Hello and welcome to the Royal Ballet here in the heart of London's Covent
Garden we're really excited about #WorldBalletDay on the 4th of October
streaming live around the world on the Royal Opera House Facebook page. Make sure you
share this video with all your friends and like the page so you can get all the
updates beforehand. Today you'll get a preview of the class exercises that will
be set on the day. For the first time we'd like you to join us and get a feel
for what it's like to take class as a member of the Royal Ballet. The Royal
Ballet has an incredibly varied repertoire
at the moment we're working on Ashton's 'La Fille mal gardée' with loads of virtuosic
turns and fast footwork, Macmillan's 'Anastasia', and the great Royal Ballet
tradition of dance drama and theatre as well as a Wayne McGregor triple bill
with 'Chroma' 'Carbon Life' and a new creation challenging the dancers' bodies
in the most extreme way. We have nearly a hundred dancers and a lot of those
dancers will be involved in all three of those programmes so how do we make a class
that addresses all the needs of those pieces and the individual dancers within them?
It comes down to making sure the fundamentals of ballet technique are
sound and that the dancers leave class warm and ready to face any challenges
thrown their way. I'm going to show you five exercises at the barre with the help
of brilliant Royal Ballet dancers James Hay and Meghan Grace Hinkis and they will
be exactly the same on the 4th of October at 11am UK time. You'll be
joining us halfway through so make sure that you're well warmed up before you start.
Don't worry if you've never done that before or don't have a ballet barre at home, office
or classroom: you can use the back of a chair like this one.
Ok let's get started. We'll start with 'fondu', it goes like this: fondu to the front, plié front
carry à la seconde, fondu to the side and plié
side and carry it back, fondu to the back, brush it front and carry to the
side, single ronde de jambe, single ronde de jambe, double ronde, plié and close through to the back.
Reverse that: fondu, back, plié, carry side, fondu, side, plié, carry front, fondu front, brush it back,
carry it to the side, single ronde de jambe, single ronde de jambe, double ronde de jambe with plié
we'll close it front, soutenu and we'll do it immediately on the left side.
Okay, ready?
Thank you Tim, and:
Fondu, front,
plié, carry à la seconde
Fondu, side
plié, carry back
Fondu, back, brush it front
Carry side, ronde de jambe, ronde de jambe, double ronde, plié
Good - reverse.
good
Nice square hips - and, fondu
And brush
plié, ronde de jambe, ronde de jambe, double ronde, soutenu - good, left side.
One, and plié
plié and back
One, two
Arm and leg together, and
plié, and arm and leg
One, two
Double plié, soutenu. Great perfect guys. Let's carry on we'll do a little passé exercise to
make sure you have your balance for all the turns coming on later. We'll go coup de pied front.
plié front, carry side, back to coup de pied, plié front, carry side
retiré, close it front, brush, attitude and attitude and attitude and fifth
relevé, passé, change to the back, we'll reverse it. Coup de pied, plié
Carry side and coup de pied. Plié back, carry side, retiré, and close. Attitude
brush and brush and brush and fifth, passé at the end then bring in front
and find your balance. Okay, ready?
Thank you Tim, and:
Coup de pied, plié front, carry side, coup de pied, plié front carry side, up and down
attitude
Good, and passé
Good, reverse
And, one, plié, side, in, really rotate the leg, rotate, and let her go. Brush.
And up
Good, thank you. Good, good, good.
Left side
Really use the foot. Rotate it out, rotate in
Open the hips
And up
Good, keep pushing the floor down.
Great ok. We'll carry on with frappé, will go single frappé front and side
and back and side, double front, double side, double back, double side,
double front
piqué piqué, double-side, piqué piqué, petits battements with port de bras, reverse. One, one, one, one
double out, double out, double out, double out, double back
piqué piqué, double-side, piqué piqué, petits battements with port de bras, close it front
inside leg attitude balance to finish. Ready, frappé, thank you Tim, and:
Back, side, and double front, double side. Double front, piqué, piqué
Double back and double side and double front
Back
Really sharp, and, port de bras
Close the leg in front, inside leg attitude, find the balance
Thank you.
Beautiful guys, very good, very good. Left side:
Really sharp
Double out and out and out
And front
And petits battements, good
And one, two, energy into the floor
Inside leg bring the thigh up to you against the back, lock it in.
Great very nice guys, very nice. Ok carry on with the adagio, we go passé, plié front
and carry in to the a la second, passé, lift the knee, plié out and carry out to the
arabesque, brush it through and fouetté into the arabesque on the other side
and penché there to finish the phrase. Passé, developpé with pilé front
carry a la seconde and hold it, passé, plié a la seconde, carry in to the arabesque and hold it
brush it through arms and body together into arabesque on the other side and
penché there to finish the phrase. We'll go immediately to the left side
Adagio, thank you Tim and:
plié, carry it a la seconde, now against the body, knee and foot
Arabesque, now brush through, front
Leg takes you forward, and penché
Other side, left heel comes up to the ceiling, rotate it in
and passé, plié
Arabesque, brush through first
And forward
Okay good, good very nice guys. Last thing: grands battements, this is a combination
from Ninette De Valois l the founder of the Royal Ballet, taught to me by Lesley Collier
I think it's nice to pay homage to the tradition and heritage of the company and
just spring it on your dancers occasionally and keep it fresh! We'll go one grand battement
with plié and close, one grand battement straight leg and close, one grand battement
Demi-pointe, passé, sous-sus, close, one grand battement with plié
one grand battement, no plié, one grand battement demi pointe, passé, close, same to the back
One with plié, fifth, one no plié, fifth, one demi pointe, passé, now change the passé front
port de bras, front, side, all the way around, nice big stretch and soutenu
and will do left side immediately. One with plié, one no plié, one on demi pointe, passé, close it front
same side, with plié, no plié, demi pointe, passé, close back
with plié, no plié, demi pointe, passé, bring the passé front, close it, nice big stretch, port de bras
all the way around, circle, left side. Grands battements, thank you Tim and:
Plié
No plié
Demi pointe, passé
And close, plié
Good, to the back, with plié, no plié, really bring the passé, now bring it front, close
and stretch, good, other side
with plié, no plié
And up
And plié
Plié
And plié
Bring it front, nice easy stretch
Great that's it guys. Thank you to Tim on the piano, James, Meaghan for helping me out
we look forward to seeing you on the 4th of October, bye!