Sauté arabesque

Sauté arabesque is a jump with the back leg in an arabesque position. This step is perhaps one of the most frequently used jumps in class and choreography, especially in classical ballets. The foundation for a sauté arabesque is, of course, sauté. If you haven’t read our Technique Thursday sauté post from January 13 yet, this is a great time to catch up! Sauté describes any jump movement, but the basic technique is generally the same for each type of sauté. In this case, the sauté is done in an arabesque, which means that the jump comes from one foot while the back leg is in the arabesque position. Unless the choreography calls for a high back leg, a sauté arabesque generally isn’t done at 90 degrees. The height of the back leg will depend on training style and the purpose of the sauté.

No matter the height of the back leg, the goal of a sauté arabesque is to show the position as a snapshot in the air. To achieve this, it’s very important to push off into the position efficiently and maintain placement through the jump. The leg that you step onto to push off into the sauté should always be turned out with rotation from the top of the leg. Because this leg leaves the floor after the arabesque leg is in the air, it is very obvious if it is turned in as you step onto it. Stepping onto a rotated plié leg before the sauté will also help you maintain turnout on the bottom leg. Keep awareness of the turnout wrapping and rotating through the leg as it straightens to push off of the floor. This not only helps the bottom leg of the jump stay rotated, it also helps create a position that is more lifted and placed. 

While the bottom leg pushes off the floor, the back leg should start to reach its destination as soon as possible. This allows the highest point of the jump to show the best snapshot of the position. It’s very important to maintain a stretched and energetic arabesque back leg through the step. As this jump travels through the air, try to keep the back leg lifted with energy through the toe (make sure not to sickle the back foot- a common sauté problem!) so the position stays placed all the way through the landing. The arabesque position should not collapse or shrink as the jump lands. Instead, keep all the energy through every point of the position all the way through the end of the step.  

It’s easy to forget about the bottom foot in sauté arabesque, even though it is an incredibly important element of the jump. There are so many things about a sauté arabesque that may seem more exciting such as jumping high or traveling, but the bottom foot always needs to be pointed, no matter what! When you get tired at the end of a variation or ballet class, this becomes even more important to keep in mind. The bottom foot should point immediately as it leaves the floor and stay pointed until it reaches the floor again. No sauté arabesque is complete without a pointed bottom foot. Not only is this energy necessary to the whole picture of the step, it actually helps you spring into the position more efficiently as the action of the foot pointing as it leaves the floor helps create an extra lift into the air. A helpful hint is to think of toes leaving the floor last as you take off into the air. This helps keep the toes pointed and stretched toward the floor with energy. 

While it’s not one of the more elaborate jumps in the ballet vocabulary, sauté arabesque is perhaps so widely used because it is easy to use the many varieties of sauté arabesque to link other steps together and move through space efficiently. This step can be done in a myriad of ways, and it has many options for port de bras and facings. Overall, sauté arabesque has a very dynamic and energetic quality which makes it a fun step to dance as well as watch.

Have a wonderful Technique Thursday!