Whether it is aches
and pains causing you to rethink your technique or the effort to perfect a
step to impress your director, dancers are always trying to perfect and update
their technique. As a dancer, I have my
own opinion as to how steps should be done and what the best way to execute a
step is. For example, let’s discuss the frappé!
Frappé is introduced to develop the control and speed needed to excel at jumps such as a jeté, which requires you to throw your leg out in a manner that is sharp and fast, arriving at a precise place in space. Also, the quick return to sur le cou-de-pied, within the execution of frappé, builds strength and coordination in the muscles of the inner thigh, which are necessary for execution of beats within jumps. So, you can see, it’s not just a step given for no practical reason!
The basic execution of a frappé is that the working leg is shot out from its originating position of sur le cou-de-pied, striking the floor on its way to continuing up and out, away from the body. The working leg reaches a height of a few inches off the floor, with a straight knee. The returning motion of the frappé is a recoiling of the working leg, the foot returns to sur le cou-de-pied in the most direct line while the working knee maintains maximum turnout, with the knee directly to the side of the standing leg. The striking of the floor in a frappé is characterized by being as strong of a contact with the floor as possible without producing a large noise. In my opinion, the best method used to teach students how to strike the floor is to instruct students to imagine that there is a bug on the floor that they want to squish; this imagery requires of the dancer that they strike the floor hard enough to squish the bug but also with distinct accuracy, as to indeed hit the bug and not the floor around it. Now how is that for making ballet training approachable?!
The specifics of how one strikes the floor depends on the direction in which a frappé is executed, there are specific parts of the foot that are supposed to strike the floor. It is my opinion that this specific nature of a frappé is lost on many ballet dancers! In frappé to the front, contact with the floor should be achieved initially somewhere between the side and bottom of the big toe, in between the tip and the first joint of the big toe. To the side, the initial frappé strike should be achieved within the same space between the tip and the first joint of the big toe, but more to the bottom of the toe. To the back, the initial striking point of the frappé is completely on the side of the big toe joint between the tip and the first joint of the big toe. At no point should the motion of a frappe allow the metatarsals to drop down, essentially going through a demi-point.
Now that the overall mechanics of the frappé are clear, let’s talk about the overall appearance and intention of the step! The outward motion should have the appearance of an upward trajectory; in my opinion, it is helpful to make the analogy of frappé’s outward motion being like the peeling of a carrot. When peeling a carrot, one moves their tool away from their body in a quick motion, pushing their hand and tool upward and pulling their tool and hand up when contact with the carrot is lost. This is the type of motion that a dancer should aim to mimic with their feet when executing a frappé, a sharp movement outward that finishes with a slight lift.
In summary, here are my helpful tips of what I think about executing frappé! It is important to keep in mind that (1) the foot reaches either exactly front, back, and side, (2) that the knee reaches a fully stretched position with a fully pointed foot, that (3) the foot lifts slightly when reaching the extended position, staying fully stretched as long at the tempo permits, that (4) the knee achieves full turnout when returning to sur le cou-de-pied, and that (5) the toes of the working leg are always engaged, never leaving a pointed position with the toes, going through a demi-point.
Now go ahead, perfect your technique and your frappé!
Frappé is introduced to develop the control and speed needed to excel at jumps such as a jeté, which requires you to throw your leg out in a manner that is sharp and fast, arriving at a precise place in space. Also, the quick return to sur le cou-de-pied, within the execution of frappé, builds strength and coordination in the muscles of the inner thigh, which are necessary for execution of beats within jumps. So, you can see, it’s not just a step given for no practical reason!
The basic execution of a frappé is that the working leg is shot out from its originating position of sur le cou-de-pied, striking the floor on its way to continuing up and out, away from the body. The working leg reaches a height of a few inches off the floor, with a straight knee. The returning motion of the frappé is a recoiling of the working leg, the foot returns to sur le cou-de-pied in the most direct line while the working knee maintains maximum turnout, with the knee directly to the side of the standing leg. The striking of the floor in a frappé is characterized by being as strong of a contact with the floor as possible without producing a large noise. In my opinion, the best method used to teach students how to strike the floor is to instruct students to imagine that there is a bug on the floor that they want to squish; this imagery requires of the dancer that they strike the floor hard enough to squish the bug but also with distinct accuracy, as to indeed hit the bug and not the floor around it. Now how is that for making ballet training approachable?!
The specifics of how one strikes the floor depends on the direction in which a frappé is executed, there are specific parts of the foot that are supposed to strike the floor. It is my opinion that this specific nature of a frappé is lost on many ballet dancers! In frappé to the front, contact with the floor should be achieved initially somewhere between the side and bottom of the big toe, in between the tip and the first joint of the big toe. To the side, the initial frappé strike should be achieved within the same space between the tip and the first joint of the big toe, but more to the bottom of the toe. To the back, the initial striking point of the frappé is completely on the side of the big toe joint between the tip and the first joint of the big toe. At no point should the motion of a frappe allow the metatarsals to drop down, essentially going through a demi-point.
Now that the overall mechanics of the frappé are clear, let’s talk about the overall appearance and intention of the step! The outward motion should have the appearance of an upward trajectory; in my opinion, it is helpful to make the analogy of frappé’s outward motion being like the peeling of a carrot. When peeling a carrot, one moves their tool away from their body in a quick motion, pushing their hand and tool upward and pulling their tool and hand up when contact with the carrot is lost. This is the type of motion that a dancer should aim to mimic with their feet when executing a frappé, a sharp movement outward that finishes with a slight lift.
In summary, here are my helpful tips of what I think about executing frappé! It is important to keep in mind that (1) the foot reaches either exactly front, back, and side, (2) that the knee reaches a fully stretched position with a fully pointed foot, that (3) the foot lifts slightly when reaching the extended position, staying fully stretched as long at the tempo permits, that (4) the knee achieves full turnout when returning to sur le cou-de-pied, and that (5) the toes of the working leg are always engaged, never leaving a pointed position with the toes, going through a demi-point.
Now go ahead, perfect your technique and your frappé!
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