Jodie Gates: Hi! I'm Jodie Gates, professional ballerina teacher, choreographer, director, and I'm teaching you basic ballet. We are ready to learn the five basic ballet positions. I'm here helping demonstrate with my friend Fanny. She's with Paris Opera Ballet. She'll help us demonstrate the five positions.
First, we'll learn the positions in the hips, legs, and feet and then we'll go forward and learn the positions with the Port de bras in the arms, head, and hands. Then we'll put it together with the hands, the feet, the legs, and the arms.
So first, with basic ballet normally we start facing the bar, both hands on the bar very gently placed in front of you. If notice the hips and the shoulders are in the same alignment. The knees and the hips and the toes are lifted so that the arch is not sagging down and forward. This is what we call first position.
Now moving forward to second position, she'll do a tendu battement into the second position. Again, it's the same as the first, except now, the feet are bit wider no more than hips or shoulder width apart. Again, the torso in the alignment and the placement is the same. Lift it as we talked about before, bellybutton to spine, bone-on-bone building block theory.
Now she'll tendu battement into the third position right foot front. You notice in the third position, the heel is at the arch. It's not quite heel to toe. Again, you stay lifted the rotations coming from the hipline and she's not pronating forward on her arch.
She'll then tendu battement to the fourth position. Fourth is directly in front of your third or fifth. Heels are forward lifted again, look at the turnout, it's rotated from the hips. Then tendu battement to the fifth position or final position in ballet and here it's the heel to toe, directly turned out rotated from the hips.
Now when we do the five positions with the feet, we also then practice on the other side. So we start from the first position and then she would battement tendu into the second and battement tendu left foot front to the third, then to the fourth and back again to the fifth. Always, practice both sides. Normally, we start with the right foot front, when closing in third.
Alright, now let's go and move forward to the Port de bras what we call Port de bras, which is your arms, shoulder, and hands. To demonstrate she'll stand with her back facing away from the bar just to keep a lifted and long spine, keep her shoulders back.
Now our first position in ballet Port de bras is simple. Again, think of holding a beach ball in front of you. Hands are in front of the chest, lifted elbows, very gentle, hands are articulated with the middle finger slightly curved in.
Then you have second position. Same thing open up slightly in front of, so they're not too far back. This is exactly right, elbows are lifted. Long arms hands again articulated. Third position, right arm up, elbow back. Fourth position, left arm joins in front. The fourth position is the third, coming forward in the front of the chest. Fifth position both arms are up, keep that ball round circle feeling and then fifth en bas and you're done.
Good! Now let's put those together. If we were to put them together, you would put one hand on the bar. Normally, in ballet we start on the left side. Left hand on the bar using the right foot and leg. So if we put it together we have the first position arm is in first. Tendu battement second position, arm is in second, foot and leg in second. Tendu the arm can up to the third. Nice, and notice how she's using also her head. Now, fourth position, arm comes in front, foot is in fourth. Fifth position, tendu battement both arms are up. And fifth en bas, feet are staying in fifth.
Good! Now you would practice that on the other side, but we won't go there right now, but always practice right side and left side. That's how you get better as repetition.
Next, I'll show you how to move between these different positions.
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