Improving Your Arabesque

Hi guys! Happy Fri-YAY! I hope you all had a great week. I didn’t do much this week outside of what I usually do. I’ve been really enjoying time away from my phone lately. I’ve been doing a lot of reading and working on things for YouTube.

This week, I am bringing to you another ballet-themed post. How to improve your arabesque. This is important if you’re considering auditioning for summer intensives/companies. Often times an arabesque picture is one you’ll have to submit, so let’s get right into my post on how to wow the judges for summer intensives/companies.

When it comes to arabesques, leg flexibility is the second most important thing. The important parts about an arabesque are back flexibility and back strength. Let’s begin with back strength first.

Back Strength

 Consider the Rose Adagio in Sleeping Beauty. When Aurora is doing those balances with the princes, her attitude isn’t super high, but it does not move. It’s her lower back strength that keeps her attitude from moving.

There are many ways to increase back strength, and they are best seen visually, so please check out this video from Lazy Dancer Tips.

.Back Flexibility

Lower back flexibility will increase the height of your arabesque. Consider the perfect 110-degree arabesque. The most beautiful thing about it is not the standing leg or the working foot but the graceful curve in the spine as the leg is extended. Your back’s flexibility will determine the height of your arabesque; if you were not born with a particularly bendy lower back, it would be harder to get a high extension.

However, you can always improve the flexibility in your lower back, regardless of any innate inflexibility. Use the cobra stretch to gently increase the curve in your spine, and take every opportunity to practice your cambrés. The more flexible your spine is, the easier it will be to raise and hold the leg in arabesque.

 Please be careful when stretching out your back because it can lead to injuries and decrease both the flexibility and strength that you’re trying to achieve.

Keep Your Arms Inside

 As you reach towards the horizon (or the Prince...haha) in an arabesque, keep your arms stabilized; don’t force your shoulder out of its socket when you extend your arm.

Never reach forward with your shoulder. This will destabilize your arabesque, and the twist in the spine will ruin the arched upright line. Instead, reach outward from the elbow to the fingertips and lengthen inward from the elbow to the shoulder.

 Once you’ve mastered the inward/outward pull sensation, beautiful arms can both stabilize and raise your arabesque, especially in center adagios.

Drill Down the Standing Leg

 With so much focus on the height of the working leg, it’s all too easy to forget about the standing leg. Turn it out as much as possible from the hip, and unless it’s an arabesque in plié, keep it absolutely straight.

Imagine your standing leg as a drill pushing a screw into the ground. Push down through the ball of your foot, and lift high up toward the sky from your hip socket. This length is more aesthetically beautiful and provides an opposing force to drive the working leg higher.

And that concludes my tips for improving your arabesque. I hope you all enjoyed this post. If you did, don’t forget to give it a like, share it with your dance friends leave me a comment telling me which ballet move I should write about next. As always, sending you all the light and love in this world. See you next week!