Tendu: Seemingly Simple, Yet So Important

“Tendu” at the barre is one of the basic and staple exercises of any ballet class. It often follows the beginning pliés, one of the first few movements to slowly start warming up the body.

One of my teachers often includes three to four tendu exercises. Yes, you read that right—three to four.

“And one more!” she’ll often say with a knowing laugh.

We’ll have started at a relatively basic level, tendu en croix from first position, and progressed through to “one slow, two quick and cloche, cloche, close!” from fifth.

At the last class, it occurred to me that there might be students wondering why we were doing so many. And then it occurred to me that holding a magnifying glass to the humble tendu would make a good blog.

So here we are.

Let’s get down to the nuts and bolts.

What exactly is “tendu”?

Tendu, or “battement tendu” to use the full name, is where the straight working leg brushes out to a long, stretched position, reaching and extending as far as it can go with the toes still in contact with the floor.

(Thanks to A Ballet Education website for this fantastic illustration: https://aballeteducation.com/)

The above illustration shows the movement wonderfully. Starting in first or fifth, the leg extends out, perfectly straight, the foot leading initially with the heel and articulating cleanly—heel lifting, ball of the foot still on the floor until the tips of the toes are the only part still in contact—as the whole limb moves through to a full extension. The articulation is then reversed as the foot, ball and heel, come back onto the floor, the small toe leading the movement this time, as the leg moves back to its starting position.

For regular class goers, it is an action you know well and one you probably don’t devote a lot of thought to. However, Gaynor Minden writes in her book, The Ballet Companion:

“Balanchine said, ‘If you just do battement tendu well, you don’t have to do anything else.’ It’s an exaggeration, of course, but it makes the point that battement tendus … are, along with plies, the very foundation of your technique.”

“... the very foundation of your technique.”

Oh.

Well, I suppose four tendu exercises in a class are warranted then.

So, why is it a “foundation” movement of technique?

This one ‘simple’ movement does so much and, as Balanchine suggested, if you work to improve and perfect it, it will show in so many other areas of your dancing.

It helps you control your turnout

“Turnout comes from the hips, not the feet.”

I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if you’ve had a teacher that has said that. It is drummed into us from the beginning to help us build a strong technique and also to help prevent injury.

You might have noticed above that I described the movement of tendu this way:

• When extending out, leading the movement with the heel;

• When drawing the leg back in, leading the movement with the small toe.

These descriptions will help you maintain the turnout, but when applying the “turnout comes from the hips” rule, this will mean your entire leg is working and strengthening to keep that turnout and to protect your joints.

It builds strength in both the working and the standing leg

And whilst you are building muscle in that working leg, pointing your toes and stretching the limb to its maximum length, try not to forget the standing leg.

Yes indeed, another thing to think about.

There is often the tendency to neglect that standing leg and, if an exercise is long, it tires and you find yourself sinking into that hip joint. Sure, this creates a jaunty angle, a bit of attitude in that hip, but this is not what classical ballet is all about.

The standing leg is just as important as the working leg.

Pulling up and out of that hip joint and keeping the leg straightened and lengthened means you will be building strength in the limb and the hip.

It teaches control of the hips

Speaking of hips, how often have you heard your teacher make a comment about the hips? I think I hear something in every class that I go to.

“Pull up in the hips!” is a favourite.

As looked at above, whilst performing a tendu you are learning and working on controlling and strengthening your turnout and the quality of the overall movement. But all this is happening whilst maintaining control of the hips. The hips need to stay forward, the movement coming from the leg only, and “pulling up” means not sinking onto the standing leg and setting the hips off kilter. It’s almost as if your hips are being held rigidly in place by a vice so they stay aloft and cannot tilt forward or back, left or right.

Training your muscles to control your hips at this early stage will be beneficial to your technique as a whole. You’ll see this in a clean controlled rond de jambe a terre ...

… to a fouetté into attitude in a performance ...

It strengthens your feet in more ways than one

The articulation and the correct placement of the foot when the leg is in full extension will do more than just build strength in your feet. A real focus on the correct technique and final placement of the foot will teach your foot the correct position when off the floor as well.

Pointing your toes in classical technique is something you don’t want and shouldn’t need to think about. Your brain should be focused on choreography and musicality, for example. So by really concentrating on the tendu at the barre, when it comes to centre work your feet should automatically point beautifully when moving off the floor.

Recently, a professional dancer has been coming along to one of my regular ballet classes. Actually, I don’t know if she’s a professional, but I have made a fairly safe assumption based on how she dances and her technique. One telling aspect is that, even in the smallest linking steps between the largest movements, her feet are beautifully pointed and placed.

What’s the bet when she was training her classes had four or more tendu exercises?

A further benefit of really working that tendu is training your feet not to sickle.

Below is a fantastic image (thanks, Google!) of a badly placed, sickled foot, a passable one and a beautiful ‘winged’ foot.

English National Ballet dancer Precious Adams shows here just how that winged foot in tendu translates to a beautiful winged foot and shape in attitude.

It builds muscle memory

And through focusing and working on all of the above whilst at the barre, you are building that ever-important muscle memory to straighten your legs, point your toes, “wing” your feet and control your hips. All of this will become second nature so when it comes to centre work or even a performance, it’s there, that beautifully extended leg at the start of a variation, that exquisite winged foot in arabesque. That control.

Yes, fellow dancers, tendu may seem small, tendu may seem humble, but tendu is MIGHTY.