Gymnastic Classes

The body must also show tension, any movement, particularly of the limbs, or any slight relaxing of the muscles will cause a wobble and so pull the body off balance. The body line must be exact, and the body shape held, without the shoulders hunching up. Attitude Balance This position is as described in the pivot turn above. The attitude is a ballet position, and is effective when held with the weight still over one foot. Arabesque Balance Another ballet position, this time with the leg extended high behind. The higher the leg will go, the lower the shoulders are permitted to drop. However, do not allow the line of the back to break, i.e. do not let the leg stay low and the shoulders drop down as this creates a poor line of the body. Balances on other parts of the body, though interesting and seemingly easy, become more difficult when the apparatus skill is added, for it is difficult to maintain the motion of the apparatus during low level balance. Equally, balances on a flat foot are …

Of great importance is the actual footwork itself, which must be clean and precise, the steps being very definite in direction and quality. The ankles and feet should be very resilient, much of the work being performed on the toes, particularly the light and springy types of step. Other steps which are perhaps in the Russian or Spanish style are characteristically required to be performed on the flat foot, but must still show the necessary strength and precision. The importance of ballet training becomes apparent not only for the promotion of leg strength, elegance, and upper body work, but particularly for the improvement of foot work. Toes should be pointed, the feet and ankles stretched for the majority of the time, but equally there must be some give in the foot and ankle to provide resilience and bounce. Many of the steps used are in fact derived from ballet and so the terminology used is the same, i.e. all the names are in French. The following are a few examples of the most com …