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

_________________________________________________________________

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