Allegro

The intermediate student must jump both higher and quicker, smoother and sharper, with more changes of direction and port de bras than the elementary student. The fun and frustration of such allegro steps, especially when linked in combinations, daily assail the dancer, who must remember that "Natural elevation is a boon accorded to the few only; but where it is not granted by nature it can be developed by a systematic, well-planned training." And where there is the wish to learn, one will do so. Frequently this may mean a return to concentrated practice of more elementary steps and exercises, a going backward before continuing forward. Therefore, although allegro steps beyond the basic ones are the primary concerns of this chapter, they in no way replace methodical practice of those fundamental jumps, leaps, and hops whose very nature depends upon the correctly executed demi-plie and push from the floor, the "knowing how to bend and straighten the knees at the proper time," as dancing master Pierre Rameau observed over 250 years ago.

pg. 71 Ballet Beyond the Basics by Sandra Noll Hammond.