[IN-STUDIO] port de bras + épaulement workshop
[IN-STUDIO] port de bras + épaulement workshop
The use of arms and hands (port de bras), and direction/angles of head, neck, eyes, shoulders and upper body (épaulement).
Saturday 6 July 11am-12pm
225 Swan Street, Richmond.
Who is this workshop best for: adult ballet students (all levels) who are really interested in learning the finer details of ballet.
This workshop idea came about because I did a post about how in ballet school, we are taught to always ‘mark the arms and head/upper body full out’, when standing at the side while the other group is dancing. Or when marking before doing an exercise. But you don’t have to do the legs full out.
I also mentioned that my adult students could do this if they are ever slightly injured or something and can’t use their legs to full capacity in ballet class. As it is actually super beneficial to focus on just your arms, head and upper body in class.
Obviously this doesn’t mean the legs aren’t important. But in my opinion, arms/port de bras, head, eyes, neck, shoulders, épaulement is the most important thing in ballet. You could have the most amazing feet in the world and extensions up near your ears, but if there’s nothing going on on top, then you’re not really ‘dancing’.
This workshop will be more of a ‘learning’ class. It will still be a physical activity class, but not so much ‘doing ballet exercises one after the other.’ It will be all about learning the details. And I will likely need to spend lots of time adjusting each person’s angles of their heads, directions of their shoulders, etc . Just teaching tiny little details like that!
We will learn and go over things like:
- Proper carriage of the arms and how to move your arms from one position to the other (that sounds basic, but actually I correct people on their arm positions in all my levels of classes each week)
- allongé: how to use it but not too excessively
- how to move your hands nicely, when fingers should be soft and when they should be elongated with a bit of energy
- directions of the shoulders in croisé, effacé, ecarté, arabesque, 4th arabesque, etc
- eyeline, where to look with your eyes in different positions
- following your hands with your eyes
- when to tilt your head, when not to tilt your head, which direction to tilt your head, in the different positions
- when to lower chin, when to lift chin
- use of upper back in devant and derriere at barre (Vaganova way)
- flat backs in forward port de bras
- upper back cambré, placement of head
- we will probably do the 6 Vaganova port de bras as they are a good way to practise all of this and put it all together
And then on top of all this, you are then able to add your own personal style to your ballet and dancing, and really dance!
Meet your teacher, Zara Lim
I trained full-time at the Australian Ballet School (ABS) under the guidance of Irina Konstantinova, Lisa Pavane, Tang Xiuyun and Wang Jiahong.
During my 4 years at ABS, I had the privilege to perform in Swan Lake Act II, in Leigh Rowles' Nutcracker, Coppélia and in Morning Melodies. I also had the opportunity to extra with the Australian Ballet.
However, instead of completing my studies at ABS, I decided to move into law. I hold a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts (Chinese, French) from La Trobe University. Over a 5-year period, I worked as a commercial litigation and intellectual property lawyer at both global and boutique law firms (K&L Gates and Aptum), and also served as associate to the honourable Associate Justice Efthim at the Supreme Court of Victoria.
In 2021, I came full circle and returned to my first love, ballet. As well as running my own adult ballet classes, I have taught ballet to children since 2022, first at the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet under director Christine Walsh AM, which is now Australian Academy of Classical Ballet, under directors Jenna Roberts and Joe Caley. I have completed my teacher training for junior levels under the Ballet Conservatoire syllabus (Russian Vaganova) and am also a qualified teacher for Progressing Ballet Technique (ballet-specific strength conditioning method).
I am passionate about teaching ballet to both adults and children, and bring well-rounded and varied life experience to my teaching! After many years away from ballet, I have very muchly rekindled my love for ballet, and train multiple times a week myself with Adrian Dimitrievitch and Sakura Shimizu. I find it meditative and believe everybody should be able to participate in ballet!
If you would like to view videos of me dancing so you can see who is going to teach you, as well as footage of the classes, I have plenty at instagram.com/zaramlim.
Terms and conditions
By participating in a Kwan Studio class, you agree and acknowledge the following terms and conditions:
a) Dance classes can involve risk of personal injury. While Kwan Studio takes all reasonable care in the conduct of its classes, it accepts no responsibility for injury or loss caused during the classes;
b) Online dance classes can involve risk of personal injury, and that risk is accentuated by participation outside the controlled environment of our own studios. While Kwan Studio takes all reasonable care in the conduct of its classes, it accepts no responsibility for injury or loss caused during the classes or whilst participants are participating in an online class session;
c) You or your legal guardian are responsible for ensuring that you are physically and medically fit for the class;
d) During the class you must take care at all times of your own personal safety; and
e) Students must not attempt a class, or any part of a routine, that is beyond their level of ability.
