Conquer the Intermediate Plateau: 5 Drills to Refine Your Technique
You’ve mastered the basics. You can hold a respectable arabesque, your pirouettes are consistent (most days), and you no longer think about foot positions. But progress has stalled. Welcome to the intermediate plateau—a frustrating but entirely normal phase where the leap to advanced technique feels just out of reach. The secret to breaking through? Not just more practice, but smarter practice.
This plateau isn't a wall; it's a refining fire. It’s where dancers transform from those who execute steps into artists who embody them. The path forward lies in obsessive attention to detail, in breaking down movements into their core components, and in building the muscular intelligence required for effortless artistry.
Here are five targeted drills designed to do exactly that.
1. The Balance & Relevé Series
The Goal:
Build unwavering stability in your ankles, calves, and core to create a solid foundation for everything—from adagio to jumps.
The Drill:
- Rise and Hold: Start in a high demi-pointe in first position. Hold for 16 counts, focusing on pulling up and out of your ankles, not sinking into them. Engage your entire leg and core.
- Slow Lower: Lower down through a full-footed first position and immediately rise back to demi-pointe, but take 8 counts to get there. Feel every millimeter of the movement.
- Single Leg: Repeat the exercise while standing on one leg, with the other in a sur le cou-de-pied position. This is humbling but incredibly effective.
2. The Degagé & Passé Accelerator
The Goal:
Sharpen your footwork, improve articulation of the feet, and build the muscle memory for precise retiré position, which is crucial for turns.
The Drill:
- Quick Degagés: At the barre, perform 32 sharp, quick degagés to the front (en croix). The focus is on a fully pointed foot and a swift, energetic return to first or fifth position.
- Passé Piqué: From fifth position, quickly piqué to retiré (passé) position on the standing leg. Hold for a moment to check for a turned-out, high knee and a fully pointed foot not touching the standing leg. Return to fifth. Repeat 16 times on each side.
- Combination: Degagé to the side, and on the return to first, immediately piqué into a passé. This connects the quick foot action to a stable position.
3. The Port de Bras Weaver
The Goal:
Eliminate robotic, square port de bras and create fluid, connected, and expressive port de bras that originate from the back, not just the arms.
The Drill:
- Circular Port de Bras: Instead of moving your arms through first, second, and fifth in a square pattern, practice making large, continuous circles. Inhale as your arms rise and open, exhale as they close. Lead with your elbows and fingertips.
- Oppositional Movement: Practice a simple port de bras forward and back, but as your arms go forward, send your head and gaze slightly back, creating a beautiful oppositional stretch. Reverse the movement.
- With Plié: Add a grand plié in first or fifth position, coordinating the breath and arm movement so everything reaches its peak and lowest point simultaneously.
4. The Spotting Reinvention
The Goal:
Fix spotting issues that cause dizziness, off-balance turns, and "helicopter" pirouettes to achieve clean, controlled, multi-rotation turns.
The Drill:
- The Wall Drill: Stand a foot away from a blank wall. Choose a spot at eye level. Practice whipping your head around to find that spot without moving your shoulders. The focus is on the sharp, quick action of the spot itself.
- Quarter & Half Turns: Before attempting a full turn, practice the preparation and push to a quarter turn, landing and holding the balance. Then progress to a half turn. Master the feeling of the push and the spot on a smaller scale.
- Chaînés with a Pause: Do two sharp chaînés turns, then pause in a solid fourth or fifth position plié. Repeat. This builds control and prevents you from throwing yourself uncontrollably through the turns.
5. The Jump Prep Conditioning
The Goal:
Develop the explosive power, ballon, and silent landings required for advanced petit and grand allegro.
The Drill:
- Plié Power: Before any jump, the quality of your plié is everything. Practice grand pliés in all positions, focusing on pushing the floor away with your feet without sickling and maintaining turn-out at the bottom.
- Springing Echappés: Perform an echappé, but on the jump to second, aim for height and suspension. On the close, focus on a silent, controlled landing, descending through your feet.
- Single-Leg Springs: Holding the barre, practice springing up to retiré on one leg. The goal is to use the plié of the standing leg to propel you upward, not to swing the working leg. This builds strength for sissonnes and jetés.
Conquering the intermediate plateau is a journey of patience and precision. Integrate these drills into your daily routine at the barre, even if it's just for five minutes each. The goal isn't perfection in a day, but consistent, mindful repetition.
You have the foundation. Now it's time to build the artistry. Break a leg—gracefully, of course.
