It seems like such a small thing, really, that little second-place movement done at barre or in center.
But, no matter what type of concert dance technique you are studying (ballet, jazz, modern/contemporary), battement tendu — that’s the full name — is sure to make an appearance and with good reason!
A World Without Tendu
It is through tendu that dancers become conscious of directing and eventually expelling energy through a stretched (or pointed) foot. It is also where strength is developed in the foot for taking off and landing with cushion in jumps.
Without tendu (and its partner tendu jeté or dégagé) there would be no assemblé or grand jeté or entrechat quatre. Movements would lack the finish of a pointed foot and jumps would land awfully hard. But that’s not all that would be missing from classical or contemporary dance technique without tendu.
Though it may seem the working leg is the most important part of practicing tendu, you might be surprised to learn that the standing leg is equally critical.
Tendu is a dancer’s first experience standing on one leg (at least in a technical and conscientious way). It may not be instantly recognizable, but this is where preparation begins for poses like arabesque. Jazz and modern dancers practice tendu with both turned out and parallel rotation because they balance (or center themselves over a leg) in both turned out and parallel positions.
Tendu means stretched. The leg stretches to a point and then closes (that is the battement, or beating portion of the movement). In ballet and other dance forms, this stretched action (and the way the body reacts to it) is important preparation for just about everything, including rising to pointe, lifting, throwing, or balancing on a leg.
Who knew tendu was so important?
Your teachers. Maybe they haven’t always explained it this way but all those reasons above (and more) are why this little movement shows up in plenty of your barre and center exercises. So now that you are aware of its significance, let’s talk about…
What you can do to improve tendu.
Weight Shift – Standing Leg
Do This: As the working leg leaves its home base (1st or 5th position) there is a subtle, nearly undetectable shift of weight to one leg. During this shift…
- Maintain the turnout of your leg. If you feel strain and the need to decrease turnout in the standing leg as you shift your weight, reevaluate your turnout while standing on both legs, you may be over-rotating or forcing turnout.
- Balance your weight equally over the three points of the foot.
- Keep all 5 toes on the floor and be careful not to pronate or roll-in.
- When closing the tendu (especially when repeating), be aware of your weight. If you are lingering or leaning over the standing leg, you may be lifting your working hip and/or not properly creating resistance between the foot and floor in your tendu (more on that in a moment).
Imagine This: Imagine pouring your weight like sand into the standing leg, rather than dumping it all at once. Imagine your standing leg as a barbershop pole with stripes moving upward and wrapping outward to keep the rotation in your leg. And I like this one, courtesy Eric Franklin’s Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance
Weight Shift – Disengaging the Working Leg
Do This: Create resistance between the foot and the floor. This is less forceful than a press but does require some directed energy through the leg and foot. Articulate (or “work through”) the foot – peeling off the heel, ball, and finally stretching through the toes (also articulating in the reverse). Keep the toes long, there is no weight on the toe and you should be able to lift the leg from here without further shifting onto the standing leg.
Imagine This: Imagine the relatively light/easy press and bend of a paint brush that allows the painter to evenly distribute paint but still glide the brush smoothly. Imagine a layer of velvet or velour beneath your foot and enjoy the feeling of your foot moving through the plush carpet, leaving a trail in the fibers as the foot moves outward and returns. Imagine light or streaming air radiating from the hip and out through the toe, as well as upward and out through the top of the head.
The Hip Joint
Do This: Maintain rotation in both legs and keep the hips level and “quiet” with no extraneous movement.
Imagine This: Imagine a horizontal line between the sitz bones that stays level, as well as lines dangling from the sitz bones straight into the floor. Imagine that your flesh and muscles have disappeared and your skeleton is doing a tendu — picture the femur moving easily forward, back, or side in the acetabulum (socket). Imagine the ball joint of a pen holder – the holder portion (the leg) has freedom to move all over but the socket (the hip) is still.
For additional thoughts, check out Dianne’s blow-by-blow of battement tendu at Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes.
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In dance technique some of the most important movements are found at the start of the class or ballet barre. They help to warm up the body, yes, but these are also the base upon which all other movements are built.
Tendu and plié are two movements we often take for granted as we learn them so early in our dancing life. The above suggestions are certainly not ALL of the things to be considered in battement tendu but they are more than enough to think about right now.
What corrections do you typically receive from your teacher during battement tendu?
Can you share any images or advice that have helped you master this important movement?
Nichelle (owner/editor)
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During battement tendu, my teacher usually tells me to keep my hips forward and squared, so the hips part helped a lot!
I’m glad, Dance Lover! Let me know if there is anything else you’d like to see covered here.
Balanchine was really big on tendu. So am I! I agree–it is the preparation for everything, and I like to do teach them slow, medium and fast. Learning to do all tempos in all directions will help ready the dancer for the demands of centre work.
Nice piece Nichelle!
I would have to agree with Mr. B… and Ms. C 🙂 Thanks, Catherine!
Thanks so much for this article Nichelle. Tendu is one of the the most important building blocks of dance technique – so I love that you have focused on this basic element of all dance forms. I appreciate the suggested visual imagry and will certainly incorporate these in my teaching. Sometimes as educators & teachers, we slip into a rut of explaining a step the same way – over, and over. These fresh and new ideas may just reach out to help a student who has been struggling with the concept. Congrats!
Very true Diana! I love discovering “new” ways of looking at the same old issues. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Great article! I love what you said about the standing leg. It’s so true! Especially to the back when all your hips want to do is sway back. And, your feet get so strong from all the accents and stretching.
Thanks! 🙂 It can not be emphasized enough how important tendu is for strengthening the feet! Skimp on the tendu and you are missing a great opportunity!
Thanks for the information especially about the standing leg and even weight distribution on the standing foot. My students were at a convention and were told to significantly shift their weight over the supporting foot. I was trained to do as your article suggests, but since they heard it from a “famous” person, the info is hard to negate. Thanks again for confirming my teaching philosophy.
Hi Kim, thanks for your comment. I’m wondering if you were present for the “famous” person’s instruction? The weight should certainly be distributed to the standing leg (I mean, if you’re going to disengage the other leg it’s got to be a complete shift). However, making it a particularly noticeable shift (as in leaning) seems like a strange instruction (unless perhaps this was the desired affect choreographically as opposed to technically). Giving benefit of the doubt, I’m just wondering if the advice was somehow misinterpreted. Thanks again, for reading!
I encourage energy as much down the standing leg as the tendu-ing leg– so that there is an active “feeling” down through that leg that I encourage students to sense from clear up into the hip and psoas and core. …. allowing for dually active legs as one tendus out and the other opens downward for stability and standing ease.
I know I’m late to respond, Angie, but YES! Excellent description of the simultaneous action and imagery of both legs. Thank you for commenting!
Thanks for this very informative description. I am slightly “obsessed” with Eric Franklin’s books and use his imagery all the time. i also find that multiple ways of explaining technique; using imagery, anatomical pictures or explanations as well as how I feel when I perform a step allows students to use the description that best reads to them. Dancers are so smart, but often get into ruts and it is fun to challenge them to think differently about their bodies and their dance technique.
I love this article – in getting together a class structure for an adult contemporary ballet class I’m starting tomorrow, it’s forced me to look back at “basic” steps like tendu and think what am I trying to teach, when will they need this in the centre and in combination work, how can I make sure they’re doing it properly when I am on auto pilot when I do it, etc. Thank you!