Cecchetti Gr. III Arabesque

This is the sequencing on the 1-5th Arabesques in Cecchetti Gr. III through the CCA. There are different Cecchetti organizations who use different choreography. So this might not be the same choreography as what is in another organization's syllabus.

Ok people - it's far from perfect but it's as close as it's gonna get - and Mary wanted to see me dance, so....here you go! This has become one of my favorite exercises in the Gr. III material but I still struggle to maintain my line, keep my abs lifted, my lumbar muscles extended, stretch my lifted leg all the way...and not lose my balance when I pull through a la seconde arms to get to second arabesque .... but. It is what it is. :) Enjoy!

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Tags:

• cecchetti
• ballet

[swalston3]

@shollo12 LOL....well the dance community is REALLY critical of it's members - it's always been a cut throat environment. It doesn't bother me.... Dancers aren't happy unless they can tear each other down. :)

[alliemuffinpants]

your strength is good but your flexibility isnt. no offense meant at all. there is a very good arabesque stretching video on youtube if you search arabesque stretches youll find it.

[BalletPrincess1998]

I think you are great!

[rwhbelieber]

Guys... when you're a grade 3 you don't have to have the highest extensions

[swalston3]

@MrKLT1945 Fantastic! Can't wait to hear all about Africa and everything else! :)

[MrKLT1945]

@swalston3 Will talk more when I get back from a long-awaited holiday in African bush - unless I get eaten by lions/crocodiles!

[swalston3]

@MrKLT1945 WOW!! I am so honored to "meet" you! We must correspond, I would love to hear all your stories! You knew Nureyev & Fonteyn?? I bet 90% of the commenters here, who are under the age of 21 just went to look those names up on Wikipedia! We, in the ballet world, lost the last of a great era of dancers with the death of Fonteyn and Nureyev. WOW, I'm incredibly humbled that you had anything nice to say about this Gr. III arabesque video! ha!! I really am honored. Tell us all more!

[MrKLT1945]

@swalston3 I have a great advantage over you - I'm VERY OLD! My knowledge & experiences go way back. Best experience of my pro. career (apart from actually dancing) was masterclas with Nureyev who had the patience of a saint with us. Favourite, offstage, was Fonteyn, who refused my offer to let her 'jump the queue' for drinks during reh'sal break. Such class & manners. Hard to think just how badly the ROH tretated her in her later, impoverished, life, after all the kudos she brought to the RB

[swalston3]

@MrKLT1945 Oh now that's pretty cool to know about your knowledge of the RBS! I had no idea! I have been fortunate enough to teach a few very gifted students who just had the whole package. The body, the flexibility, the strength, the centering, etc. They are SO FUN to teach. And then there's the other 99.9% of the students looking for ballet lessons. It's nice to have comprehensive teacher training. The CCA program I'm going through beats out the college training I've had hands down!

[MrKLT1945]

@swalston3 No problem! I am old enough to remember the Royal Ballet School introducing their teaching diploma as a direct result of many of their ballerinas retiring and teaching amateur/recreational children as if they (the girls esp.) were all perfect prima b. material like they had been. They had no understanding of physical anomalies etc or how to teach the less gifted! It was more like another opportunity for them to be admired, forgetting they were there to teach, not show off.

[swalston3]

@MrKLT1945 : Wow, one of the best compliments so far! Thanks so much. Teaching and learning to teach and learning the Cecchetti work and being able to teach it correctly and pulling all the minute details out of the work definitely looks and feels and is different from just being able to dance a piece. Each element of dance is so genuine .... teaching, choreography, dancing ... sometimes it's hard to appreciate the other element if you are not involved in it... Thanks again!

[MrKLT1945]

There's a very nice fluidity you show in this exercise, so if you pass that on to pupils you are doing fine! Ceccehti famous for p. d. bras, rightly so. As for some comments - teachers have to know how TO and how NOT TO do things & not be prima ballerinas themselves, as passing on knowledge gained thru' often painful experience can be so much more useful. Too many 'teachers' are happy just to show off their prowess rather than develop their pupils. lol