Geeky Ballerina
artistry + technique
This Month's Artistry Toolkit:
Dynamics
Dynamics is the quality of your movement. It's how you perform each step separated from technique.
One of the most common things I see in intermediate classes is dancers with beautiful, smooth pliés at the barre who suddenly have shallow, choppy pliés the moment we move into petit allegro.
It makes sense once you break it down. Plié needs a smooth, gooey dynamic while a jump needs something bright and light. Asking a dancer to move fluidly between those two qualities is already a big ask. Then the intermediate levels raise the stakes further: the tempo speeds up, so there's no time to actively think about plié anymore, and the combinations get more complex, so dancers' attention is already spent elsewhere.
Twenty-eight years in, and I still haven't found the one "fix" that works for every group. Here's the toolkit of images I reach for instead — try them out and see what lands for you.
The Images
The biggest challenge with any of these is finding imagery that helps a dancer change dynamics between steps without losing the overall dynamics of the exercise. The jump itself will be easier to refine later — dancers are already used to corrections like "point your feet" or "stretch your knees faster." Working on the dynamics within the dynamics, like Russian nesting dolls, is the first priority.
Trampoline feet: Tell dancers the floor is a trampoline that sinks as they land on it, and their feet should melt into it as they plié. It takes their attention completely off "the jump" for a second — but don't panic. That's the point.
Cursive/signature: Think of the combination as writing in cursive, or signing your name. A choppy plié is the pen lifting off the page. The goal is one continuous line the whole way through, even as the shape of the letters changes.
Popsicle in the sun: In the air, the dancer is a popsicle — solid, held together, a clear shape. On the landing, they're a popsicle in the sun melting all over the floor. (This one tends to land especially well in summer classes.)
Technique Tip
Sometimes a choppy plié isn't a dynamics issue at all — it's a real, physical limitation of plié depth. You can't change anatomy with imagery. But there are ways a dancer with a shallow plié (whether from a shorter Achilles tendon or bony impingement at the front of the ankle) can maximize the range of motion they do have.
Relax your toes in demi-plié. Many dancers keep their toes pointed the entire time they're at the barre. Relaxing them releases muscular tension at the front of the ankle joint, which allows the ankle to bend further and deepens the plié.
Don't adjust your inside leg when you transition into second position at the barre. I know — bringing that inside leg closer to the barre for a wider second lets you go deeper, and it feels so good in your hips. But keeping the inside foot planted and using a narrower plié stretches the calf muscles more. When I started doing this, I was embarrassed by how shallow my grand plié was — and another dancer actually commented on it! But I kept at it and after a few weeks I noticed a real difference in my plié during petit allegro. It feels (and probably is) deeper than before so I still use the narrower second most days. I'm still the highest grand plié in the room. And my demi-plié is still improving so whether people say anything to me or not, I'm going to keep going.
Be intentional about the demi-plié as you come up from grand plié. Most dancers just pass through this position on the way back up. But placing the heels back on the ground intentionally increases flexibility in the calves and eases the grip in the thighs. Instead of thinking "I come up now," think "the heels go back on the ground" — and only then straighten your knees. Building the movement joint by joint like this, instead of approximating a picture, is what serves your technique over the years.
