Battement Tendu

Well, if you look up it in the ballet terminology books it translates as beaten stretch but if you study ballet you know it is oh so much more than that. I was teaching class one morning this week and it occurred to me that many adult dancers don't take the time to really articulate the movement of the toes separately from the foot and ankle. I see this on a daily basis and though I correct it and speak of it often I still wish to see more of my dancers perform a battement tendu correctly. When I begin to teach a class with brand new adult dancers I break down the movement just as I would for children. At this point adults and children are essentially the same because if it is the first time that you are learning to do the movement it must be broken down. Teaching this movement has proven harder than I would have expected but that is one of the reasons that I love teaching ballet so. It is a constant challenge to present the information to new students and old who might have forgotten the basics. So say that you are standing in first position and you are going to execute tendu to a la seconde. . . first you must think of pulling the torso up out of the legs as well as pushing down through the working leg. The heel of the working leg stays on the floor as long as possible til it must raise so that the ankle is able to stretch. Throughout this movement the toes should be comfortably stretching along the floor with NO tension. As the ankle points, the toes are still stretched along the floor until the last moment when the toes continue the stretch to the full point! Closing into first position correctly reverses the process. It is so very important to correctly articulate the foot during these early barre exercises so the foot becomes warm and pliable but also gains strength from the work of the movement. A few extra tendus every day even if you are unable to make it to class can NEVER hurt. Just make sure to do some demi-plies also so that the calves get a stretch. Good luck!