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A Preliminary Investigation of Two Variations of the Grand Battement Devant

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2014

Rhonda S. Ryman  and
Donald A. Ranney
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Extract

Twentieth century technology has given rise to new and exciting methods for the analysis of human motion. With the aid of the motion picture camera a dancer's kick can be frozen and details invisible in normal viewing can be isolated and analyzed. Electrical detecting devices can uncover secrets about the inner workings of the body, its nerves and muscles. Platforms sensitive to the changing dynamics of a movement can tell us how the body generates force, how it locomotes itself and creates artistic effects and qualities which were previously thought of as “mystical” and “denying natural laws”. Numerous ballet technique manuals offer explanations as to the correct execution of dance movements. Although these descriptions are largely in agreement with one another, they are often in conflict with kinesiological information about the general functioning of the human body. Little research exists in the specific area of kinesiology and dance.

It is therefore the goal of the present research to clinically examine one selected dance movement, the grand battement devant, in order to form a kinesiological model of its skeletal and muscular components. This information may help provide a means of assessing the great heritage of traditional ballet theory based largely on personal experience and trial and error, and form a foundation for new theory based on objective analysis. The problem was to discover skeletal and muscular patterns when the grand battement is performed with both legs parallel (patellae facing anteriorly), and with both legs “turned out” (femurs laterally rotated as much as possible at the hip joints).

Type
Articles
Information
Dance Research Journal , Volume 11 , Issue 1-2 , 1978 , pp. 2 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © Congress on Research in Dance 1978

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References

NOTES

1. Blasis, Carlo, An Elementary Treatise Upon the Theory and Practice of the Art of Dancing, translation Mary Stewart Evans, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1967, (original, Milan: 1820), p. 18Google Scholar.

2. Carlo Blasis, p. 19.

3. Vaganova, Agrippina, Basic Principles of Classical Ballet, (translation Anatole Chujoy, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1969, (original, Kamin Dance Publishers: 1949), p. 30Google Scholar.

4. Cohen, Selma Jeanne, “Virtuosity and the Aesthetic Ideals of Western Classical Dance,” paper presented at the ADG/CORD Dance Conference, Hawaii, 1978Google Scholar.

5. Stuart, Muriel and Kirstein, Lincoln, The Classic Ballet, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1952Google Scholar.

6. Sweigaid, Lulu, Human Movement Potential, New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1974, p. 69Google Scholar.

8. Bartenieff, Irmgard. “Principles for Studying the Basis of Movement in Diverse Cultures,” paper presented at the ADG/CORD Dance Conference, Hawaii, 1978Google Scholar.

8. Lawson, Joan, Teaching Young Dancers, London: Adam and Charles Black, 1975, p. 71Google Scholar.

9. Sparger, Celia, Anatomy and Ballet, New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1970, (original, London: Adam and Charles Black, 1949), p. 24Google Scholar.

10. Gelabert, Raoul, Raoul Gelabert's Anatomy for the Dancer,New York: Danad Publishing Co., 1966, p. 20Google Scholar.

11. Lulu Sweigard, p. 65.

12. Celia Sparger, p. 58.