Pliés, take-off and landing

Pliés in ballet are a very important part of training. Every ballet class begins with a plié and professional dancers will practice plie every day! But what makes this exercise so important? Plie does not just happen at the beginning of class it actually sneaks in throughout your ballet practice. If you think about any exercise you do in a ballet class, in most exercises you will find either a plie or a fondu (bending of the knees in a variety of positions).

One of the great uses of a plie is to cushion the landing of a jump and I often use the rhyme ‘bend at the end’ for helping dancers to remember to create a soft landing. But it’s not just bending at the end that helps to create a great jump….to get a lovely height on your jump you must also bend at the beginning (no rhyme here unfortunately but if anyone can think of one, I’m always open to ideas). Unbelievably pliés sneak into jumps twice in a very short space of time! Pliés also take centre stage at the very start of a pirouette where a dance will bend both knees just before taking a relevé. The plié provides the push into a relevé ready for that all important take-off.

So, as you can see pliés are really important and appear in a variety of movements in ballet. To practice a plié correctly you must make sure you work your turnout from the hip socket by squeezing the glutes and rotating the thighs in towards one another. As you bend, your spine should be kept erect and the coxyx should not pop out. When you get to the bottom of your plié don’t sit there for too long; make sure you keep moving back towards your start position. This movement should be resistant and oozy not quick and sharp. Keep practicing and remember you are always welcome to get in touch if you have any questions.