Final Ballet Terms

Final Ballet Terminology:

Croisé- The crossing of the legs with the body placed at an oblique angle to the audience. The disengaged leg may be crossed in the front or in the back.  

En Croix- A classical ballet term meaning “in the shape of a cross.” This term lets a dancer know to step "front, side, back."

Effacé- A classical ballet term meaning “shaded.” The term describes another step or pose in which the legs looks open(not crossed) when seen from the front. *Effacé is the opposite of croise. 

Écarté- A classical ballet term meaning “separated, thrown apart.” It is one of the eight directions of the body.

En avant- Moving forward or to the front. En avant is not an actual step or position itself and is almost always used with other terms, such as tendu en avant, which would mean to tendu directly toward the front.

En face- Ballet term describing the direction a dancer is facing and is one of the directions of the body. En face means the dancer is facing directly towards the audience.

 En arrière- Backward. Used to indicate that a step is executed moving away from the audience. 

Port de bras- A classical ballet term meaning “movement of the arms.” It describes how dancers move their arms from one position to another.

Glissade- A classical ballet term meaning “glide.”  It is a traveling, usually small, jump that is usually used to link other steps together.  It can be considered an in-between step.

Pas de chat- A classical ballet term meaning “cat’s step.”  It gets its name because the step resembles how a cat jumps.

Balancé- A rocking step. A step that shifts body weight from one foot to the other, usually in 3/4 time. A balance may be performed by crossing the foot in front or in back. 

Chassé- A step of one foot to the side, followed closely by te other foot. One foot leads and the other foot chases it. A chasse can be performed in any direction.

Tombé- A step in which a dancer falls from one leg to the other, landing with all the weighton the foot that has just moved, while flexing the knee.

Pas de bourrée- A classical ballet term meaning “beating steps.” A Pas de bourrée has many forms that mostly relate to the direction the dancer is moving or if the legs are bending or staying straight.

Class corrections

After watching myself, I realized that I tend to slouch when I am performing ballet. I need to use my full range of motion and have better posture. I definitely need to work on pointing my feet and getting my feet used to pointing. I also need to extend my legs out as far as then can go to get my full range of motion. Overall, I feel like I can achieve whatever in this class, I just have to work harder. However, I have definitely improved since the beginning of the semester.

It is hard for me to to get technique down as I am a hip hop dancer and have never done ballet before.

For the entire class, I noticed that we all tend to not point our feet to the best to our ability.

5 Classes of Jumps

2 Feet-->2 feet (Saute) jump
1 Foot--> Same foot-hop- Temps Leve
1 foot--> Other foot-leap- Jete
2 Feet--> One foot-Sissone(Jeap)
1 foot--> 2 feet-Assemble (Lump)

Saute/Jump: To jump, It can also refer to jumping in a particular position.

Temps Leve/hop: a small hop on one foot, with theater foot raised of the floor.

Jete/Leap: a leap in which the weight of the dancer is transferred from one foot to the other. The dancer throws one leg to the front, side, or to the back, and holds the leg in any desired position upon landing.

Sissone/Jeap: A scissor like jump in which a dancer jumps from both feet onto one foot. It can be performed petite or grande.

Assemble/Lump: A movement in which a dancer's feet or legs are brought together in the air and the dancer lands on both feet. It can be done front, back, dessus, dessons, etc.

JEWELS

'Jewels' is a three act ballet piece that was created for the New York City Ballet by co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine. The opening day was on Thursday, April 13, 1967, at the New York State Theatre. The ballet 'Jewels' was the first known abstract ballet piece that anyone had ever seen with the three movements of Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds. The first dance number is the 'Emeralds', where the dancers are wearing all green. There is three male dancer partnered up with one female dancer each; the choreography seems very elegant and well practiced. The next number is where the dancers are all rubies and are wearing all red. The music for this number was more upbeat, and the dancers seemed more energetic. The last number was the diamonds where all the dancers wore white costumes. The music slowed down again as well, however the ending was upbeat again and really was a crowd pleaser. 

7 Movements of Dance:

Plier- Means "to bend". 

Plié -Means "bend", from the verb plier, to bend. A smooth and continuous bending of the knees. A bending of the knees outward by a ballet dancer with the back held straight.

Demi-plié- the dancer bends the knees until just below the hips while maintaining turn-out at the joints, allowing the thighs and knees to be directly above the line of the toes without releasing the heels from the floor. The intention here is keep the heels on the ground as long as possible. In either instance, the motion is fluid and does not stop in downward bend. As soon as the bottom of the bend is reached the bend is reversed and the straightening of the legs is begun, equally as smoothly.

Grand plié-A full plié, or bending of the knees. The back should be straight and aligned with the heels, and the legs are turned out with knees over the feet. As a movement, it should be fluid. It may also be in preparation for another movement such as a leap. Often done in first, second, third, fourth, or fifth position. 

étendre- to stretch

Tendu- (Literally "stretched") Gradually extending the working leg to the front, side or back, until only the toes touch the floor, or further until toes are elevated. 

Degagé- To disengage. In between a tendu and a grande battement, the foot brushes against the floor and raises to about 45 degrees. It is usually a sharp and fast movement. It is done to prepare for jumps such as grand jete, assemble, and brise, in which the foot must brush against the floor. 

Relever/ Releve- 

Rising onto the balls or toes of one or both feet by pivoting feet downward at the ankles, or supporting the body with feet in the resulting demi pointe (raised heels) or en pointe (on the tips of the toes) orientations. 

Glisser- To slip, slide or glide. 

Literally, a glide. This is a traveling step starting in fifth position with demi-plié: the front foot moves out to a point, both legs briefly straighten as weight is shifted onto the pointed foot, and the other foot moves in to meet the first. A glissade can be en avant, en arrière, dessous, and dessus; start in fifth position plie, push off back foot moving the front foot forward and bringing the back foot that you pushed off on in the front landing in fifth position.

Sauter/Saute-  Literally "jump". As adjectives, sauté (masc.) or sautée (fem.) 

Elancer-  

“Elancer,” to dart, means to travel quickly through the air. 

Tourner- “Tourner,” to turn, is performed in a fixed position, across the floor or in the air. It is essential for the advanced "pirouette" moves involving full turns on the toe or ball of one foot, which requires proper weight transfer and good balance.

Devant- (Literally "front") Facing or moving to the front,

À la seconde

- A movement with feet to the side or in second position, as in pirouette à la seconde, in which the dancer turns with the working leg à la hauteur (elevated) in second position.

Derrière- At or to the back side. For example, a battement tendu derrière is a battement tendu taken to the rear. Point/face behind you.