The Vaganova 4th Port de Bras involves a challenging twist of the upper body, achieving its characteristic line in the 4th arabesque arm position. It requires a great deal of energy and strength in the back muscles, all the while creating a soft expressive look.
The dancer begins with feet in 3rd or 5th position croisé and arms in preparatory. After a small breath, the arms rise together to 1st position, then split as they do for 2nd Port de Bras, with the upstage arm arriving in 3rd position while the downstage arm arrives in 2nd position. During this phase, the eyes focus on the downstage hand, following its movements up to 1st position with a slight inclination over the upstage shoulder, and out to 2nd position with an inclination slightly backward over the downstage shoulder.
Now the dancer turns the focus to the upstage hand, watching it as it begins its reach towards the back corner of the room, opposite to the corner the dancer’s hips are facing. As this upstage arm is reaching to the back corner, the dancer is twisting at the waist towards the back of the room and the downstage arm is beginning movement down to preparatory.
As the upstage arm nears its destination across from the shoulder, the dancer’s focus shifts back to the downstage hand as it rises from preparatory to allongé across from its shoulder. In this position, 4th arabesque, the palms of both hands are facing the floor, fingers elongated, elbows just lightly relaxed. Shoulders must be in an even line. There is a common tendency to let the upstage shoulder push upwards and this must be diligently avoided. The arms in this position are as they would be in 2nd position allongé except that the back is twisted at the waist such that the arms are reaching in what appear to be forward and backward directions. The dancer’s back should be turned strongly towards the audience. At the completion of this line, the head tilts slightly over the downstage shoulder with a minimal lift of the chin and the eyes following the line of the fingers upward towards the downstage corner.
Mistakes to watch out for…
To complete the 4th Port de Bras, the upstage arm descends to preparatory and rises to meet the downstage arm in 1st position as the body returns to its original facing. The arms then open again to 3rd (upstage arm) and 2nd (downstage arm) positions.
