Arabesques Made Simple*

*Unless you’re following an RAD syllabus, in which case, ignore this completely. 

Today, M r. C gave us a brilliant shorthand for keeping arabesques sorted by name. None of this “same arm/leg vs opposite arm/leg” confusion, just clarity. 

I’m listing them here in the following format: “Arms; legs.”

  1. Open to audience; open to audience 
  2. Closed to audience; open to audience
  3. Open to audience; closed to audience
  4. Closed to audience; closed to audience 

Obviously, this doesn’t tell you what what to do with your head, but I don’t find that difficult to remember. I just get the names of the arabesques confused, so up until now I’ve just tried really hard to make sure that I memorize the arabesques visually, because I haven’t reliably been able to remember which is which verbally (except first arabesque).

Anyway, I think this is brilliant, and I hope it helps you as as much as it helps me.

About asher

Me in a nutshell: Standard uptight ballet boy. Trapeze junkie. Half-baked choreographer. Budding researcher. Transit cyclist. Terrible homemaker. Neuro-atypical. Fabulous. Married to a very patient man. Bachelor of Science in Psychology (2015). Proto-foodie, but lazy about it. Cat owner ... or, should I say, cat own-ee? ... dog lover. Equestrian.

Posted on 2016/10/05, in balllet, class notes, steps and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.

  1. Reminds me of this great brain-clearing posthttps://aballeteducation.com/2016/05/05/notes-on-pirouettes-en-dehors-part-one/

  2. OMG, yes! Timely reminder, too. Back to trying not to suck at turns this week…

  1. Pingback: Wednesday Class: Perception versus, um, Perception? | danseur ignoble

  2. Pingback: Technique: Hypermobility, Proprioception, and Balances | danseur ignoble

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