cambre: a new ballet barre
DESCRIPTION
Convenient, portable and beautiful.This is a business paper written about my senior project Cambré, a portable ballet barre, including details on ballet history, the purpose of the barre, what my product is and how it offers dancers an advantage. Visit Cambré's own website at http://cambre.tk.TRANSCRIPT
A New Ballet Barre—Convenient, Portable and Beautiful
Several ballerinas stand poised along a barre, each with one hand
resting atop it and the other reaching out to the side as they complete an
exercise. They lower their arms and withdraw their extended foot from the
closing tendu, holding the final position for a few seconds. “That concludes
our barre work for today,” calls out the teacher. “Practice at home—your
relevés could be a lot higher!”
The students pause and think to themselves as they carry the barres
to the back of the room. How can they best practice at home? Perhaps some
have bulky barres of their own, homemade or bought expensively from a
dance shop, but the rest are stuck with using countertops and windowsills.
What they could really use is a more portable and convenient barre, fully
functional and even beautiful. Such a product has finally arrived, after five
hundred years of ballet history.
History of Ballet
Ballet is a formalized dance form focusing on technique and
performance. It originated in Italy during the Renaissance, when dancers
collaborated with musicians to create entertainment at fashionably lavish
weddings. Some say that ballet was originally a dance interpretation of
fencing. This early ballet, the name of which comes from the Italian word
balletto, meaning little dance, was much less formal than it would later
become. Dancers were not as highly trained as they are today, and at the
end of the dance, the whole audience would often join in. Dance attire was
simply the fashion of the day--ballet slippers and tutus had not yet been
invented. Soon, however, ballets began to be produced and performed
specially, and the first produced ballet was the Ballet Comique de la Reine,
choreographed in 1581 by Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx for the court of
Catherine de’ Medici. Ballet soon spread to France, where under the rule of
Louis XIV, it flourished in the royal court. The “Sun King”—a nickname
which came from a ballet he danced himself in 1653—was a dance
aficionado, and established the Académie Royale de Danse in 1661, now
known as the Paris Opera Ballet. In France, the form of the ballet developed
into a dramatic program more similar to today's productions, through the
efforts of Italian composer Jean-Baptiste de Lully (born Giovanni Battista di
Lulli) and French playwright Molière, who collaborated to combine the
Italian theater style of commedia dell'arte with French dance. Among their
most successful works was Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, produced in 1670.
Their legacy defined the future of ballet, establishing it as a legitimate art
form, and France as its center. Since the first schools of ballet were in
France, ballet terminology is nearly all in French even to this day, no matter
where around the world one may go. The first to reference the five positions
to the body was Pierre Beauchamp (1637-1705), a French choreographer,
dancer and composer (tiptoedancewear.com).
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Throughout the 1700s, ballet continued to evolve. It came to exist in
three methods, the sérieux, demi-caractère and comique, and was also
sometimes featured in operas as an interlude. In 1760, Jean-Georges
Noverre wrote the influential Lettres sur la Danse et les Ballets, saying that
a dancer's movement should communicate emotion in order to tell a story.
To this end, he argued, a dancer's bodily form should be displayed as much
as possible by wearing less cumbersome and more natural attire. France
remained the heart of ballet development, but companies opened
throughout Europe and also Russia, not the least of which was the Imperial
Ballet of St. Petersburg, which opened in 1738. The Bolshoi Ballet Academy
opened in Moscow in 1763, and ballet would soon flourish in Russia
(tiptoedancewear.com).
The Romantic period of the nineteenth century brought women into
prominence in ballet. Before Lully’s Le Triomphe de l’Amour in 1681,
female dancers had not even performed onstage in a ballet production—all
female roles were played by men, because it was thought that women
wouldn’t be strong enough to wear the heavy costumes comprising masks,
headdresses and lengthy gowns. However, the popular image of an ethereal
dancer floating across the stage put women in the lead roles in ballets of
this period, and the role of men became to lift and support them as they
completed turns and leaps. Pointe technique developed around this time,
pioneered by ballerinas such as the Swedish-Italian Marie Taglioni and the
Austrian Fanny Elssler. Pointe shoes in their infancy, however, were very
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thin and were strengthened only by a bit of extra darning, so dancers could
not hold positions longer than a few seconds. Anna Pavlova would
eventually create the modern pointe shoe, which is stiffened and
strengthened with tough leather. The first pointe dancers were also some of
the first to wear costumes with skirts that did not reach all the way to their
ankles—in Taglioni’s most famous performance, La Sylphide in 1832, she
shocked the audience with her shin-baring skirt that she had shortened in
order to show off her pointe work. The classic tutu, which consisted of stiff
layers of crinoline or tulle and was designed to display legwork, began to
appear in the late 1800s (tiptoedancewear.com). In 1894, Pierina Legnani
became the first ballerina to receive the ultimate title of prima ballerina
assoluta, a title bestowed upon her by French choreographer Marius Petipa.
She was the first to perform 32 fouettés en tournant, an extremely difficult
step which involves first standing with one foot flat and whipping the other
leg around to the side, thus turning around, then rising up en pointe in the
middle of the turn and touching the working foot to the supporting knee.
Only nine dancers throughout ballet history have received this
extraordinary title (balletalert.com).
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Anna Pavlova as the Dying Swan in St. Petersburg, 1905
In nineteenth- and twentieth-century Russia, the ballet was thriving;
many companies were active and choreographers were composing
prolifically. Marius Petipa collaborated with Pyotr Tchaikovsky to create
some of the most beloved and well-known ballets even of today, such as The
Nutcracker in 1892 and Swan Lake in 1895. The Ballets Russes were a
company that toured the world under the directorship of Sergei Diaghilev
from 1909 to 1929. They presented a new, sensational kind of ballet that
incorporated many different types of music, art, and dance, and were called
everything from classical to avant-garde. The Ballets Russes boasted the
likes of Anna Pavlova, who was perhaps the most well-known of all
ballerinas throughout history. She became famous for her dramatic and
imaginative role as The Dying Swan, choreographed for her by Michel
Fokine in Camille Saint-Saëns's Le Carnaval des Animaux in 1905. Fokine
believed that costumes should relate to the story being told and be
historically accurate where relevant, rather than simply a tutu, a concept
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that would effectively influence all ballets to come. The tours of Russian
companies in the United States, especially after World War II, encouraged
the development of the art there. Russian-born George Balanchine opened
schools in Chicago and New York in the 1930s and 1940s, including the
famous New York City Ballet, which grew to great renown. The Royal Ballet
was founded in London in 1931, the home company of prima ballerina
assoluta Margot Fonteyn (1919-1991) (tiptoedancewear.com). Today, there
are famous and active companies all over the world, perhaps the most
significant of which are the Kirov Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, the Paris Opera
Ballet, the Royal Ballet, the New York City Ballet and the Royal Danish
Ballet. Some of the most famous ballet dancers of today are Sylvie Guillem,
born in 1965, who performs at the Paris Opera Ballet; Paloma Herrera, born
in 1975, who dances with the American Ballet Theater; Polina Semionova,
born in 1984, who dances with the Berliner Staatsoper Ballet Company in
Germany; and Julie Kent, born in 1969, who dances with the American
Ballet Theater (balletdancersguide.com). There are certainly also many
well-known retired dancers, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Darcey Bussell,
Alessandra Ferri, Alicia Alonso, and Cynthia Gregory. Through its colorful
history, ballet has become popular and well-known throughout the world,
providing a pastime and passion for those who enjoy its challenge and
appreciate its beauty.
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The Kirov Ballet performs Swan Lake in Los Angeles, 2006
The Current State of the Field
Ballet has become a popular enough activity that only the most
talented dancers find work in the professional field. Most dancers begin
studying dance between ages 5 and 15, and if they plan to pursue a career
in dance, they often have their first professional audition by age 18
(bls.gov). Dancers usually retire by their late thirties, the average age at
retirement being reported as low as 29 (ballettalk.invisionzone.com). After a
career in dancing is over, job options for dancers include teaching dance
and choreographing among other studio- and performance-related jobs.
Because of the nature of dance-related employment opportunities—
performances usually run for a few weeks at most—employment is short,
irregular and not guaranteed. The median hourly income for dancers was
$12.22 in May 2008, the middle 50% earning between $8.03 and $18.82
(bls.gov). Most dancers do not rely on dancing to support themselves and
work other jobs to supplement their income. Nevertheless, dance’s allure
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and the passion it incites ensure that it remains one of the most popular
pursuits in the quest for careers. As of May 2008, there were 13,000
professional dancers in the United States (bls.gov) and countless more
practicing their art as amateurs, in homes, schools and studios all over the
nation.
The Purpose of the Barre
In the ballet lesson, dancers learn everything they need to know for
performances, from the fundamentals to the specifics of vocabulary,
technique, posture, and appearance. Today’s ballet classes are generally
one to two hours long. About two-thirds of the time is spent doing exercises
at the barre and about one-third is spent in the center of the room. Center
exercises and barre exercises alike consist of short, perhaps one- to five-
minute-long combinations of steps set to music.
Preparatory position at the barre.
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Students warm up at the barre, beginning with the feet and moving to the
rest of the legs and the body, in exercises which become progressively more
involved. Finally, students can put into use the strength and technique that
they have learned at the barre by working in the center of the room. Center
exercises include turns like pirouettes and piqué turns, leaps like grands
jetés and sautés, and other traveling steps like the glissade, chassé and pas
de chat. These exercises are more similar to performing onstage, but
working with the barre provides invaluable opportunities for dancers to
improve their technique. For example, on the barre, dancers can learn the
steps for jumps and turns slowly and carefully, which on center stage
require much concentration. Likewise, the presence of a barre makes
practicing balances much easier.
Standing at the barre, dancers can pay more attention to the posture
of their bodies. They must focus on standing tall and straight, rotating their
legs outward from the hip socket in a quality called turnout, and strongly
engaging the muscles of the core, that is, those from below the neck to
above the knee. Because of the nature of the barre, barre exercises are
designed to strengthen the body and to perfect form. For example, tendus
are an extension of the leg meant to strengthen the foot as it pushes
carefully into and across the floor, with care taken to articulate the motion
at the ankle and toe joints. Practicing tendus also improves turnout—the
heel carefully leads the leg forward as the small toe leads back. Likewise,
rond du jambes, which are a circling of one leg either on the ground or en
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l'aire, strengthen the leg and teach it to rotate in the hip joint while keeping
the hips square and level. Leaps, as well, can be learned at the barre. To
learn the tour jeté, first one skips forward in a chassé, then kicks the
outside leg into the air in a grand jeté, then holds both hands on the barre
for support and height while quickly turning halfway around in the air and
swinging the inside leg to the back, landing with the outside leg, shifting
weight and turning halfway around once again in a temps lié to begin again.
This step is to be completed within two seconds, but practicing on the barre
enables dancers to take steps as slowly as necessary as well as providing
direction and support.
Attitude to the back
Ballerinas must be able to hold themselves in balances, either with
one leg extended in arabesque or with the working foot resting on the
supporting knee in retiré. The alignment of the leg, whether straight and
allongé or bent in attitude, is precise and important. Practicing at the barre
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in front of a mirror is essentially prerequisite. Though graceful dancers may
make them look easy in performances, turns require much concentration
and poise as well. Even supporting oneself and being able to walk en pointe
takes a huge amount of strength and control, which can be cultivated at the
barre.
Dancers also use barres to stretch on, such as the hamstring stretch,
performed by placing an ankle on the barre, extending the leg, and bending
down over it. These stretches can be worked into combinations set to music,
involving pliés, or bends at the knee, and cambrés, or bends at the waist in
any direction. For this reason, it is imperative that barres be smooth, strong
enough to withstand considerable weight, and the correct height.
Barres in ballet studios are usually mounted along the wall at about
hip height or a few inches above. Many ballet classes also use heavy
“portable” barres to accommodate more dancers, ten or twelve feet long
and often made out of galvanized steel pipes. Being inconvenient in any
situation save the ballet lesson, where they can be stored at the back of the
room, these barres are not the best option for home practice. In fact, most
ballerinas do not have a barre at home, the major drawback being that
existing portable barres are rather large and inconvenient to store. They are
also expensive, and although functional barres can be constructed at home,
this naturally takes much time and effort.
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A ballet barre from Estudio Miscellania
However, the presence of a barre at home enables dancers to improve
their skill in infinitely more ways than simply stretching and practicing on
the floor. Since dancers are obliged to do their major stretching at home, as
well as to strengthen their muscles and perfect their technique by
practicing exercises, they can benefit greatly from having equipment at
their disposal. Ballet equipment is minimal—other than proper attire,
consisting of dance slippers and any type of clothing that does not restrict
motion, usually a leotard and tights, dancers use only the floor and the
barre. Thus, having a lightweight, convenient and portable barre at home
could offer dancers an invaluable opportunity to practice the exercises they
learn in class as well as giving them creative license to create their own.
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Cambré, Our Product in Detail
Finally, this portable, convenient and strong ballet barre has arrived
in the form of Cambré, an oak and aluminum model weighing only twenty
pounds. Fully assembled, it is six feet long, enough space for any dancer to
stretch or perform traveling exercises, and 36 to 42 inches high to
accommodate dancers of different heights. Cambré collapses and
dissembles into four pieces, of which two measure 36 inches by 1.5 inches
and two measure 24 inches by about 6 inches. Its weight is rendered yet
more manageable by the complementary hand-sewn carrying bag the size of
an average backpack. Though Cambré is simple to assemble and separate,
its structure integrity remains sufficiently uncompromised; it is strong
enough to support a dancer’s weight and will not sway or bend. Finally,
Cambré has an attractive wooden design adding to its appeal. Cambré is
a dancer’s dream, the final solution to the problem of a convenient home
ballet barre.
Cambré maximizes strength, portability and beauty. The entire
model is divided into four sections, two of the barre itself and two of the
aluminum legs. The barre piece is constructed of a professionally cut piece
of oak, smooth and comfortable as well as naturally beautiful, with a
rounded top and a flat underside. It separates in the center, being joined by
a steel rod which extends from the middle of one end and inserts into a hole
in the other. This joint is strengthened by a small aluminum plate fastened
onto the flat underside of the wood. At the other end of each piece of oak
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extends a twelve-inch-long piece of hardwood, making up the top part of the
separating legs. The hardwood contains two spring-loaded buttons spaced
about two inches apart on either side near the end. This end inserts into the
legs of square aluminum tubing. By depressing the buttons, one can adjust
the height at four levels between 36 and 42 inches high. These buttons are
simple, yet extremely strong.
The legs comprise three pieces of square aluminum tubing, forming a
triangle design with an aluminum chain. The 24-inch-long main shaft
extends downwards from the hardwood, reaching about ten inches from the
ground. From its base extend two 18-inch aluminum segments at a 45-
degree angle perpendicular to the line of the barre, providing a base of over
two feet long. Rubber strips are attached along the bottom of the feet where
they touch the floor for traction and stability. These two support pieces are
hinged to the main and can fold up and down for carrying and storage. In
the assembled position, a thin, strong metal chain hooked between the
pieces at the midpoint uses a tension system to hold the pieces in place.
How it Works: Reviews and Testimonials
Aesthetics aside, the question of Cambré is whether it performs to
the standards of highest quality professional ballet barres, and it has stood
up to this challenge admirably. Though its joints comprise smoothly turning
hinges, its structure remains strong and stable. Dancers can perform
regular barre exercises in comfort as well as safely levy their weight onto it
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when stretching. Cambré has supported weights in excess of 100 pounds,
as measured by a pressure scale. In preliminary tests by three ballerinas,
each reported satisfaction with its look, feel, and stability. The barre held
up steadfastly at all four height options. One seventeen-year-old dancer
said, “The Cambré’s sleek nature is great for stretching and all other barre
exercises, and its adjustable height allows it to be versatile for all ages.” In
the words of a thirteen-year-old, “The Cambré has the perfect amount of
support and strength for me to do all my barre exercises, yet it is simple
and compact which allows me to set up quickly and easily anywhere I want
to dance.” These analyses testify to the reliability and success of our
product.
The Design Process
Cambré is easy to assemble and dissemble, relying on the simplicity
of its design as its greatest strength. However, the design process to the
final product was by no means simple. All sorts of preëxisting designs of
objects which must be likewise strong, lightweight and compact were
studied to determine the best design options, like normal barres, tables,
scooters, crutches, camera tripods and even telescopes. Originally, some
ideas such as a detachable base, tripod legs, and a folding middle section
were considered, but each of these ideas proved problematic with either
construction difficulty or by interfering with the ease of product use.
Finally, a design for a separating barre was decided upon, but the first
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problem soon surfaced in keeping the pieces together without
compromising the smoothness of the barre’s surface. This was solved by
abandoning the idea of an entirely round piece of wood in favor of one with
a flat underside, which then made it possible to attach an aluminum plate at
the central seam out of the way of the dancer’s hands, which both fastened
and strengthened the joint. Another problem was figuring out a design for
the legs alternative to the tripod design, which had at first seemed the best
option for collapsibility but would have been weak as well as rather large
when fully assembled. Aluminum and wood legs were eventually decided
upon instead, since being made of nesting pieces of square tubing and wood
they would be able to collapse as small as a tripod, but would be much more
compact and strong when extended. The design idea of flat folding-down
aluminum legs was then presupposed until construction began, at which
point the practicality of such legs manifested itself as none too great. The
cumbersome joint between the flat feet and the central leg, which extended
up from the ground, was very difficult to strengthen so that the legs would
not wobble back and forth. Finally, that design was abandoned in favor of
the present, much stronger triangle arrangement. This was one of the last
modifications to the overall design, taking advantage of the principle of
tension to strengthen the structure using minimal material.
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An original design of Cambré excerpted from the engineering log
Designing and strengthening the joints also proved problematic.
Initially, the critical joint between barre and leg was assumed to be a hinge,
presenting difficulty in making it strong yet collapsible. The separating
barre pieces rendered it portable, and each piece of the barre was decided
to swing down from the legs, creating a two-part design. However, the
problem of strengthening this joint proved insuperable, and we conceded to
add a short, twelve-inch-long section to fasten permanently to the ends of
the barre and insert in the tubing of the legs instead. Finally, the holes for
the steel rod in the middle of the barre had to be drilled especially tightly
and precisely, not only so as to ensure that the barre was uninterruptedly
smooth, but also uncompromisedly strong. When building the prototype, a
small error was made in cutting one of the holes and the result was a
wobbly joint which did not support enough weight. However, in building the
final product, every care has been taken to ensure that measurements and
cuts were made with utter precision.
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Cambré in the early stages of construction
Future Improvement
Though Cambré does answer the question of a portable ballet barre,
there are certainly some things about it that could still be improved. One of
its drawbacks is that when folded up, the components of the legs are not
kept together securely in the closed position. This problem is not critical
because the carrying case holds the parts quite manageably, but all the
same, adding some kind of snapping mechanism to keep everything in place
would make it more convenient. The materials used for this prototype could
also be substantially reduced, having been bought for a bulkier original
design and not being the best suited to the final one. This would make the
overall weight lighter and the design more efficient. With Cambré as a
successful prototype and using sturdier and lighter materials, we could go
on to produce a ballet barre in the future that is even more simple and
strong.
Conclusion
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The portable and manageable Cambré is truly a victory for dance
equipment. Its elegant oak and aluminum structure would make any dancer
proud, but beyond aesthetics, its functionality is faultless, between its
smooth and strong structure, convenient collapsibility, and reliability. We
believe it will revolutionize the world of dance practice by helping dancers
everywhere augment their skill and giving them another reason to love
dance. Cambré is an investment not to pass up.
Works Cited
1. "The History of Ballet." Discount Ballet Dance Wear and Apparel.
Web. 30 Mar. 2010. <tiptoedancewear.com/ballet-history/>.
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2. "Dancing Online, History of Ballet." College of Computer and
Information Science | College of Computer and Information Science.
Web. 30 Mar. 2010. <ccs.neu.edu/home/yiannis/dance/history.html>.
3. "Ballet Terminology A-Z." Dance Help: Dance Tips, Articles and Dance
Resources. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. <dancehelp.com/articles/dance-
dictionary/ballet-dictionary.aspx>.
4. "The Performers." Ballet Alert! An Online Newsletter for Those Who
Love Ballet. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. <balletalert.com/ballets/Petipa/Swan
%20Lake/SLPerf.htm>.
5. "Famous Ballerinas - Current Dancers You Need To Know About!" The
Complete Ballet Dancers Guide. Web. 30 Mar. 2010.
<balletdancersguide.com/famous-ballerinas.html>.
6. "Dancers and Choreographers." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Web.
30 Mar. 2010. <bls.gov/oco/ocos094.htm>.
7. "Ballet Dancer Stats. They ARE Different from the Rest of Us - Ballet
Talk." Ballet Talk (Powered by Invision Power Board). Web. 29 June
2009. 30 Mar. 2010. <ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?
showtopic=29822>.
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