What Are Your Favorite and Least Favorite Steps!?

By TurnedOutPointeOfView on Friday, June 5, 2020

Thank you for the question, @andreeaunicorn

Favorite Steps!

-TURNS: I really enjoy that floating sensation. Turns for me are almost like my rest step. I look forward to them in my variations. I enjoy all turns but fast pike turns that really travel across the stage are definitely, one of my favorites!

Pike turns in Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux

-BIG JUMPS: When you leap, it’s almost like you are flying! And that feels amazing!

Ravn Campaign.

– MOVING FAST: I really enjoy the challenge of moving fast. I think it is interesting to the eye of the observer and fun for the dancer. You also have to be so on top of what you are doing because there isn’t a split second for hesitation! That’s a thrill!

Ballo Della Regina.

-POINTE WORK: I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with pointe shoes, but I sure loving dancing in them. It is so much fun to dance on my toes while doing little, feminine steps. But oooooh sometimes my toes can be so painful, I can barely breathe! Although, ever since i switched to using PerfectFit Toe Pads, it has been a game changer and has taken away almost all the pain!

Lead Marzipan in The Nutcracker.

Least Favorite Steps!

PENCHE WITHOUT A PARTNER AND IN POINTE SHOES: This is, without a doubt, my least favorite step. From the fact that the bottoms of pointe shoes aren’t really flat, to the reality that you have nothing to hold on too and can easily, EASILY fall… all penche’s are terrifying. Giselle has quite a few of them in the second act. At one point, she is the only person moving on stage, so all eyes are on her, and there is a terribly bright spotlight on her and there she is trying to do an impossibly slow penche! That is tricky!

Penche in Giselle Second Act

SLOW ADAGE: If adage becomes too slow, I find it not fun. My legs feel heavy. My hips start to hurt and it no longer feels like dancing but rather fighting for poses. BUT it’s always good to have something to work on.

xoxo
-Hol

A Slow Adage Section from the ballet, Giselle