Learn the attitude: knee higher than the foot, pelvis quiet and standing leg active. From the flat version to balance on demi-pointe with back protection.
The honest answer to “What is an attitude and why does it wobble so much?”: you stand on one leg and hold the other bent at the knee in the air: to the front (devant), the back (derrière) or the side (à la seconde), the knee higher than the foot. It looks more elegant than arabesque and développé because the leg looks “softer”. But the bent leg shifts weight and lever, and that is exactly where the body starts to wobble.
It is not equally difficult in every direction. In a study with 14 non-professional dancers (at least seven years of ballet), attitude devant, derrière and à la seconde were measured on demi-pointe: attitude à la seconde was the least demanding, attitude derrière the most, and barefoot they stood steadier than in ballet slippers [1]. For you that means: start with the side and work slowly toward the back.
How hard is it really? If you master retiré and développé you can hold a flat attitude à la seconde within weeks; attitude derrière and balance on demi-pointe take months (rules of thumb, no study evidence). Honest expectation: you wobble at the beginning, and that is part of learning, not failure.
As with the arabesque: standing leg long and active, pelvis level. Milestone: ten seconds stable on one leg.
From retiré open the knee to the side and lift it to about hip height or lower. The foot sits slightly lower than the knee. Chest and pelvis stay frontal. Milestone: five seconds of attitude à la seconde with a hand on the barre, without leaning the trunk.
The knee opens forward and outward, the foot hangs below the knee. The back stays long, ribs over the pelvis. If your weight falls backward in the pelvis, lower the leg. Milestone: five seconds without pelvic tilt.
Here the position demands the most: the leg goes back, the knee is bent. The measurement in study [1] shows it was the least stable of the three poses. We also know from grand battement derrière that in advanced dancers the pelvis tilts forward and more movement comes from the pelvis than from the hip [2]. So take special care of abdominal and glute control. Milestone: three seconds until the pelvis is quiet.
Only when you master the flat attitude do you go onto demi-pointe. Note that fatigue quickly worsens control: in a study with 20 ballet dancers the centre of mass moved more sideways in relevé under fatigue, and hip and trunk had to compensate more [4]. So practise demi-pointe poses early in class.
Attitude derrière in particular loads the lower back when the back instead of the hip makes the height. A study with 30 students linked greater lordosis in retiré and développé à la seconde to later back pain [3]; in another with 29 young professionals, dancers with back pain showed less trunk control in arabesque [5]. So: rather a lower leg, a quiet pelvis. Pause with pain in the lower back or hip. On demi-pointe only with a secure relevé. Pointe shoes are not part of this guide: attitude on pointe only after your teacher has cleared you. This guide explains and motivates but does not replace supervised training.
If you wobble, take your shoes off. Study [1] found more contact area and less sway barefoot than in ballet slippers. For practising balance on demi-pointe, barefoot training can be a good tool; this applies to the poses and shoes of the study, not to pointe shoes. Use a non-slip floor for it.
Mini practice plan (rule of thumb): Three times a week for five minutes: three times five seconds of attitude à la seconde at the barre per side, then attitude devant. Attitude derrière only with a very low leg until your pelvis stays quiet. Switch sides after each pass so neither side tires. Note when you wobble; the timing usually reveals the cause (fatigue, pelvis, standing leg).
In the arabesque the back leg is straight, in the attitude bent. Both are poses on one leg.
In the study with 14 dancers, attitude derrière was the most demanding, attitude à la seconde the least [1].
Common causes are a tipping pelvis, a soft standing leg, too much height or tiredness. With fatigue the centre of mass shifts more sideways, and hip and trunk compensate [4].
Begin with three to five seconds and increase when pelvis and standing leg stay quiet (rule of thumb).
Not extremely. More important are a stable standing leg, a quiet pelvis and control. Hip mobility helps the knee come up without the back helping; but you may rather keep the knee lower.
Piqué Turn: From a Step into the Turn