Advanced Mid-Term Review
Coupe´: A position of your foot, pointed two inches above the ankle
Battement:A generic term which describes the various movements in which the leg makes
a beating motion.
En croix: In the shape of a cross (front, side, back)
Degage´:An exercise similar to atenduthat finishes with the foot lifted from the ground
in a point.
Rond de jambes `a terre: Circle of the leg, on the ground(`a terre). An exercise in
which you mark out a semi-circle on the floor with your pointed foot.
Grand Battement: Meaning large beats. An exercise in which you raise your pointed foot
high off of the ground keeping both legs straight.
Allegro: An Italian musical term meaning quick and lively. In ballet,allegrosteps are
completed in fast tempo without your arms flapping about.
Petit Allegro: Small jumping and turning steps.
Glissade: Gliding or sliding steps. A traveling step in which you glide your foot along
the floor with your front knee bent and you transfer your weight. During the moment
of transition, your legs are fully stretched.
Demi-pointe: Half point, meaning standing on the balls of your feet.
Bourre´e:A linking step in which you rise up on the balls of your feet (on to your half point) andglide across the floor with quick, tiny steps.
Pas de Bourre´e: A small stepping movement, executed on the balls of the feet or on pointe, in which the you either skim smoothly across the floor or transfer the weight from foot-to-foot three times as a transition into another movement. A pas-de-bourrée consists of bending both legs, extending one, then stepping up, up, down, finishing with bent knees.
Pas de chat: A traveling step-of-the-cat in which you bring one foot up along you
leg to the knee, and transfer your weight to the other leg with a spring in the air, landing
with your feet in 5th position.
Grand Allegro: A combination of large traveling steps and jumps.
Reverence: A movement, generally made by the sweep of an arm to acknowledge
the rest of the ensemble cast (corps), the instructor, the choreographer, and/or the orchestra.
· Sauté(soh-TAY): The dancer jumps and lands on the toes or balls of the feet.
Adagio
Adagio(Italian),adage(French), meaning "at ease". In song, Adagio means "slowly", and in ballet it means slow, enfolding movements, performed with the greatest amount of fluidity and grace as possible.
Allegro
(Italian pronunciation:[alˈlegro]) Meaning brisk, lively. A term applied to all bright, fast, or brisk movements.
Allongé
Means to "ellongate" Adjective describing a position as stretched out or made longer, often used with arabesque.
Assemblé
Frenchpronunciation:[asɑ̃ble]Sometimes alsopas assemblé. Literally "assembled". A jump from two feet to two feet, where the working leg performs abattement glissé/degagé, "swishing" out. With the dancer launching into a jump, the second foot then swishes up under the first foot.
Avant
"Forwards", to the front, as opposed to arrière.For example, a step travellingen avantmoves forwards, towards the audience, e.g.sissonne en avant.
Balancé
Usually executed in three counts, the dancer typically begins in fifth positionplié. Before the first count, one foot extends in adegagé, typically to second position. However, balancé devant or derrière are also possible.
Ballon
Main article:Ballon (ballet)
Ballonmeans "to bounce," where the dancer can show the lightness of the movement. This is a quality, not the elevation or height, of the jump. Even in small, quick jumps (petite allégro), dancers strive to exhibitballon. A dancer exhibitingballonwould spring off the floor and appear to pause mid-air before landing.
Brisé
[Literally "broken"] A jump. One leg is thrust from the fifth position to the front in the air; the second leg reaches the first in mid-air executing a beat. An alternate execution of brisé devant starts croisé in fifth position; brisé derrière is executed similarly with the front foot initiating the movement and brushing to effacé derriére.
Cabriole
Meaning caper. An allegro step in which the extended legs are beaten in the air. Cabrioles are divided into two categories: petite, which are executed at 45 degrees, and grande, which are executed at 90 degrees. The working leg is thrust into the air, the underneath leg follows and beats against the first leg, sending it higher. The landing is then made on the underneath leg.
Changement
Literally "changing". A jump in which the feet change positions in the air. For example, beginning in fifth position with the right foot front,pliéand jump, switching the right to the back, landing with the left foot front in fifth position. In the Vaganova vocabulary,petit changement de piedsindicates achangementwhere the feet barely leave the floor.
Derrière
At or to the back side. For example, abattement tendu derrièreis abattement tendutaken to the rear. point/face behind you.
Devant
Literally "front". For example,tendu devantwould mean stretching the foot to the front, orattitude devantwould mean executing anattitudeto the front. point/face to front
En dehors
Literally "outwards". Movement within a circle so that the leg starts at the front or the side and moves towards the back. For the working leg, this is a clockwise circle.
Entrechat
"A step of beating in which the dancer jumps into the air and rapidly crosses the legs before and behind."[
Faille
"To give way". The dancer springs into the air, landing on the front foot with the back foot raised. The back foot then slides through to the front. During the spring the body is turned slightly inwards towards the front foot with the face turned away.
Fouetté
Literally "whipped". The term indicates either a turn with a quick change in the direction of the working leg as it passes in front of or behind the supporting leg, or a quick whipping around of the body from one direction to another.
Frappé
Frappé means to "strike". SeeBattementfrappéis hitting the floor or an ankle with a moving foot.
Grand jeté
A long horizontal jump, starting from one leg and landing on the other. Known as a split in the air.
Jeté
Jetéis a jump from one foot to the other similar to a leap, in which one leg appears to be "thrown" in the direction of the movement (en avant, en arrière or sideways).
Pas de basque
"step of theBasques". Halfway between a step and a leap, taken on the floor (glissé) or with a jump (sauté); it can be done moving toward the front or toward the back. This step can also be found inScottish highland dance.
Pas de chat
"the step of the cat". The dancer jumps sideways, and while in mid-air, bends both legs up (two retirés) bringing the feet up as high as possible, with knees apart. TheDance of the CygnetsfromSwan Lakeinvolves sixteenpas de chat, performed by four dancers holding hands with their arms interlaced.
Pas de cheval
"step of the horse". The dancer does acou de piedthen a smalldeveloppéandtenduback into starting position.
Port de bras
Literally "carriage of the arms". Sometimes misspelled "porte-bras".
Saut de chat
A jump similar to a "grande jété" where the front leg extends with a développé.
Sissonne
A jump done from two feet to one foot. Named after the originator of the step. In a sissonne over the back foot closes in front and in a sissonne under the front foot closes behind. Exceptions to the traditional sissonne include sissonne fermee, sissonne tombe, and sissonne fondue, which all finish on two feet.
Soubresaut
A sudden spring or jump from both feet, traveling forward in either first third or fifth position and landing on both feet in the same position as they started.
Sur le cou-de-pied
Literally, "on the neck of the foot". The working foot is placed on the part of the leg between the base of the calf and the beginning of the ankle.
Tombé
The act of falling.
Quatrième
Meaning Fourth.