I'm so sorry this is such a long post :( You don't have to read it all once, or necessarily agree with what is written. Take your time and think it through.
While
something as ‘simple’ as a Tendu gets taught very early on in
most ballet schools, and is one of the core movements of all ballet
steps, it is one of the things that is often poorly
understood. Getting these basics right is absolutely essential
as dancers get more serious about dancing.
Any
faults in basic technique often result in all of the niggly foot,
knee, hip and back issues. If you can grasp all of these minor
details, this will set you up for just about everything else in your
dancing. Battement tendu is the fundamental exercise for pointe
work.
The
Core Ingredients in Performing a Perfect Tendu Are:
1.
Mastery of subtle, dynamic core control
2. Awareness and endurance
of your standing leg turnout muscles
3. Control of the position of
the supporting knee
4. Articulation of the ankle and mid foot
6.
The ability to maintain length in the toes while fully working the
ball of the foot
The
following points outline what to, and what not to do in all of these.
I hope this helps!
1.
Mastery of subtle, dynamic core control:
The
tendu, in my opinion, actually starts from deep in the core. The deep
stability of the pelvis and spine is essential to being able to
maintain stability on the standing leg. Without a stable base, you
will have no base to work your turnout from, which will result
in the loss of your turnout and twisting in the knee of the standing
leg.
This
core stability is not the kind that you get from doing sit-ups and
crunches or plank type exercises. These common abdominal exercises
train all of the outer muscles (which are important in their own
right) however they are not the ones you need for a Tendu. The core
stability that is needed is a subtle, dynamic stability which is able
to be maintained for a long period of time. This is described in many
ways by dance teachers, such as “pulling up” or “hollowing”
the tummy, or as “feeling your center” but many people
overdo it and start to look stiff and wooden. Anatomically, it is a
very subtle activation of your pelvic floor, deep abdominals
(Transverses Abdominis) and the deepest back muscles (including
Multifidus and Rotatores).
The
key to knowing that you are using the right muscles is whether you
can breathe at the same time. Many dancers grip so tightly with all
of their abdominals, (that attach to the bottom of the ribs”
that they cannot breathe. Therefore, the contraction only lasts a few
moments, and cannot be maintained during movement, and especially in
higher level exercises.
2.
Awareness and endurance of your standing leg turnout muscles:
Once
you have mastered the core control you now have a base to work your
turnout from. Most dancers have heard about the six deep external
rotators that are our true turnout muscles, however when I ask
students to point them out on a muscle chart or demonstrate any
specific exercises for them, they struggle…
It
is essential to know the difference between your standing leg turnout
muscles, and the turnout muscles that are used for controlling the
leg en fondu and en lair. Quadratus Femoris (QF) is the muscle that
is best placed to turn out the femur in a standing position. We work
a lot on isolating rotation of the femur using QF without contraction
of the outer gluteals in order to ‘wake up’ these muscles.
Once
you have found these turnout muscles, you must learn to use these
muscles when standing and working in class. One of the best
progressions is floor barre tendus. This is a great way to practice
endurance of the core and standing leg turnout, as you focus on the
articulation of the foot and ankle. Make sure that the feet are kept
about 10cm off the floor to challenge your core control, while still
keeping the legs in the correct alignment.
3.
Control of the position of the knee:
Many
people with hypermobile, hyper-extended knees find it difficult to
control the position of the knees when moving from 5th position into
a tendu. It is sometimes tricky to find the mid-point between
feeling ‘bent’ and over straight. The aim is to get a lengthened
feeling in the leg, as though you are actually trying to create space
in the knee joint. It is important not to “pull back” into the
knees, and even the traditional instruction of “pulling up” can
often create too much tension and build up of the quadriceps. The
quadriceps are definitely active, just not bunching.
Many
dancers with hyper extended knees tend to sit with their weight back
on the heel, and then shift the hips out to “get the weight over
the supporting leg”. This makes it very difficult to work in and
out of 5th position.
The
cue that I find works best is if the supporting foot is kept in the
“Tripod Foot” position, with the feeling of going into a very
small rise. Imagine that you are lifting the heel bone off the floor,
but the skin is still touching! This means that you will be
automatically lifted out of the leg, and this position, combined with
good turnout and core control allows much more room for the working
leg to move in and out of position. This should also remove the
feeling of twisting that you might feel in the knee.
4.
Articulation of the ankle and mid foot:
Finally
we move onto the foot and ankle! It is important to be working
through the foot correctly to gain all of the benefits of the
exercise, and prepare the foot for later in the class. Exercises like
“Pointe through the Demi pointe” are excellent mastering the
action of plantarflexion at the ankle before pointing the ball of the
foot (metatarsophalangeal joints) .
Practice
your Tendus in parallel in the beginning to ensure that you can
control core and the position of the standing leg while working
the working foot through its movement. You should be focussing on
getting full plantarflexion of the ankle before you start adding on
the toes. Glide the foot forward, with a feeling of stability in your
center and lengthening the leg from the back of the hip to the
ball of the foot. Make sure that the both knees stays lengthened
throughout, and the movement is smooth.
When
working on your Tendus in turnout, cues such as “lead with the
heel” are designed to encourage and maintain turnout of the working
leg, but do make sure that the hips do not twist towards the working
leg when practising this. You should have an awareness of working the
turnout evenly on both legs throughout both phases of the movement.
When
drawing the foot back to 5th position, cueing to pull the little toe
back helps maintain turnout of the working leg, but take care not to
twist the foot. If you are elevated on the supporting leg, there
should be enough space to draw the foot in to close cleanly (No
wiggling of the hips or bending of the knees!)
The ability to
maintain length in the toes while fully working the ball of the foot:
The
control of the muscles in the ball of the foot is one of the most
important factors in preventing foot and ankle injuries, and Tendus
are a great way to practice this. The secret is to incorporate the
“Doming” exercise into every tendu you do in class. Take
special care not to let the toes curl under when fully pointed. This
is especially important for the big toe, as this can cause many
problems if overused, including pain in the back of the ankle.
After
working on all of that, the actual effort that is put into a Tendu
should be very minimal. It is in the subtle activation, isolation and
endurance of all of the components mentioned above that will really
transform your dancing. My rule of thumb in this kind of work is to
use the least amount of effort required to effectively perform the
movement. As you practise over time, this effort will become less and
less!
