Grand Battement en Rond is a ballet step commonly done at barre with rond de jambe exercises. Today we’ll take a detailed look at doing this step properly from start to finish. Grand Battement en Rond can be done both en dehors or en dedans. For this lesson, we’ll be showing you en dehors, but the same ideas and positions apply to en dedans, simply reversed. Lastly, since this step is typically done right after a rond de jambe a terre, or in succession, so we’ll begin from the small attitude that is the first position, or checkpoints, of many that this step travels through.
Grande Battement en Rond in 6 Steps
- Begin in a small attitude front with your outside leg and outside arm in first position.
- Developpe your leg to the side, slightly in front of your standing leg as your outside arm moves to a high fifth position.
- Keeping a strong and straight standing leg, move the outside leg directly side while also maintaining a nicely presented upper body.
- Continue to move the leg, without dropping it, to behind your standing leg, as if you’re moving to an ecarte derriere.
- Begin to lower the leg into a low arabesque.
- Finish in tendu derriere with your nicely presented upper body that you maintained throughout the whole step.
Take a close look at the demonstration pictures and you will notice, as said before, that you must keep your upper body nicely presented throughout the whole step. Also, be sure to take notice of the positions or checkpoints that your leg must travel through.
Common Mistakes for Grand Battement en Rond
As an intermediate step, there are quite a few things happening at once with a grand battement en rond at the barre. Take a look at these common mistakes and double check that you’re not doing them every so often, you may not realize it!
- Since grand battement en rond is usually done at barre, be sure not to shift your weight too far past the balance on your standing leg, causing you to really grip the barre. As with every step at the barre, you should never be off balance.
- As with many steps where your leg is in the air, its tempting to hike your hip up in an attempt to get your leg higher. While you may feel accomplished for a second, hiking your hip up for any step in ballet services no purpose and is more of a “glitzy cheat.” Keep it clean and proper by keeping your hip down. If you want your legs to go higher, stretch properly and build the strength to get it there without cheating your technique.
- Be careful not to lose your turnout in both legs as you move your leg to the back.
- Be sure to keep your foot and ankle pointed the whole time. Its an easy mistake to relax your ankle and foot a little as it reaches the top of the battement.
