The pleasure of Pushkin's class

The active participation of arm, torso, and head movements gave Pushkin's assigned adagios the appearance of dance miniatures.

This last point is significant. "Pushkin," recalled Mikhail Mikhailov, "preferred to assign learning combinations that contained an element of theater and thus helped his students fall in love with dance, feel an emotional uplift that led to artistry. In sum, besides the colossal practical benefit, these combinations gave the students great aesthetic pleasure."

Alexander Pushkin: Master Teacher of Dance by Gennady Albert. 2001. Page 132.