cabriole
CABRIOLE
Cabriole is a jump in which the bottom leg beats with the top leg in the air. While cabriole generally doesn’t appear as frequently as other jumps in class such as assemblé or sauté arabesque, this step is performed in quite a few classical variations as well as choreography.
The foundation for a cabriole starts with the technique used for sauté arabesque, which we focused on in our most recent Technique Thursday! To reach the height in the air necessary for enough time to beat the bottom leg up to the top leg, it’s necessary to use every amount of force you can from the foot that pushes from the ground at the beginning of the step. Since the preparation for cabriole back is the same as for a sauté arabesque, one of the key elements is using power and force from the top of a rotated plié leg to push off into the air.
With a strong push off from the floor, you not only gain more time in the air for the step to occur, you are also able to use that momentum to bring the leg to meet the top leg in the air. It helps to think of the push off and the leg traveling to the top leg as one single movement instead of as separate elements. This way, the bottom leg doesn’t waste time traveling into the air inefficiently. Another important technique tip for cabriole is to always think of the bottom leg traveling up to meet the top leg at the height of the jump, and not the other way around. This should happen at the top of the jump, creating almost a sous sous position behind in the air. It helps to imagine the top leg freezing in one place (turned-out, of course!) at the top of the jump until the other leg reaches the same height.
Battement en cloche can be another helpful building block for cabriole technique. Battement en cloche uses the same brush and connection with the floor that is necessary to the top leg in cabriole to the front, as well as the necessary upward energy that comes from the connection to the floor.
As always, turnout and rotation are extremely important in this step, and it helps to imagine not only the top leg rotating in the same way other arabesque and devant positions would, but also maintaining rotation and strength from the inner thighs and glutes as the legs meet in the jump. It can help to imagine a spiral on each leg that wraps outward and away in opposite directions through the step. Try to avoid the common cabriole mistake of sickling the feet to try to make the beat happen sooner! This won’t really create the appearance of a quicker or better cabriole, even if it sometimes seems like it. Another common mistake to avoid is bending the knees to make the legs beat. This usually occurs by trying to use the upper leg to beat instead of the lower leg. To avoid both of these common cabriole mistakes, try to make sure the tops of the legs and inner thighs are what makes the beat happen by keeping a crossed and rotated position in the top of the jump.
Cabriole is one of the more complicated jumps in ballet technique, but it can be very rewarding and fun!
Have a wonderful Technique Thursday!
