Ballet Vocabul
ary
AlignmentAlignment
Proper body placement;
posture with neck over shoulder girdle, shoulders over hips, hips over knees, knees over feet
Demi-Plie’Half bend of the knees
Ballet Notes 1
Grand Plie’ Big full bend; heels come off the
floor (except in 2nd position)
Ballet Notes 1
Tendu
Stretched; Slide toes along the floor until toes reach out to a pointe
Ballet Notes 1
Degage’ - JeteTendu with the foot off the ground.
Means “To disengage”
Ballet Notes 2
Grand Battement
Big kick• Example-working leg rises from
the hip into the air and is brought down again with both knees straight.
Ballet Notes 2
Port de BrasCarriage of the arms
Ballet Notes 3
Rond de Jambe’ Circling of the leg.
• Example-point foot front, side, and back, then through 1st and reverse.
Ballet Notes 3
En DehorsTo the outside
En DedansTo the inside
Ballet Notes 3
En L’Air
* in the air
A’Terre
* on the floor
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En Croix
In the shape of a cross
• Example-Four tendues in each direction front/side/back/side
Ballet Notes 2
Devant
To the front
Ballet Notes 2
A la secondeTo the side
Ballet Notes 2
Derriere
To the back
Ballet Notes 2
Passe’ Means “passed”. Toe passes
along supporting leg & stops below or at supporting knee.
Ballet Notes 4
Developpe’ Develop the leg to an extended
position
Ballet Notes 4
Eleve’ To rise onto the ball of the foot/feet without
a plie first.
Releve’ Eleve’ with a plie’
Sous-sus
“Over / Under”
From 5th, plie’ then rise to releve with no space in legs and heels
Pas de Bourree’ Step of the flowing. Step back,
side, then front.
Glissade “To glide”
From 5th position in demi-plie’, degage front leg, slide and transfer weight, degage second leg into 5th position plie’.
Assamble
To assemble or put together the legs
Cambre • Bending at the torso
Soutenu A turn that begins with a deep plie
with the leading leg extended in a tendue position. Turning underneath yourself
Spotting The movement of the head and
focusing of the eyes in turns to keep from getting dizzy
Pirouette A Turn
Chasse’ Means “to chase”. One foot literally
chases the other foot out of its position. Step, together, step.
Chaine’ Chain like turns
Grand Jete’A Big leap
26. Pique
To prick or lightly tap as if dotting an “i”
Pique Turns
Stepping onto a straight knee and turning on passe
Changement
A jump to change feet from front to back or vise versa
Saute’ A jump that begins and ends in a
demi-plie’. Both feet to both feet.
30. Arabesque
A famous pose in ballet where one leg is extended to the back and the opposite leg is standing straight on the ground.
Temps Leve“Raised time”
A hop on one leg
Echappe“Escape”
Changing from a closed position to an open position
Balancoire Degage front and back brushing
through 1st
Balance’Shifting the weight from one foot to the
other. 1, 2, 3 even tempo (brush, ball change, brush, ball change)
Reverence A bow or curtsy at the end of class
to show appreciation to the teacher and other dancers
Attitude A pose on one leg, the other leg
lifted, well turned out and bent at the knee with the lower leg and foot opened away from the body
Pas de Chat Means “step of the cat”. Jump
sideways, and while in mid-air, bends both legs up bringing the feet up as high as possible, with knees apart. Land in plie’
Bourree
Rippling movement in sous-sus position. Rapid steps where front knee is slightly bent.
Plie’A bending of the knees
Ballet Notes 1
Battement
“Beating”• Three kinds of battement:
tendue, jete/degage, & grand battement
Ballet Notes 1