Compliment (bow)
In the performing arts, a compliment is a ritualized bow .
Dance, theater and artistry
The compliment is originally a dance figure at the beginning and at the end of ballroom dances (see historical dance ). It can consist of various bows, curtsies or nods of the head of the dancers to each other and originally differentiates them according to gender and social rank. The quadrille as a counter dance with compliments was generally danced well into the 20th century.
In ballet , but also in drama and opera , the bows to the audience were previously fixed gestures that were called compliments (for example the "kissing hand"). The compliment in this variant is often a signal for applause.
Today the compliment is mostly known from circus acrobatics . It consists of a dance pose. It thus structures the performances of artists , signals the beginning and the end of numbers or the end of a successful trick .
dressage
A "polite" and thus humanization of animals has been considered a special dressage achievement since modern times . The compliment has been received to this day. A compliment in circus “ freedom dressage”, not classical dressage, is a bow of a four-legged friend (e.g. a horse ).
Care is taken that the horse z. B. lifts a front hoof as if to raise a hoof , and at the same time shifts the rest of the body a little backwards in order to set the leg on the ground at the level of the pastern joint . The compliment is a circus lesson and is mainly performed in circuses with horses or elephants. It is also practiced and demonstrated with the Lipizzaner horses from the Vienna Riding School .
To practice this lesson, the trainer uses a bridle with reins and a whip , with the help of which he touches the pastern joint of the horse to be trained until the horse moves its leg. If it does, the horse is rewarded, usually with feed. Until the horse knows what you want from him, the leg must be held up with a rope while the reins are taken so that the standing horse shifts backwards in weight.
A responsible trainer works exclusively with reward or failure to reward, the means of positive reinforcement in order to maintain the trust of the horse. This is a basic requirement for long-term successful work.
The compliment is usually the beginning of the horse's circus lessons. First a horse should learn the simple exercises on the ground, then everyone else. The exercises towards the floor are: the compliment, kneeling, lying flat, sitting. Sometimes the Plié .
Advanced lessons (with more potential for aggression) are the Spanish step , the circus passage and finally rising, in the high school with the expression pesade referred, in various forms.