Confuddled Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 So my daughter (8yo) has been told by her ballet teacher she needs to be 'lighter' and jump higher. I'm assuming this means landing without sounding like a baby elephant, while also going higher. She's finding it very difficult to know how to practice this, as she's been told to do over the summer. Are there any top tips, or YouTube videos she could watch to help her? I can't see that just practising without knowing what she's currently doing wrong will help... There is no possibility she won't practise over the summer, she's completely dancing obsessed plus she's got a week of summer school, so I'd rather she was doing something that would actually help rather than ingraining bad habits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueLou Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I’m no expert to be honest, but in layperson’s terms, I believe lighter landing is achieved by landing ‘through the foot’. That is, the whole foot doesn’t hit the floor at once, more kind of toes first then ‘rolling’ through the rest of the foot. I wold have thought jumping higher is all about practise and building up the muscles and flexibility. Just springing vertically on the spot 50 times a day would be a good start. Try recording her now and then again in 6 weeks so she can (hopefully!) see the improvement that practise delivers. Also, splits - all 3 ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 I'm no ballet expert but I would say that strengthening exercises such as rises onto demi pointe would be a good start. Great preparation for pointe too. Happy to be corrected Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MayKwok Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 In my personal experience, what's helped my jumps: - weight placement and landing in a balanced body position (e.g. if you lose the neutral pelvis and stick the bum out, you've lost it before you started. In general you should have shoulder over hips over knees over toes but obviously also dependent on what type of jump it is) - resistance in the legs. Brace the landing by resistance against gravity in the glutes thighs and calves. This requires strength, and you can start thinking of them all the way through class starting from pliés. Resist down rather than let gravity take you down. - articulation through the feet. Landing toe ball heel together with both of the above will reduce landing noise, and also help cushion against the shock that will go through the body. - let the depth of the landing be the start of the next jump. Make it seamless. If you have a split second that you are sitting in the plie, you've lost the rebound that will help propel the next jump. - specific to the lightness, jumping on the way up also need articulation through the feet. Rolling through heel ball toe and pointing the leg (yes think pointe the leg, not just the feet!) all the way through will activate all the intrinsic muscles in the feet calves thighs glutes. I would ask the teacher for any specific exercises. Did the teacher just say what she needs to achieve without being specific as to what actually she needs to work on, and provide the how? I find Lisa Howell's site helpful. I've also just searched on YouTube and found a specific video from Kathryn Morgan on petit allegro which explains very clearly and demonstrated, highly recommend a watch. (she has tips on all sorts of steps, could easily watch for hours!) Hope this helps! S 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MayKwok Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Specific exercises I've been doing the last few months are just mainly rises. On 2 legs to start with, parallel. Pay attention to posture and weight placement. I started with 10, and increased as time went on and how I feel as well. Once 2 legs are comfortable move on to turned out in 1st. Also can do 1 leg rises. I started with holding onto something first and gradually take my hand off. Make sure stretch the legs out (especially the calves) as they will get tired and tight. Last thing you want is to get injured! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Specific exercises I've been doing the last few months are just mainly rises. On 2 legs to start with, parallel. Pay attention to posture and weight placement. I started with 10, and increased as time went on and how I feel as well. Once 2 legs are comfortable move on to turned out in 1st. Also can do 1 leg rises. I started with holding onto something first and gradually take my hand off. Make sure stretch the legs out (especially the calves) as they will get tired and tight. Last thing you want is to get injured! Thats what I meant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 My dd's never been a particularly high jumper, and she's always been told that it is all to do with using your plie, both when taking off, and again on landing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebird22 Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 As she's only 8 a fun exercise is lying on the floor feet against a wall and "jumping" off the wall. I think they use this in swimming lessons to practise pushing off. Works just as well for ballet jumps the further away from the wall they jump the higher the actual jump. It's good fun, my students love it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Confuddled Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 That's so helpful, thank you! I will show her this thread as much of the terminology makes no sense to me (no ballet experience at all) but I'm sure she will know what it means, and if it's beyond what she's learnt (she's doing Grade 1 and also does Grade 2 classes) then I won't let her do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MayKwok Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Ah, Grade 1 and 2.... She probably won't have done beats, but otherwise Kathryn's advice in the rest of the video applies. Her exercise recommendation looks interesting and I'll be trying that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TYR Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 My own teacher's correction on this: be lower on the approach to the jump. More plié, so more range of movement, so more power. (Observation of my own: as a bloke, don't try to watch yourself jump in the mirrors. Your eyeline should be above them or you're not trying...) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cara in NZ Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 'Rises' on one leg or two are great for strengthening and alignment, which helps everything. My DD started doing them when she was 11 as preparation for pointe, so they are a great foundation exercise for all sorts of things. She should hold on to something solid with one hand and do them in parallel, with knees in line with feet. We were told to use your age as a guide, so she could do 8 on each leg to start with. (It's not complicated – just going from standing with feet flat up through to the highest she can stand on tiptoes and down again, slowly and with control). Can even be done while watching TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trog Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Merce Cunningham was a great jumper and it is said his plie was deeper than most. A lot of ballet is in the plie. Also, your biggest friend is the floor - push it away as you jump. <cue deep, breathy voice> - Use the floor, Luke 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Confuddled Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 Specific exercises I've been doing the last few months are just mainly rises. On 2 legs to start with, parallel. Pay attention to posture and weight placement. I started with 10, and increased as time went on and how I feel as well. Once 2 legs are comfortable move on to turned out in 1st. Also can do 1 leg rises. I started with holding onto something first and gradually take my hand off. Make sure stretch the legs out (especially the calves) as they will get tired and tight. Last thing you want is to get injured! 'Rises' on one leg or two are great for strengthening and alignment, which helps everything. My DD started doing them when she was 11 as preparation for pointe, so they are a great foundation exercise for all sorts of things. She should hold on to something solid with one hand and do them in parallel, with knees in line with feet. We were told to use your age as a guide, so she could do 8 on each leg to start with. (It's not complicated – just going from standing with feet flat up through to the highest she can stand on tiptoes and down again, slowly and with control). Can even be done while watching TV I may be being entirely stupid here, but I don't understand what both these posts mean by 'in parallel'. As in, feet forward? Her natural standing position is first position, so that would be the most comfortable for her, I think, rather than feet facing forward and parallel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Yes parallel is feet forward. A lot of rises & pointe prep excercises are in parallel. My dd stands turned out naturally due to how her hips are (was terrible in school PE lessons) but she has to do these excercises in parallel. She also has tight hamstrings & short Achilles which gives a limited plié depth so in theory she should be rubbish at jumps but she isn't. I'll ask her what she does. (Edited to correct spelling) Edited July 18, 2016 by Picturesinthefirelight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancer Sugar Plum Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I am not a natural jumper - I have seen other people who have a natural spring and I am so envious! Several teachers I've had in the past have told me to just 'jump higher' as advice on what to do to improve my jumps. Personally, I found this very unhelpful. The best advice I have had about improving my jumps is about body posture. In most people, the back muscles are (naturally) stronger than the stomach muscles, so it's easy to find yourself relaxing the stomach muscles in a series of jumps. If the centre muscles relax during these jumps, you will hollow your lower back, and this will stop you getting elevation in the air, or being able to pointe your feet in the air. It can tricky to maintain this in a series of jumps. Another thing, if you've not got a natural spring in the air, it can be easy to find yourself lifting your shoulders trying to get more height, which is not helpful either. What I've found helpful is not to focus on 'jumping higher', but watch when you land on each jump that you've kept your body position the same by keep your stomach muscles strong. Then if you can think about getting energy to the ends of your toes on each jump, this would improve your jumps as well. Hope this is helpful. If your daughter is spending time practicing her jumps over the summer, I would like to suggest you encourage her not to jump on concrete because that would be hard on her bones and joints. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate_N Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Her natural standing position is first position, so that would be the most comfortable for her, I think, rather than feet facing forward and parallel. Just a little point of caution here: it's really important that ballet students work in parallel position, knees under hips and middle of the foot aligned under the knee, to balance all the work in turn out. I've been told by a physiotherapist that it's especially important when doing things like running & walking. Apparently, dancers can be injured from turning out too much in everyday life! Edited July 18, 2016 by Kate_N 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate_N Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 The other thing I see in class with professional dancers in class, or my teachers, is that they really peel through the foot, both peeling the foot off the floor to go up, and working through from the toes to heels when landing. They have really really flexible feet. I'm coming to think that flexibility in the feet & ankles is actually more important that flexibility in extensions. So much comes from working the feet. I'm not a natural jumper, but when I really focus on peeling my feet off the floor, I get nods from my teachers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dance*is*life Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Okay - ask her to jump and look at her from the side so you can see what she's doing with her body. If she tenses and throws her body back then that is part of the reason why her teacher thinks she's not jumping high enough. I purposely don't tell my students to think about trying to jump high, because this often results in the aforementioned overuse of the body. What I do tell them is to just think about stretching their feet down to the floor as hard as they can. Surprisingly enough this really helps the height of the jump! I think it's because when you think about the extremities you automatically stretch the legs to their utmost. As people so rightly said, it's all about the plie and the push off from the floor, so if you do that push and really stretch the feet hard you go higher. Tell her to try it out with the game about pushing against the wall on a smooth floor (not carpet). If she pushes off pointing her feet with all her might, she'll move further away from the wall than she would have done normally. The lighter jumps are definitely attained through correct articulation of the feet as you take off and land and again through not straining the body. Edited July 18, 2016 by Dance*is*life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Gosh, she's very young still just to be told to 'jump higher'. Great advice on this thread regarding plie, use of feet, core etc, but (and I hesitate a bit saying this as she's so young) it's not always good - depending on the physique of the dancer and the sort of jump they are attempting- to relax too much into the plie between landing and take off. It must be an active and not passive motion. Also she could imagine wearing a parachute harness with someone pulling it up as she jumps (sounds crazy, but it works) so that when she jumps everything lifts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeliB Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 totally agree with everyone who talked about strength of feet and calves. DS started doing rising exercises regularly and his jumps improved massively. He says the jump comes completely from the foot and calf and not really from the depth of the plie/thigh strength. of course that assumes same for boys as for girls... and I add he started this at 16 not at 8 (he didn't even start ballet until he was 10!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahw Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Foot strength has been important for my dd too. Jumping improved markedly once pointe work started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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