Plisetskaya’s jump
By popular demand, I’m going to try to explain Plisetskaya’s jumping ability as shown in a recent open thread.
Here’s the video again:
You won’t see other women in ballet jumping like that. You’ll see a few men getting that kind of height, but not women. But Plisetskaya was undoubtedly a woman – and quite a woman – and she could jump like that. How did she do it?
Some of it cannot be explained, like all greatness. But there’s quite a bit that can be explained about her superior jumping ability, and it boils down to strength and what’s known in ballet as attack.
You can find plenty of instructional videos on the basics of the step, which is called grand jeté en tournant (see for example this one). But they won’t tell you much about what Plisetskaya did to create such a dramatic effect.
Why could Plisetskaya do this and almost no other ballet dancers – except quite a few men, who don’t tend to kick the preparation leg up so high at the end? Plisetskaya had a very unusual combination of flexibility and strength, even among dancers, who must have both. Most female dancers today sacrifice jumping strength to flexibility. They are very hyper-flexible and develop that flexibility even further – to the detriment of the beauty of their lines, I think, although today’s audiences seem to love and require it. But that emphasis weakens their jumps and also slows them down. Ballet dancers today generally have more trouble moving fast than olden-day dancers.
They also have different body shapes and proportions. They are longer and thinner, more ectomorphic than mesomorphic. You will notice that Plisetskaya is slender but not very thin, and her limbs – though longish – are not very long. Simply put, she has a more normal body type than today’s female ballet dancers. She carries more strength and bulk in the all-important jumping muscles of the glutes and thighs, more like a man although she’s all woman. She was a ballet dancer with unusual sex appeal, but she never was the fragile type.
And she had the preparation of an athlete in terms of what this man explains with the example of the javelin thrower. Plisetskaya covers a tremendous amount of ground in her set-up steps. Boy, does she move, and there’s nothing delicate about it. That gives her tremendous lift because of her momentum. It’s partly a matter of timing in addition to strength.
Take a look at his tutorial on how to do the step, and I think you’ll see how it relates to what Plisetskaya does, although he doesn’t mention her (plus, I would say that all of her preparation steps are very big and strong, not just the last one or two):
I know nothing about dance but I’ve long been a casual observer of what physical traits translate to various athletic feats.
Plisetskaya has powerful glutes (more important for leaping than quads). She has great flexibility which enables longer “windups” and—this is often overlooked—means her antagonistic muscles aren’t negating each other.
She probably has a higher proportion of fast twitch muscle fibers than most dancers do. That’s a hidden advantage that can’t be seen.
Her technique and timing are undoubtedly excellent.
I’ll guess her impeccable technique, indeed the ideal technique, gives the illusion of more height than is actually achieved.
Plisetskaya was one of a kind, truly amazing. I came here with no background in dance. Thank you for introducing me to the brilliance of her genius.
In chess the USSR had an amazing system for locating young talent, then training them up for the big time. The Soviet School of Chess.
The faults of the USSR were numerous, but the Soviet School was quite the chess machine. The Soviets dominated world chess for decades
From what I gather, the Soviets did something similar with ballet, though I don’t know how that worked.
Why could Plisetskaya do this and almost no other ballet dancers – except quite a few men…
–neo
So how did Pilsetskaya come up with such a remarkable female version of the grand jeté en tournant?
Was there a special teacher, did Pilsetskaya figure it out for herself?
BTW, in French “grand” more usually means “large,” “great,” or “big.” However, here Google Translate informs me:
_______________________________
grand jeté en tournant — wide throw while turning
_______________________________
Not sure if that means much.
huxley says,
grand jeté en tournant — wide throw while turning
_______________________________
Not sure if that means much.”
Wide throw while turning? It’s Tug McGraw striking out Willie Wilson to win the 1980 World Series for the Phillies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR_SLHpa0wc&ab_channel=ThisDayInBaseball
Sorry, couldn’t resist– the best baseball players also resemble ballet dancers in some of their moves.
PA+Cat:
One thing I notice is that the French are always jeté something. As in Françoise Hardy’s song:
–Francoise Hardy, “J’ai jeté mon coeur — I threw my heart away” (1962)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJS7o4DabXg
It’s a prescient song for today. It’s about a young woman who has played the field too long and now she worries her heart no longer knows how to love.
Aimer vraiment
PS. I’m pretty sure that’s Jimmy Page (pre-Led Zeppelin) playing guitar behind her.
I love ballet. This jump is magnificent.
The last ballet I attended was the troupe Shen Yun, although it is not probably considered classic ballet.
It was fun, and I recommend attending when they come to your neck of the woods.
Erronius
Thanks for that, Neo. Interesting from the second video that momentum is a primary factor.
That makes the Plisetskaya video even more impressive, as she does three in a row, one after another. I’d think each instance of the grand jete would use up the momentum, so she has to start over again each time to build up the necessary momentum for the next one.
I’ve noticed in my checkered study of sports and the arts — when someone does something special or outstanding, there’s a story behind it.
huxley–
I suspect the French would like to jeter M. Macron tout de suite . . .
What I find most impressive was her perfect body control, enabling an athleticism of exceptional grace.
I love these ballet videos! I always learn something.
Fantastic.
The People Have Spoken!
Neo, I’d like to hear how you might compare/contrast ballet with figure skating in general, and jumps in particular. Figure skaters have much more speed coming into a jump, and if they’re able to translate that horizontal speed into vertical lift it is pretty impressive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZjhUBHSQWM
” Francoise Hardy, “J’ai jeté mon coeur — I threw my heart away” (1962) ”
So who’s gonna write, “J’ai jeté mon pays” ?
(Probably have to be a real group effort…)
– – – – – – – – – – –
Here’s a fascinating article (a “game-changer”, in fact):
“Neurologist’s Near-Death Experience Changes His Understanding Of Consciousness” —
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/neurologists-near-death-experience-changes-his-understanding-consciousness
Wonder which pharmaceutical company will be the first to mass market NDEs?
Of course that might just be the rationale behind President Fentanyl’s (or President Tranq’s, for that matter) drive to Make Addiction Great Again…
+ Bonus:
Governor Unwholesom desperately trying to prove that he’s truly, madly, deeply presidential material…
“After Fostering Cesspool Of Crime, Gavin Newsom Finally Gets Serious About Fentanyl In San Francisco”—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/after-fostering-cesspool-crime-gavin-newsom-finally-gets-serious-about-fentanyl
NDEs, continued
Bacterial Girl trying to show us a way through?
“Madonna ‘burnt herself out’ trying to compete with younger stars like Taylor Swift: report”—
https://nypost.com/2023/07/01/madonna-burnt-herself-out-competing-with-younger-stars-like-taylor-swift-report/
– – – – – – – – – – –
Meanwhile, an excellent week for Abu “SmartestGuyIKnow”…
‘ “The Hypocrisy is Stunning”: Biden’s Displays Stunning Denial Psychosis Over Student Loans ‘—
https://jonathanturley.org/2023/07/01/the-hypocrisy-is-stunning-bidens-displays-stunning-denial-psychosis-over-student-loans/
“FALSE HOPE? Biden Gives Truly Awful Response to Reporter Asking the Obvious About His Student Loan ‘Forgiveness’ “—
https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/06/30/i-didnt-give-any-false-hope-biden-lies-through-his-teeth-on-student-loan-forgiveness/
“State Department had no clear leadership during Afghanistan withdrawal, report concludes”—
https://justthenews.com/world/middle-east/state-department-had-no-clear-leadership-during-afghanistan-withdrawal-report
‘Biden Defends Afghanistan Withdrawal: “I Was Right” ‘—
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/06/30/biden_defends_afghanistan_withdrawal_i_said_the_taliban_would_get_rid_of_al_qaeda_i_was_right.html
“Hunter Biden: How The MSM Buried One Of The Stories Of The Century”—
https://blazingcatfur.ca/2023/07/02/hunter-biden-how-the-msm-buried-one-of-the-stories-of-the-century/
+ Bonus:
” ‘It was a cross between Mad Max and 28 Days Later’: British soldiers reveal scenes of mayhem as they destroyed equipment worth billions to stop it falling into enemy hands as Kabul fell to the Taliban;
‘ Footage shows destroyed helicopters, vehicles, and swathes of abandoned kit
Troops attack equipment with sledgehammers and spear cars with forklifts ‘—
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12253791/British-soldiers-reveal-scenes-mayhem-destroyed-equipment-worth-billions-Kabul-fell.html
File under: Descent Joe….
The only thing I know about ballet is how to spell it. Do dancers have strength coaches and trainers?
Tutorial, not so good. Tried it over and over and over with disappointing results.
Baryshnikov’s jump has always thrilled me. Here is a link to his warm up for the famous jump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5AP33ygcKY
Re: The Wagner “coup” and Putin
Here is another take on what really happened according to the writer of the article.
Who knows if she is right or wrong??
https://www.newsweek.com/wagner-coup-was-staged-putin-west-fell-it-opinion-1810035
Funny Fullmoon. Thanks Anne for that Baryshinikov clip. I think I’d seen that ages ago, but it’s very impressive. I like those first jumps of increasing height. The knees aren’t bending much, but there is a lot of arm movement, though you can’t see it very clearly in the video. Calf strength?
I started cycling seriously in my early teen years, and I had read about what some had called “ankling” in the cycling cadence. You can’t get a lot of energy or power out of your calf and shin muscles compared to the major leg muscles, but they are important especially for the faster spinning of the pedals or cranks. Calf muscles are quicker than quads or hamstrings. So most avid cyclists have strong calf muscles.
The preparation leg? Sounds like official jargon (which is highly valuable) but it seems opposite to what I would have guessed it meant.
I’ll use 1st leg up, and 2nd leg up. or 1st leg & 2nd leg.
Anyway, with neo’s help, I think I understand it all a little better. In the other thread, others had noticed that the 2nd leg doesn’t bend much before the full launch.
The key is that her whole body and especially the 1st leg has lots of forward momentum when she plants the 2nd leg. The 2nd leg heel stays firmly planted on the floor as the 1st leg rotates through the vertical position up to horizontal and then stops rotating. This converts forward momentum into vertical momentum. During that brief moment while that is happening, her effective body weight applied to the planted heel might be 150% to 200% of her normal body weight.
The calf muscles probably only account for a little of the lift. The arm swinging helps too, but maybe mostly for the back arch at the peak.
When I watch Plisetskaya jump, I do not see any reflection of the technique taught in the instructional video.
The instructor stated very clearly that beginning the sequence with a long step is taboo, but that is very clearly exactly what Plisetskaya does!
Ray Van Dune:
I pointed that difference out at the end of my post.
But the way in which his explanation pertains to what she is doing is in his emphasis on the strength of the run, especially the last step, and the attack involved in the run and how it must be athletic rather than delicate. Most ballet dancers don’t understand this about this step. Plisetskaya does.
Oopsie! How did I miss your very last sentence, neo? Pardon me please.
Ray Van Dune:
Speed reading. 🙂
I have been reading this morning about how Joe Biden has placed his “family” matters as off-limits in discussions with aides, and also speculation about AG Garland resigning.
This is worrisome. Biden would be bound to interpret a Garland resignation as an implicit admission of Hunter’s guilt, and Garland is weak enough to accede to a Biden demand to stay.
The Dems may well conclude that their best escape from the tightening noose is to incite some conservative reaction that will allow them to reprise January 6. I fear they are capable of almost anything in response to such a potentially existential threat as this has become!
Great – now we have three leaders of powerful countries who might be tempted to overreach to save their own skins! And whatever credit we grant Biden for being a non-dictator, we probably must take away for his feeble-mindedness!
@ JohnTyler > “Who knows if she is right or wrong??”
Most of the comments I read yesterday think she is bigly wrong.
This is the author: REBEKAH KOFFLER , PRESIDENT OF DOCTRINE & STRATEGY CONSULTING, FORMER DIA INTELLIGENCE OFFICER
Comments were sorted by “best” as measured by upvotes; WAAAAAYYY down the list are a few that sort of agree with Koffler.
@ Ray van Dune > “now we have three leaders of powerful countries who might be tempted to overreach to save their own skins”
I agree with much of your comment, but there are 2 leaders and an anonymous consortium “Biden Inc.” which gets zero credit for being a non-dictator to start with.
Not an engineer, here. But.
If I get the timing right, the First Leg Off The Floor is still going up when the jump starts, which would mean she isn’t lifting that part of her weight. It got going with a previous exertion. But it’s barely moving at that point, so it’s not a lot of momentum to overcome.
The…excuse me…back leg’s hugely graceful lift to the rear emphasizes height without actually affecting the distance from the floor of the…leg which makes the jump. I’m sure the dance biz has names for this.
While it’s immensely athletic, the grace and timing add to the effect of height.
Says the guy who can stand still without falling over.
“…non-dictator…”?
Make that “…non-non-dictator…” (or if one IS a bit squeamish in that regard, then “poppet figurehead of the Democratic Party Politburo”)…
“…bigly wrong…”
Gotta take into account, though, that there is a WHOLE LOTTA theater going on—in DC, in Moskva and in Beijing (but not only there, certainly).
Not exactly theater of the absurd, either…though there’s more than enough of that.
(More theater of the big coverup…in anticipation of the “big bang”.)
What worries me (in my not so rare moments of hysteria and despair) is that all three powers will decide to coordinate, timing wise—or should that be “continue their coordination”?—so that we’ll see the Russia vs. Ukraine, China vs. Taiwan, and Iran vs. Israel “shows” go off all at once in a spectacular extravaganza of deadly fireworks (a kind of UBER-distraction on three fronts!—Which would be the perfect cover for the “Biden” vs. USA theater of war to take off)…. But then let’s hope I have a truly over-active, and ABSURD—make that INSANE?—imagination….
I just want to say that I’ve been watching these clips over and over in the past couple of days. The beauty and grace — and the impression that the dancer can overcome, seemingly without effort, the limitations of weight, clumsiness, reality and, maybe, sadness? that hamper the rest of us — bring such peace to my heart.
Mrs Whatsit:
Here is the documentary from which that Plisetskaya clip is taken. You might enjoy it.