I enjoy watching experts explain tips and pointers about their craft, even when it isn’t my field of expertise. It can be useful and thought-provoking to hear about how other artists think about how they approach their work.
There is something similar in the way professionals, be they dancers, painters, animators, craftspeople, stone carvers, or scientists, think about their skills and professions.
Here, Svetlana Todinova of the Moscow Ballet walks us through what we all need to become ballerinas. As an animator and someone who thinks about drawing gestures, I find her discussion of muscles, weight, and posing to be very interesting and useful.
She’s talking to dancers. If we go back at watch Glen Keane talk about animation, or Donald Fagan talk about chords, there is a similar seriousness that comes from years of study.
While I doubt I’ll become a ballerina, some of the exercises do look like fun, and it’s always good to practice balance.
Keep your shoulders down!
posturing
It seems like knowing the basic ballet positions is a good thing. I know the basic five positions from long ago, but some of the additional sweeps and moves were new to me.
Her posture is something else, eh? And her hand movements are quite graceful, even when she’s just gesticulating.