now you want to be entertained. It all begins at the
barre. You must constantly give out energy from the center of your body. You must reach
out, push the energy out of your fingers, your toes, your eyes. Always think Push, not
Pull. Give, Not Take.
2. During each exercise, preferably with each movement, take your hand off the barre. Test
your balance. See if you're really on your leg. After all, you won't be dancing center
floor with that barre. The more you balance, the more you balance. The more you fall, the
more you fall. And if you're falling down, you can't be dancing.
3. Also, during each exercise, if you press the floor with the ball of your foot, can you
bounce off your heels? You're going to pirouette and jump, and you can't do those things
on your heels.
4. While you're working each exercise, does your head feel light, free, and weightless? If
it doesn't, think of bring your ears back in line with your shoulders, and send energy up
the back of your neck. I often call out, “Ears back!” as a reminder to my
students. Your head must be balanced over your supporting foot. Your eyes and ears should
be far away from the floor. Far away from where you are focusing. Far away from your port
de bras. Keeping that distance will help you place your head correctly so that you don't
fall forward, or lose control in center floor.
5. Exhale as you work. You can breathe out each measure. When you exhale, that is the
lengthening breath -- it lifts your chest, or sternum. It is also the cleansing breath, it
helps lessen muscle fatigue. You can link this idea of exhaling to the idea of giving, or
pushing. I always say: “Work out, breathe out, stretch out, turn-out. Out, out,
out!”
6. Keep moving. Do each exercise in “slow motion.” Keep the energy flowing.
Think of you pliés as circular movements -- they always come back up again. The end of
one movement is the beginning of the next. Coordinate your arms with your legs, so that
your arms move with your legs. Same feeling, same energy.
7. Focus your eyes. Follow your hands. Every time you change an arm movement, look at your
hands. This will work your neck, and develop coordination and balance. It's the way you
should dance.
8. The barre is where you learn to stand on one leg. Be careful that as you learn each
exercise and work the “working” leg, you don't forget your supporting side. I
think that barre work is all about the supporting side. I think that barre is to develop
balance on your standing leg, while working the other leg. I constantly remind my students
to stand on their leg. I'm always asking “Are you on your leg? Can you let go of the
barre?” Your supporting foot should never wiggle while you are working the other leg.
If it does, it's like building a house on roller skates. Always be aware of your
supporting shoulder and standing hip. If you can see yourself sideways in the mirror, you
should see a strong vertical line. You should be perpendicular to the floor. If you can
face the mirror straight on, you should be able to see that your supporting toes are
inside your supporting shoulder, or that the shoulder is past your toes. You should be
able to see “the line of your spine” -- a vertical line through the center of
your body. And, your hand should be on top of the barre, pushing down against it, and your
fingers shouldn't be white from gripping!
In closing, your barre work is the basis of your dancing. It is the place where you talk
to your body, find out what it can and can't do, where it can and can't go, and how you
need to work it to accomplish the tasks required. It's your body, it's your time to
explore, to learn, to develop. And, more than that, everything you do at the barre will
most certainly be reflected in your center work and performing. Good luck!
Finis Jhung |
