Ballet Terminology

Arabesque, in which the dancer extends one leg backward in a straight line
Attitude, a leg extension forward or back with a bent knee.
Pirouette, a turn on one leg with the other leg raised
Fouetté the free leg whips around to provide impetus for the turns.
Entrechat, the dancer jumps straight up and beats the calves of the legs together in
midair.
Jeté, is a leap from one foot onto the other.
Saut de Chat, the dancer leaps from one foot to another.
Men and women learn to dance together in pas de deux, or partnering, class. Some
ballet schools also teach mime, the conventional hand gestures used to tell the story in
older ballets.
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Allegro is the third part of a ballet class: fast work, jumps, turns. Usually divided into
petit ["little"] allegro and grand ["big"] allegro.
Adagio is the second part of a ballet class: slow work with emphasis on sustained
positions and on balance.
Assemblé is a jump: plié, brushing working leg out. Bring both legs together into fifth
position while in midair; land on both feet.
Balancé is a waltz step.
Balançoire is when the dancer swings the working leg vigorously back and forth
between fourth position front and fourth back, through first position.
Barre is the first part of ballet class, consisting of exercises done with the aid of the
barre.
Battement is a generic term for various movements in which the leg is extended and
then returned. See grand battement and petit battement.
Tendu, slide the working foot out until only the toes are touching the floor; then slide
it back.
Cambré is a bend from the waist in any direction, but especially forward or back.
Changement is a jump, straight up, starting from fifth position with one foot in front
and landing in fifth position with the other foot in front.
Chassé is a gliding step. The working leg slides out; put weight on working leg and
draw other leg along floor to it.
Sur le cou-de-pied ["at the neck of the foot"], is the thinnest part of the calf, just
above the ankle.
Coupé is a linking step in which the working foot displaces the supporting foot.
Dégagé is a movement or position in which the working leg is lifted off the floor.
Détourné is a smooth turn made by pivoting on the toes in relevé.
Developpé is a movement in which the working leg is drawn up to the knee of the
supporting leg and from there smoothly out to a position in the air, usually at 90
degrees.
En l'air is used to describe movements in which the working leg is raised a
considerable distance off the ground.
Épaulement is the rotation of the shoulders and head (relative to the hips) to add
beauty or expressiveness to a pose, step, or movement.
Extension is the ability to raise the working leg high in the air. Good extension comes
from a combination of inborn flexibility and training.
Elevation is the ability to jump high in the air. A step of elevation is a jump.
Combination. A series of steps linked together, usually as an exercise in class.
Fondu is any movement that lowers the body by bending one leg. In a plié, both legs
support the body; in a fondu, only one leg supports the body.
Glissade is a connecting step. Start in plié; move the right foot out to pointe tendu;
then move onto that leg, closing the left foot and landing in plié.
Grand jeté is a long horizontal jump, starting from one leg and landing on the other.
In the middle of the jump, the dancer may be doing a split in midair.
Pas de Basque
Pas de bourrée
Pas de chat
Pas de cheval
Passé
Penché
Petit battement
Pirouette is a complete turn on one leg.
Plié is when knee bends, done with the legs turned out.
Port de bras are 1. How a dancer uses his arms. 2. Specific movements of the arms,
as first port de bras, second port de bras, etc. 3. Sometimes used instead of cambré. A
grand port de bras is a circular bend, either toward the barre, then down, then up away
from the barre, and then backward and back toward the barre: or the same thing in the
opposite direction.
Promenade is a pivot turn in which the dancer moves slowly around by shifting the
heel of the supporting leg.
Relevé is a movement in which the heels are raised off the floor.
Rond de jambe is a movement in which the working leg is made to describe a letter
D about the supporting leg.
Sissonne is a type of jump that has several forms, sissonne simple, sissonne ouverte,
sissonne fermée, sissonne fondue, and others.
Soutenu
Spotting is a technique for for keeping oriented and avoiding dizziness during turns.

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