Ballet has amassed many different motions and movements through its development in the French and Russian cultures. The five basic arm positions and five basic foot positions make up the foundation of each exercise in the ballet world. Fittingly, each exercise then goes on to make up the choreographed pieces seen in your local recitals and in larger productions all over the world.
Pliés
The plié is one of the most basic ballet exercises; it is a bending of the knees. In practice, you can do a plié in one of two ways. Demi-plié is a half bending of the knees, while grand plié is a full bending of the knees.
Battements
The battements are the “beating” movements in ballet. The petits battements, or small battements, include: tendu, a pointing of the foot in which your toes do not leave the ground; dégagé, a pointing similar to tendu, but in which your toes rise off the floor; and frappé, a pointing of the foot that starts off the ground. The grand battement maintains the pointed toe of the petits battements but requires you to swing your leg to is fullest extension.
Ronds De Jambe
The rond de jambe is a movement in which a your pointed foot traces a half circle on one side of the body, either from front to back or back to front. Ronds de jambe may be à terre, brushing the ground, or en l’air, in the air.
Jeté
A jeté is your leap. The most well-known is the grand jeté, the midpoint of which makes you look like you are doing a split in the air. Other jetés include petit jeté, or a small jump, a jeté entrelacé, which involves a turn during the leap, and a jeté battu, a jump with smaller foot motions that makes the dancer look as if he or she is switching foot placement in the air multiple times.
Pas
Simply, pas means step, and there are many different types of pas in ballet. The solo steps are the pas de bourée, a combination usually taught as a back-side-front step, the pas de chat, which is a sideways leaping step, the pas marché, a balletic version of a marching step, and a pas de valse, a balletic waltz step. The pas de deux, pas de trios, and pas de quatre are dances or segments in which two, three, and four dancers, respectively, are dancing together and interacting with each other through the dance.
Turns
Turns and spins come in many different forms in ballet, often combining other movements and exercises to create a different look. There are, however, three basic turns from which the others are built. The chaînés turn is a three-point turn in which you step to the side, take a second step while rotating 180 degrees, then take a third step to finish the rotation. The fouetté is a whip spin done on one leg, usually accompanied with a rond de jombe; the pirouette is another one-legged spin, one that keeps a more consistent rotation and usually places the foot of your free leg near the knee of your supporting/turning leg.
References
- “The Ballet Companion;” Eliza Gaynor Minden; Simon & Schuster; 2005.
- American Ballet Theatre: Ballet Dictionary
Member Comments