Jacqueline Green Miller Teaches How to Harness Turnout, Length, and Connection Through Plié to Passé and Beyond
Former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater principal dancer Jacqueline Green Miller grew up as a self-described bunhead. When Ailey collaborated with The Royal Ballet for a series of performances during her career, she was excited to take class with the British company and see the ballerinas shine in all of their classically trained glory. What she was surprised to see was a focus on the basics: “Even in that room, I remember seeing some of the principal dancers get corrected on a simple passé before the teacher even talked about pirouettes.”
Having begun her dance training at the Baltimore School for the Arts, Miller, now the co-director of TDA Prep in Carol Stream, Illinois, encourages her students to nurture those strong foundations. “ No matter how old you are, no matter how advanced you are,” says Miller, “you’re always going try to figure out ‘How do I go from two feet to one foot and not feel like I’m going fall over?’ ”
Thus, while Miller’s lesson plan for Dance Teacher is appropriate for beginning dance students, her notes on how to break down the steps and harness the power of opposing tensions in four major body parts—the pelvis, knees, spine, and shoulders—are useful for even the most advanced dancers. She recently told a visiting alumnus, “You’ve been onstage, so your body has been compensating to perform what you need to get done. Now let’s go back to the foundation of your technique.”
Whether your students are building towards pirouettes in ballet technique, warming up for a rehearsal or performance, or working in other styles, says Miller, “ technique is technique. You need to use your pelvis and your knee. That’s going to be in ballet. That’s going to be in jazz. That’s going to be in modern.”
In the following exercise, teach the combination first, and then slow everything down to explain Miller’s principles of equal and opposite actions to engage turnout in the lower body and connect through the spine and shoulders in the upper body. From passé relevé to more advanced moves, this lesson plan will help your students find grounded connection, true turnout, and lengthened untucked spines.
Step-by-Step Guide
Combination: Plié to Passé From Fifth
Preparation
Stand at the barre with your left hand holding the barre, right foot in front in fifth position, and right arm in fifth en bas.
On the preparation counts, from fifth en bas, elongate the arm out on count 5, back to en bas on count 6, up to first on count 7, and open the arm to second position on count 8.
Counts 1–4
Keeping the arm in second the whole time, plié on count 1, straighten on count 2, plié on count 3, straighten on count 4.
Counts 5–8
On count 5, elongate the arm à la seconde as you take a third plié.
On count 6, bring the arm through fifth en bas up to first as the right foot also scoops up to a passé in one smooth motion. The arm arrives at first position and toe arrives at the knee in passé on the same count.
On count 7, begin opening the arm to second position as the right foot descends the back of the leg. The foot should arrive to about coupé derrière by count 7.
On count 8, the right foot closes behind in fifth position and the right arm has arrived all the way to second position.
Repeat counts 1–8 in reverse.
Add an Arm and a Passé Relevé
Counts 1–4
The legs will complete the same steps as the first set: plié on count 1, straighten on count 2, plié on count 3, and straighten on count 4.
However, the arm now coordinates one movement with each count. On count 1, the arm elongates à la seconde with the plié. On count 2, as the legs straighten, the arm moves down to fifth en bas. On count 3, plié again and bring the arm to first position. On count 4, straighten the legs and open the arm to second.
Counts 5–8
Repeat the same arms and legs as the first set, but this time, from second plié, press into a passé relevé. On count 7, the standing foot stays on relevé as the arm opens to second position and the right foot descends to arrive in a relevé fifth. On count 8, the heels lower to fifth flat to start the reverse.
Repeat counts 1–8, with the added arms and relevé, in reverse.
Notes for Breaking Down the Movement
Engage the turnout in the lower body: In a plié in fifth position, think of the muscles around the pelvis squeezing and engaging to send the pelvis forward.
Against the energy of the pelvis being moved forward, the knees move backward. This opposing action places the femur into its true turned-out position. Rather than trying to force turnout from the feet, it starts in the pelvis.
As you straighten the legs, squeeze the pelvis even more forward while maintaining the knee rotation back. Don’t relax the opposing tensions as you straighten the legs.
Find connection and length in the upper body: Sometimes, dancers can make the mistake of pressing the pelvis forward so much that they overdo it and tuck the pelvis under. “Pulling up” from the rib area and above won’t prevent this. Instead, have your dancers think of lengthening the spine from its anatomical base: the sacrum or pelvis area. Lengthening from there prevents tucking.
Then, to maintain the idea of equal and opposite actions, if the spine is energized and lengthening up, the shoulders should press down. As an analogy, think of how much longer a TheraBand gets when you stretch it with one hand pulling up and one hand pulling down, than if you were to pull in one direction. The spine can achieve equal length and strength by balancing the energy moving upwards (lengthening from the lower spine in the sacrum area) with the counter action of the shoulders pressing down.
After practicing these principles in a simple plié, bring them to every step of the combination.
For example, when one leg is bent in passé and the standing leg is straight, still think of the entire pelvis as one unit pushing forward with both knees rotating back.