Palais Garnier in my Living Room

​     The third week of classes is finished. This is really hard! I did not realize what I was getting myself into with this "challenge", but if people can eat a spoonful of cinnamon and survive, I'm sure I will be fine. I am a very big fan of Paris Opera Ballet. I remember watching hours of videos of French ballet dancers during my undergraduate years. I was also blessed enough to train with a former premier danseur from Paris Opera Ballet named Patrick Frantz during my senior year and it really changed my life and improved my technique. He was very strict and demanded maximum focus and results. He really pushed me to reach my potential. This was refreshing because most of my teachers just let me fade into the background while they paid attention to their favorites. But Mr. Frantz did not let me settle and he really pushed me, he noticed me. I never really had a teacher who genuinely thought I was talented. Some days he was harsh but it made me work harder until I achieved the result that he knew was in me. I really appreciated him and I will always have a deep respect for French ballet because of him. POB is oldest ballet company and school in the world. Even though ballet’s early roots go back to the Italian Renaissance, it was the French who perfected it and made it their own. This is the main reason why the syllabus is entirely in French. This is also the reason why I have focused the majority of my graduate research on this method of ballet training. This week was really enriching.
     The history of ballet in France is very rich and complex(google on your own time lol). Their method dates all the way back to the 17th century and has evolved slowly over time. There have been many great ballet masters whose pedagogical ideas have been handed down throughout history. Louis XIV opened the Royal Academy of Dance in 1661.  The French method is known for its flow, logic, lines, consistency, precision and elegance. Out of all the schools of ballet, the French is the most stylish. The school is also known for it’s discipline and competitive edge, the students have to take annual examinations in order to ascend to the next level. These examinations and auditions begin at ages 8-11 and go all the way to Principal dancer in the company. In order to be promoted to a higher rank in the company, dancers must participate in an examination performance called “Concours de Promotion”. This tradition dates back to 1860. This is why I have such a huge admiration for Paris Opera Ballet because they put  great emphasis on technique and hard work to develope artistry.  The style that we see today is mostly based off the teachings and choreography of Rudolf Nureyev and Claude Bessy. There is so much more history but I just want to focus on the technique and style(plus I'm exhausted! lol).This week I took 5 barre classes from 5 talented étoiles( principal dancers).Here are my diary entries for this week’s quarantine classes.
 
Day 1, Wednesday, June 24, 2020- Today I took barre class from the gorgeous Hugo Marchand. He focused mostly on line and the use of passé retire to strengthen turnout muscles throughout the class. He also had a lot of various balances at the end of every combination. One thing that I will be incorporating in my classes is his port de bras during pliés. He(as well as the rest of the teachers) use the classic French “rebound” port de bras. This port de bras goes from 2nd right away to first and reverse on the second demi-plié, without a pause with the arm en bas. This is an excellent way to warm up the back and develop arm coordination, especially for jumps. Many French ballet dancers use this port de bras for pliés. Fluid port de bras is a another hallmark of the French method. He also alternated between 1st and 5th position during fast tendus and dégagés a la seconde, which really got my inner thighs burning so I will definitely use this when I teach(excellent for batterie!)

​Day 2, Thursday, June 25, 2020- Today Valentine Colasante taught class and what I took away from her class was aplomb, effortlessness and calm. Her approach to every combination was very relaxed. This is a trademark of many French dancers. They always seem very relaxed, even when the choreography is fast or complex. Her class was very fondu based. All the combinations had an element of bending then pulling up on the standing leg. Her reverence was absolutely gorgeous! Something I noticed was how she never put her heels together in 1st position. This is seen as blasphemy in American ballet because it “builds the thighs up too much”. However, her thighs were not big at all, so I have been really perplexed by this ballet taboo. I have been trying it on myself and it feels fine so I don’t know. What I would like to incorporate in my teaching, that I learned from this class, is the use to passé retire during fondus. She (and Hugo Marchand) had really pretty retires and it was because they would fondu on the standing leg and keep the other leg in passé retiré, then push to relevé.  This for some reason made me feel more on my standing leg while simultaneously bringing my retiré higher(which is something all dancers want!) and engaging my glutes more. It was genius.

Day 3 Friday, June 26, 2020- This barre class was taught by Germain Louvet. It was really good but I feel like he had more explanation of the steps. Unfortunately I don’t speak French well so I could not catch his many pearls of wisdom I felt like he was dropping. In the other classes the teachers switched between French and English so I knew what they were saying for the most part. But Germain spoke nothing but French so I just followed along in class. But I’ve noticed that all the dancers have the same trandemarks. I am beginning to notice the patterns and “secrets” of French ballet I guess. They all move very similarly so I just mimicked Germain. (He is very beautiful and tall!). I really wish I knew what he was saying ! Ps. I watched his perfomances on YouTube afterwards, he's so amazing!
 
Day 4, Saturday, June 27, 2020- Today class was taught by my teaching idol, Andrey Klemm with the stunning Amandine Albisson demonstrating. Klemm is a Russian teacher who is currently one of the Ballet masters at POB. He teaches company class and I fell in love with the pointe class DVD he did with Isabelle Ciaravola( my secret workout). Even though he is Russian, he is a master of the French style(which is something that really inspires my research). He, like the other teachers from this week, did a lot of alternating of legs at the barre. This is something that seems to be overlooked in American ballet classes. His combinations are simple, logical and effective. Even though they are simple, I was dripping in sweat. He really focuses on warming up the turnout muscles in a a productive way. He has improved my technique greatly and I highly recommend his DVDs to all levels of dancers. Amandine is such a gorgeous artist. She moves like silk in the wind. Her leg/arm coordination was so sumptuous, complex yet effortless. Ribbon like port de bras with coordination of the legs is another staple of French technique.I need to use more port de bras in my classes to bring color to my exercises.
 
Day 5, Tuesday, June 30, 2020- I am wrapping up this week with the fiery Eleanora Abbagnato. She was set to have her farewell performance but then POB went on strike, then the rescheduled retirement performance was cancelled due to the coronavirus! That’s really sad because that is a major milestone for every principal ballerina. She is such an superb dancer and deserves that moment. But on a brighter note, I learned to play with speed and dynamics more in this class. I will do small, quick rond de jambe en l’air with frappés before I do bigger ones with adagio quality because they work 2 different muscle groups. This is good for fast allegro work and adagio work  in the center. This is the reason so many Parisian dancers have gorgeous petit allegro and ballon because they alternate speed of the footwork during the combinations at barre.
     In conclusion, even though I could not understand what they were saying, I had no problem picking up the combinations. French is the language of the ballet syllabus and this is the universal language of all ballet institutions. Despite the country and terminology, everything is in French. This is why I have such respect for the French tradition of ballet because they were the first to officially codify it and give an action name to each step. Out of all the schools of ballet I have learned from, the French method feels the most organic for me. I can not explain why I physically prefer it over the rest of the methods. It just feels the most natural and effective. I actually see progress and results. Who knows, maybe in my next lifetime I will get the chance to study ballet there and become a great étoile!(#manifesting) Au Revoir! ....Join me next week where I will be focusing on classes at Dutch National Ballet🤎