The Multifunctional Exercise of the Battement Degage -

The battement degage is also called battement glise and battement jete. It is like a tendu, but it leaves the floor, and it builds strength a little differently, and is an important elaboration on the tendu. Quick, sharp degages done with poise in the upper body will build the strength to do battus without showing strain, as well as many other jumps requiring the legs to change positions in the air while the upper body retains its postural plumb line.

The battement degage seems to be merely an extension of the battement tendu, except it leaves the floor. Some techniques say four inches, some say two. Degage means disengaged, as from the floor, another French ballet word.

What really matters is the quality of movement with which it leaves the floor. Why? That quality will develop the strength for jumps, pointe work, and also build the strength for landings that are cat-like, elegant and deliberate.

The leaving of the floor with degage could just come from lifting the leg. However, at the end of the tendu, the deliberate use of an extra push of the toes, not the leg, thrusts the foot from the floor. The toes should elongate, not curl.

This tiny part of the body will give the quality of your jump, your releve onto pointe, and also control your landing through the metatarsals, the sole of the foot, ending in a velvety soft plie.

Reviewing the movement, it starts like a battement tendu. Remember, everything you do at the barre imitates something you would do in a real, classical or modern, choreographic movement.

The battement degage reaches the point where you stretch your toes, finalizing the fully arched foot. But with an extra energy, the lengthof the toes push sharply off the floor.

Now here is another counter-movement with enormous ramifications. The foot leaves the floor, and yet you stop it at a specific point. You stop it in space exactly where you decide, and you then close the position with enormous energy. When the toes touch the floor, the muscles stay active, so you press the metatarsals, then the sole of the foot, into the floor: restraint builds strength.

So what's the point?

In an entrechat quatre, entrechat trois, or entrechat six, you have to jump with a thrust amplified by that last push by the toes. It adds the quality you need. Then, you have to stop the movement to bring it back in, and then battu however many times -out-in-out-in, and land in fifth or coupe. It's your daily battement degage that develops the precision and strength for that.

It's your battement degage that allows the soft landing - coming back down through the metatarsal area onto the sole of the foot and into your plie, that sets you apart from the other clunky dancers. And prevents injury, not a minor factor in good dance technique.

The other strength building factor to quick, sharp degages, is the barre work where you hold your core/torso still, and yet relax your neck and shoulders, and use the arms freely. This allows for the professional polish or "making it look effortless".

It's the tiny battement degage in your barre work that helps give you the good result on a bad day. It's like a tendu "plus". It exaggerates your need for poise and effortlessness with one tiny extra 2-4 inches pop off the floor.

It is terribly important.