by Amy Brandt | Jun 13, 2025 | Pointe+, Technique, Training
A smoothly executed grand fouetté arabesque may look effortless to the untrained eye, but for dancers, this step can be immensely challenging. “It requires control, strong placement, and precise coordination,” says Nadège Hottier, artistic director of Premiere...
by Amy Brandt | Mar 3, 2025 | Pointe+, Technique, Training
For Christina Johnson, piqué arabesque is the step that most epitomizes ballet. “What other one encapsulates it, when you think of a photo of a ballerina? Arabesque! It says it all,” says Johnson, a former principal dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Complexions...
by Katie Slattery | Oct 18, 2024 | Pointe+, Technique, Training
Philip Neal was an 11-year-old student at Richmond Ballet School when a choreographer asked him to perform 16 brisés volés across the stage. “I hadn’t even learned how to do brisé, but I just tried it,” he says, laughing. Neal later became a principal dancer...
by Amy Brandt | May 10, 2024 | Pointe+, Technique, Training
There is nothing quite as beautiful as a smooth and perfectly cantilevered penché. “I love the idea of what penché represents,” says Alicia Graf Mack, dean and director of the dance division at The Juilliard School. “It is one of the largest iterations of a simple...
by Gavin Larsen | Dec 5, 2023 | Pointe+, Technique, Training
When Carolina Ballet Theatre dancer Marja’ Miller was 13, she hit a plateau. Although she’d always been super-motivated in class, she suddenly didn’t seem to be progressing as fast as she used to. Looking around, she saw her classmates advancing and getting more...
by Katie Slattery | Sep 27, 2022 | Technique
Gen Horiuchi, Saint Louis Ballet’s executive and artistic director, achieved the type of storied career many dancers dream of: After growing up in a ballet family in Japan (both of his parents were professional dancers), he won the Prix de Lausanne and was offered a...
by Katie Slattery | Dec 1, 2021 | Technique
As a dancer, former Orlando Ballet principal Katia Garza was a remarkable talent when it came to turning and jumping in a manège. She could make the Sugarplum Fairy’s piqué turns look effortless, and she was equally impressive when performing a circle of double sauts...
by Katie Slattery | Sep 2, 2021 | Technique
Some dancers may seem born to turn, but most of us spend years in the studio working to improve our pirouettes and fouettés. Is there a secret to turning well? Magaly Suárez, founder and artistic director of The Art of Classical Ballet in Pompano Beach, Florida, has...