French For Dancers: Petit Battement
French For Dancers
Demystifying dance terminology and steps for dancers and dance-lovers!
Issue 27: Petit Battement
Bonjour! Welcome to French For Dancers
Parlez-Vous Ballet?
(Do you speak Ballet?)
PETIT BATTEMENT
(peh-tee bat-tuh-mon)
Petit is an adjective, meaning little.
Pronunciation note: the “t” is silent on the end of the word petit, unless there’s an “e” added to it (with a feminine noun, or as we use it in English to refer to a smaller, “petite,” size). Here, it goes with the masculine noun battement, so there’s no added “e.” The plural is petits battements, and the “s” is also silent on both words.
Battement can mean either a beat, or a repeated movement, like a heartbeat. (This “t” is also silent!)
In this case, petit battement is a small movement where the working foot “beats” to the front and back of the ankle.
This step is sometimes known as petit battement battu (little beaten beat) or battement battu (beaten beat).
The working leg begins in sur le cou-de-pied (or coupé), with the working foot placed either in front or behind the supporting leg’s ankle. This can either be done with a “relaxed” foot, with the ball of the foot and toes on the ground and an arched foot (found in Cecchetti barre exercises) or, quite commonly, with a pointed foot off the ground.
Keeping the upper thigh of the lifted leg as stabilized and still as possible, the foot quickly switches from front to back, opening out slightly to the side before it moves to the opposite side of the ankle. The knee does not fully extend, nor does it rotate forward or backward.
This step should be learned slowly, for precision of the movement and foot positions. As students advance, they will be challenged with faster petits battements, syncopated petits battements, and petits battements on relevé.
Savoir-Faire
(Know-How)
Student Tip:
Petit battement can also be done from the wrapped sur le cou-de-pied position. In this case, it moves from the wrapped front position to the back position, with the heel feeling like it’s the one moving around the ankle, rather than the toes.
As you move the lower leg back and forth, think of it as a small pendulum, swinging in and away from the leg. Keep the thigh still and relax the leg below the knee (as much as you can while still pointing the toes!).
As always, keep the standing leg stable and turned out, and don’t over-lean into this standing leg.
Teacher Tip:
Faster petits battements can be done in a regular rhythm or syncopated with an accent either to the front or back. For example, the pattern starting from the front could be: petit battement back, front, back, front, followed by a quick back-front, back-front, back-front. This helps students develop musicality, speed, and counting skills.
The petit battement is a great preparation for jumped beats in the center, as it trains the body and mind to keep the working foot moving quickly close to the supporting leg without changing the turnout of the legs. It is a swing below the knee, not a can-can!
À La Carte
(From the Menu)
It’s currently snowing here in Connecticut, and if you find yourself with a half hour to spare, curl up under a blanket with a warm beverage and enjoy Sir Frederick Ashton’s short ballet Les Patineurs (The Skaters). It premiered in 1937 in London, with the Vic-Wells Ballet (which would later become The Royal Ballet) and is a delightful depiction of Victorian-era skaters enjoying an afternoon on a frozen pond.
Here is a link to a Royal Ballet production, featuring current and former principal dancers Sarah Lamb, Rupert Pennefather, and Stephen McRae, among others:
Merci!
(Thank you!)
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- Peggy