Variations on the 8-8, 4-4, 2-2, 1-1 Pattern

Here are some quick options to spice up this traditional pattern. NOTE: I know that many teachers do 1-1-1-1 in this pattern to work on quick weight shift and in all of these patterns, you can easily remove the plié and replace with two additional dégagés. I switched to doing 1-1, plié several years ago when a young dancer pointed out that 1-1-1-1 didn't fit the pattern. I couldn't help but acknowledge and reward her seven year old cleverness!

Traditional pattern:
Prep: 1st position en face
8 Dégagé right, 8 left
4 Dégagé right, 4 left
2 Dégagé right, 2 left
1 Dégagé right, 1 left
Plié
Repeat on the second side

Prep: 5th position en face
8 Dégagé devant, 8 à la seconde changing 5th with the inside foot
4 Dégagé à la seconde changing with the outside foot, 4 dégagé à la seconde changing with the inside foot
2 Dégagé devant, 2 dégagé à la seconde changing with the inside foot
1 Dégagé devant, 1 dégagé à la seconde changing with the inside foot
Plié
Reverse starting derrière

NOT SHOWN:
Prep: 5th position en face
8 Dégagé devant, 8 à la seconde changing 5th with the inside foot
4 Dégagé devant, 4 dégagé à la seconde changing with the inside foot
2 Dégagé devant, 2 dégagé à la seconde changing with the inside foot
1 Dégagé devant, 1 dégagé à la seconde changing with the inside foot
Plié
Reverse starting derrière

Prep: 1st position en face
8 Dégagé devant right, 8 dégagé devant left
4 Dégagé à la seconde right, 4 dégagé à la seconde left
2 Dégagé derrière right, 2 left dégagé derrière left
1 Dégagé à la seconde right, 1 dégagé à la seconde left
Plié
Reverse starting derrière

Prep: 5th position en face
8 Dégagé devant, 8 derrière with the inside foot
4 Dégagé à la seconde changing with the outside foot, 4 dégagé derrière with the inside foot
2 Dégagé à la seconde changing with the outside foot, , 2 dégagé derrière with the inside foot
1 Dégagé à la seconde changing with the outside foot, 1 dégagé devant with the inside foot
Plié
Reverse starting derrière

NOT SHOWN:
8 Dégagé devant, 8 derrière with the inside foot
4 Dégagé à la seconde changing with the outside foot, 4 dégagé derrière with the inside foot
2 Dégagé devant, , 2 dégagé derrière with the inside foot
1 Dégagé à la seconde changing with the outside foot, 1 dégagé devant with the inside foot
Plié
Reverse starting derrière

Prep: 5th position en face
8 Dégagé devant
4 Dégagé à la seconde changing with the outside foot
2 Dégagé devant
1 Dégagé à la seconde changing with the outside foot, 1 dégagé devant with the inside foot
Plié
Reverse starting derrière

Sauté/Petit Allegro (Int/Adv)

This is my favorite petit allegro this month!  The pattern is just tricky enough for intermediate dancers and you can easily add beats or increase the tempo for advanced dancers.  The best part of this pattern is that your body feels great doing it. It flows well and has good movement.

Although this pattern isn't terribly tricky, I find that dancers have to really think about it.

Prep: 5th position en face, right foot devant

Sauté to 1st
Sauté to 5th, right foot derrière
Sauté to 2nd
Sauté to 5th, right foot devant
(1st, 5th, 2nd, 5th - I find that dancers struggle a little with this pattern because it doesn't repeat 1st and 5th and 1st and 5th like they might anticipate)

Sauté échappé to 4th, right foot devant
to 2nd
to 4th, left foot devant
to 5th, left foot devant

glissade simple toward stage right (maintaining left foot devant)
jeté onto the right foot
glissade simple toward stage left (maintaining right foot devant)
jeté onto the left foot

assemblé closing the right foot devant
soubresaut traveling forward
assemblé closing the left foot devant
soubresaut traveling forward

Repeat the entire pattern to the left.

Figure 8 Skips (4-6 Year Olds)

Once your dancers have learned how to skip, figure 8 Skips are a great way to practice this skill with your students.  This is a great activity for 4-6 year old dancers and even 7 year old dancers continue to enjoy it.

Keep in mind that this pattern is tricky!  It may take a few tries before your dancers become confident with the pattern.

Preparation:  Place three mats in the center of the room and line the dancers up in sets of 3 facing the mats.  Have students repeat the pattern:  "in front, behind, in front, behind."  If you have a white board, draw the pattern for the dancers to see, saying "in front, behind" as you draw the lines.  Each dancer will skip in front of one dancer, behind the next, in front of that dancer, and behind the original dancer before returning to their mat.

Dancer 1                   Dancer 3                   Dancer 2

Exercise:

Dancers skip to the mats and stop facing forward.

Dancer 1 (on the outisde - closest to the mirror in the video) skips in front of dancer 3, behind dancer 2, in front of dancer 2, behind dancer 3 and back to her starting spot.

Dancer 2 (on the opposite end - closest to the windows in the video) skips in front of dancer 3, behind dancer 1, in front of dancer 1, behind dancer 3 and back to her starting spot.

Dancer 3 (in the center) skips in front of dancer 1, behind dancer 1, crosses over her own spot, in front of dancer 2, behind dancer 2 and back to her starting spot.

All the dancers skip forward to the opposite end of the floor.

Waltz Preparation (3-4 Year Olds)

You might think your 3 and 4 Year olds aren't ready to waltz but give them a context and they will love learning the basics! 

These dancers are in our 3 year old program and are trying this activity for the first time so I spent a couple of minutes providing a context for their actions.  I tell them that I was there late last night and the invisible spiders were out all over the studio.  The invisible spiders love bright colors so they crawl right on top of my mats.  By asking the dancers to help me squish the invisible spiders, I can achieve the big bend needed for a basic waltz.  I also tell them that we have to be sneaky when approaching the next spot so we need to go on our tiptoes. 

When they get a little bit older, I can take the spots away and just concentrate on the down, up, up of the waltz.  Once they master the pattern without the spots (usually in the 4 year old year), we work on squishing more quietly and smoothing out the quality of the movement and varying our tempo (in the 5 year old program).

These dancers did a great job alternating their bends on the first try.  If your dancers don't pick up on the alternating pattern on the first try, don't worry.  They will get better after a few weeks of practice.

Battement Piqué (Beg Ballet)

A simple and fun battement piqué to do at the barre with your beginning ballet students.  The pattern is just tricky enough to be a challenge and the dancers will feel accomplished when they get it.

This exercise is great for learning to shift weight and really helps to warm the hips before rond de jambe.  All of my classes from beginning to advanced are doing variations of this combination this month:  the beginners are working on their piqué and patterning, the intermediate level is working at a faster tempo, and my advanced dancers are loving how warm they feel after two repetitions of this combo.

Prep: 1st position, facing the barre

Battement piqué en croix for 6 cts (front, side, back, side, front, side)
Close 1st

Battement piqué à la seconde and close first with the right foot, repeat with the left foot
Double piqué à la seconde and close first with the right foot, repeat with the left foot

Repeat the whole pattern starting left.
Reverse the whole pattern beginning with the right foot derrière

Petit Allegro (Int/Adv)

A great petit allegro for quick footwork and endurance!  Introduce it all at once in an advanced class or one part at a time in an intermediate.

Emphasize good 5th positions and precise feet.  I tell my dancers not to mumble with their feet to get this point across.

Prep: 5th position en face, right foot derrière

Glissade simple to the right, assemblé landing right foot devant
Glissade simple to the left, assemblé landing with the left foot devant
Glissade simple to the right, assemblé landing right foot devant
2 pas de chat traveling left

Glissade simple to the left, assemblé landing with the left foot devant
Glissade simple to the right, assemblé landing right foot devant
Glissade simple to the left, assemblé landing with the left foot devant
2 pas de chat traveling right

3 sissonne changé traveling left, assemblé closing the left foot derrière
3 sissonne changé traveling right, assemblé closing the right foot derrière

1 sissonne changé traveling left, assemblé closing the left foot derrière
1 sissonne changé traveling right, assemblé closing the right foot derrière
1 sissonne changé traveling left, assemblé closing the left foot derrière

Sous-sus

Repeat the entire pattern to the left.

Partner Waltz (5-7 Year Olds)

In this combination, we're working on Temps lié and waltz with a partner.  Depending on the age group, you'll focus on different levels of technique with this exercise.  The dancers featured in the video are 5 Year Olds taking their first try at this combo and we'll continue to refine their technique through the rest of the month.  If I were starting this with 7 Year Olds, I would focus more on the stretch of the foot on each side of the temps lié, the shape of the foot in the curtsey, and being more exact with the waltz circles.  As you can see from the video, my 5s had a great time with this combination!

Prep:  Divide dancers into partners and space the groups out in the center of the room.  Hand the stage left dancer in each pair a scarf to hold in his/her inside hand.  Both dancers stretch their inside foot forward.

Combination:

Stage left dancer performs a temps lié forward (both arms lifting to allongé), backward (arms lowering to demi-second), forward (arms lifting to allongé), curtsey by pulling the back/outside foot in to meet the front (opening both arms to second position), passing the scarf to the stage right partner's inside hand

Stage right dancer repeats the same movements and passes the scarf to the stage left dancer's inside hand.

Stage left dancer performs a temps lié toward his/her partner (reaching both arms long to the same side of the room), away from his/her partner (arms reaching toward the same side of the room), temps lié toward his/her partner (reaching both arms long to the same side of the room), bringing the outside foot in back to curtsey (opening the arms to second), passing the scarf to the stage right partner.

Stage right dancer repeats the same movements (toward, away, toward, curstey) and passes the scarf back to the stage left dancer.

Stage left dancer does three simple waltz steps in a circle turning away from his/her partner (bending on the left foot, 2 tiptoes, bending on the right foot, 2 tiptoes, bending on the left foot, 2 tiptoes) and a demi plié passing the scarf to the stage right dancer.

Stage right dancer does three simple waltz steps in a circle turning away from his/her partner (bending on the right foot, 2 tiptoes, bending on the left foot, 2 tiptoes, bending on the right foot, 2 tiptoes) and a demi plié passing the scarf to the stage left dancer.

Stage left dancer circles in front and around his/her partner doing the same 3 waltz steps and a demi plié pattern to pass the scarf to the stage right dancer.

Stage right dancer circles in front and around his/her partner doing the same 3 waltz steps and demi plié pattern to pass the scarf back to the stage left dancer.

Grand Allegro (Int/Adv Ballet)

This Grand Allegro is perfect for intermediate dancers but fun for advanced dancers as well.  While the pattern is not overly difficult, it has great movement for older dancers and requires attention to detail for younger dancers.

With intermediate dancers, emphasize the softer quality of the arms as a contrast to the quicker, sharper footwork.  For added difficulty with advanced dancers (or after several practices with intermediate dancers), have the next dancer start after the previous dancer's first pas de chat.

Prep:  Beginning right foot in B+ (attitude à terre)

Combination: Tombé pas de bourrée, glissade, pas de chat (to the right)

Tombé pas de bourrée, glissade, pas de chat (to the left)

3 Temps levé en arabesque (R, L, R), 1 temps levé en retirée derrière (L)

Tombé, pas de bourrée, glissade, saut de chat

Travel Turn (Int w/ Adv variation)

Here is a nice traveling turn combination for your intermediate dancers.  The components are simple enough for the intermediate level, but you can easily adjust this combo to an advanced class by taking the last four piqué as turns en manège.

With intermediate dancers, I like to emphasize the slightly uneven timing of the soutenu.  I also help them focus on the spotting of the section that will one day become en manège by teaching these four non-turning piqué as a box shape.  The dancer performs the piqué to each corner of the box while also spotting in that direction.  It's a great preparation for one day turning en manège.

Prep:  Stretching the right foot à la quatrième devant.

Combination: 

2 Piqué Turns

2 Soutenu Turns

1 Piqué Turn, 1 SoutenuTurn, 1 Piqué Turn, 1 Soutenu Turn

4 Piqué without turning, one to each corner of the dancer's imaginary box

Piqué into 1st Arabesque

2 steps en avant to tendu the left foot à la quatrième devant

Repeat to the left

Petit Allegro (Ballet 2/Ages 8-9 /Center or Traveling)

A great little petit allegro for your second year ballet students.  Notice that there is a preparation for a glissade emphasizing the slide to plié and a moment's hesitation in the fifth position to reinforce good placement.  A good mix of fast and slow, this exercise also helps little dancers work on timing and accuracy.

You can do this as shown in the center or take out the rond de jambe and keep repeating the first half of the pattern to travel it.

Prep:  Beginning in 5th position with the right foot derrière.

Combination:  Tendu the right foot à la seconde (count 1), shift the weight onto the right foot stretching the left (count 2), slide the left foot into 5th while performing a plié on the right foot (counts 3-4).

Glissade (count 5), hold the 5th (count 6).

Pas de chat (count 7), hold the 5th (count 8).

Tendu the right foot à la seconde (count 1), shift the weight onto the right foot stretching the left (count 2), slide the left foot into 5th while performing a plié on the right foot (counts 3-4).

Chassé en avant to tendu the right foot derrière (counts 5-6).

Temps lié through fourth position plié to tendu the left foot devant (count 7).

Close the left foot to 5th (count 8).

Repeat the entire pattern replacing the temps lié through fourth with a rond de jambe en dedans closing the right foot in the front to travel left. (counts 7-8 of the repeat)

Partner Gallops (Ages 5-8 / Traveling)

Galloping comes naturally to most little dancers, which makes it great for practicing other skills like rhythm, patterns, pathways, spatial relationships, and partnering.  Here's a quick traveling combo that targets patterning, spatial relationships, and partnering, while still being a lot of fun for the dancers. 

Rating:  Very challenging for 5/6 Year Olds (expect them to perfect it over the period of a month), Moderately difficult for 7/8 Year Olds (good review and can be mastered in a single class).

Prep:  Line your dancers up to travel across the floor.  Each dancer holds a partner's inside hand with the outside hand on his/her hip.  Each dancer stretches his/her inside foot to the front (the foot closest to the partner).  Dancers will switch feet after every two gallops.

Combination:  Gallop front, front, side, side, back, back, and turn away from your partner to return to your original setup. Repeat.

Breakdown:  Two forward gallops with their inside feet and holding inside hands.

Two sideways gallops holding both hands and bellies facing each other (dancers will be leading with the foot that used to be the "outside" foot).

Two backward gallops holding inside hands and using the outside foot.  Dancers let go with one hand and turn backwards so that their bellies are facing the remaining dancers in line. 

Letting go of hands, turn away from your partner (bellies toward the outer walls), grab inside hands and stretch inside feet to restart.

Check out the video above for a demo of how I explained this combination to my 5 year olds.  - Please excuse my wiggly worms.  It was the week of Halloween :)