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Plies in a Ballet Class
A ballet class is made up of around sixteen individual exercises. About half them are done employing a balance barre and the remainder are performed in the middle of the room. Therefore, the two divisions of the ballet class are called barre and center.
Ballet classes start out with an exercise called plies, which is needed to warm up the large muscles of the leg and increase muscle flexibility. As with almost all of the other exercises that use the barre, plies provide a foundation, and develop the support and balance needed for the more complex exercises.
The music that is employed for plie exercises is performed at a slow or moderate tempo and is often very melodic, characterized by a lush, romantic flavor that strongly moves toward the ends of the phrases to clearly indicate the changeup points of the exercise.
Plies are played with a method known commonly as a "wide-beat," meaning that the sound of the base consumes all the space available for the downbeat and a little more on each side. To explain, the notes of the base are played a bit ahead of time and linger a little past their typical release point.
The goal of this playing technique is to make a restrained feel, which complements the muscle opposition the dancers are feeling and also keeps the tempo restrained and under control and gets rid of any inclination the dancers usually have to rush. The wide-beat effect can be acheived in a number of ways. As an example, the base octaves can be played with arpeggiation by anticipating the beat with a grace note.
It's also effective when playing a plie exercise for ballet class to use a conversational phrasing that pushes and pulls rather than staying ina strict tempo. This gives the impression the music is repeating a comment, and by adding and varying the material it gives a particularly effective directional sense and expansion to the music.
Ballet classes start out with an exercise called plies, which is needed to warm up the large muscles of the leg and increase muscle flexibility. As with almost all of the other exercises that use the barre, plies provide a foundation, and develop the support and balance needed for the more complex exercises.
The music that is employed for plie exercises is performed at a slow or moderate tempo and is often very melodic, characterized by a lush, romantic flavor that strongly moves toward the ends of the phrases to clearly indicate the changeup points of the exercise.
Plies are played with a method known commonly as a "wide-beat," meaning that the sound of the base consumes all the space available for the downbeat and a little more on each side. To explain, the notes of the base are played a bit ahead of time and linger a little past their typical release point.
The goal of this playing technique is to make a restrained feel, which complements the muscle opposition the dancers are feeling and also keeps the tempo restrained and under control and gets rid of any inclination the dancers usually have to rush. The wide-beat effect can be acheived in a number of ways. As an example, the base octaves can be played with arpeggiation by anticipating the beat with a grace note.
It's also effective when playing a plie exercise for ballet class to use a conversational phrasing that pushes and pulls rather than staying ina strict tempo. This gives the impression the music is repeating a comment, and by adding and varying the material it gives a particularly effective directional sense and expansion to the music.
About the Author:
This essay is presented compliments of Gaylord Pannitron. For some examples of plie music you can visit Ballet Class Music and hear free examples composed by composer/pianist/dancer Don Caron from his First Class Album series of ballet class music.
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