I took Margie’s class today, due to the calf thing (which is now almost entirely better).

Good corrections:
1. I’m still throwing my shoulders back in my turns (this was a self-correction that Margie seconded :D)

2.  I flex my shoulders back too much when my arms are in second.

Edit: OMG, you guys, I just totally figured this out!

When I bring my sternum up and forward, I’m throwing my shoulders back, as if they can’t move independently of one-another.

In fact, they can: there is no bony connection whatsoever between the shoulders and the ribcage (creepy, amirite?) — just the cartilaginous one where the sternum and clavicles (collarbones) connect.

So it is, in fact, possible to move the sternum up and forward without moving the shoulders back — basically, if you think about keeping the shoulders down and moving the sternum up and forwards (as if someone has a hook through the front of your shirt!), it’s easier to do this without throwing the shoulders further back and thus hosing up all your turns.

Et voila!

Like,  I go to allongé, basically, as my default second.  This is what felt so different in Brian’s class (he made us do almost the entire barre with arms at second, and he made m  do my second right).

This is another artefact of that benign hypermobile joint thingy.   So having retrained my proprioception in my wrists and elbows, I now need to retrain it in my arms so second feels like second, instead of second allongé feeling like second.  Normal second feels like I’m curled in on myself, but it looks really good and keeps my balance forward.

I came up with an analogy that works for me regarding développée avant from fondu — it’s like you’re using the inside of your heel to hand someone an egg.

If you turn in at all, you drop the egg, so you have to keep rotating the leg as it rises.  For me, this forces a smooth, graceful extension.

I also did cabrioles while we did sauté arabesque, chassée across the floor, because why not?  Margie mentioned it, so I whipped them out.

I didn’t do them on the right (supporting) leg, though — the calf is mostly healed, but I didn’t want to push it.  As I got tired, my sautés on that side turned into sissones.  I got called out on that, too 😉

Margie reminded me that I should be beating the bottom leg and letting the top one sort of rise off of it; did my next set with that in mind, and it worked like magic.

It’s one of those technique things I know but don’t think of.  I tend to do some kind of crazy diagonal soubresaut thing instead.

So there you have it.  Friday class with cabrioles.  I’m looking forward to tomorrow ^-^