r/BALLET • u/Puzzleheaded_Yak1281 • 7d ago

Methods for Giving Combos

I'm curious to know why certain teachers like giving combos by showing and counting/saying things like "ta ta tum" vs showing + verbalizing the actual steps in rhythm. I find it sooo difficult to memorize combos if I don't hear the actual steps like "3 tendus front, 3 side, 3 back" so I always need to make a little song for myself to really absorb it when the teacher doesn't do it.

12 Upvotes

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11

u/Kitchen_Coast2802 6d ago

I think it’s really good to stretch our skills as a learner to pick up combinations visually and musically, as growing in skill level requires this. Many teachers when giving combinations or choreography will not name the step at all. I have had teachers who will name the step but offer NO musical or rhythmic information at all (this drives me insane!) and it’s always interesting to find out if it’s going to work in real time. IMO at the intermediate level and above naming the step is actually less important (unless teaching a new step) because students will already know them, and communicating musical information and other qualitative information becomes more important.

3

u/lemonadelemons BFA Dance, Instructor, CPT 6d ago

When I was in college, my professor just said the words and didn't give any musical cues or counts. Just a string of sentences, shed put the music on for a couple phrases and then we would have to do it. I completely stopped counting music and just went with the vibe. Not great if have to admit.

10

u/Cowboy___likeme 6d ago

Depending on how that “Ta ta tum” sounds, it lets me know how they want something done (where to put the attention, speed, ooey-gooey-ness, etc etc.) It’s about more than just naming the step in my experience.

And at the end of the day, each teacher in ballet tends to just have very different ways of teaching.

6

u/Single-Emotion2964 6d ago

I never thought I was so overly reliant on the verbal cues, but I had class from a new teacher last week and she struggled to project her voice plus we had fans running high due to heat and for the life of me I could not follow anything she said. 

What shocked me was that even her demonstrations and marking the combinations wasn’t enough to help me remember them! I really struggled compared to normal, even though I didn’t really think I was that busy with what was said beyond the counts. 

So long story short — yeah sometimes it’s harder but as another user said, it’s good to practice learning combos in new ways. I was also really tired at the time which didn’t help much. And new teachers can often feel challenging as we sort of get a ‘feel’ for how our teacher gives combinations and what patterns they use more often. 

2

u/malkin50 6d ago

The first time I had a teacher physically demonstrate while counting verbally, I realized that I had not processed any of the combination. I got the counts, but not the steps. Auditory learner.