Dance
120 flashcards by MentisLibrary
Ballet vocabulary and the five positions, modern and contemporary technique, the choreographers and works that shaped the art, dance history, anatomy and injury prevention, and the staging terms used in the studio and on stage.
- How many basic positions of the feet does classical ballet use, and who set them down?
- Five. Pierre Beauchamp, ballet master to Louis XIV, codified them in the late 17th century, and every ballet school still teaches the same five.
- Describe first position of the feet.
- Heels together, legs rotated outward from the hips so the feet form as close to one straight line as the dancer's rotation allows.
- Describe second position of the feet.
- The same outward rotation as first, but with the heels separated by about one and a half foot lengths along one line.
- Describe third position of the feet.
- One foot in front of the other with the front heel touching the middle of the back foot, both turned out.
- Describe fourth position of the feet.
- One foot directly in front of the other, about one foot length apart. Open fourth lines up with first; crossed fourth lines up with fifth.
- Describe fifth position of the feet.
- Feet crossed and touching along their length, the front heel against the joint of the back big toe, both fully turned out.
- What is port de bras?
- The carriage of the arms, both the named positions and the exercises that move between them.
- What is turnout?
- The outward rotation of the legs from the hip joints, the defining feature of classical ballet technique.
- What is epaulement?
- The placement of the head and shoulders in relation to the hips, literally the shouldering of a position.
- Demi-plié versus grand plié
- Both bend the knees over the toes with the back straight. In a demi-plié the heels stay on the floor; in a grand plié the knees bend fully and the heels release, except in second position where they stay down.
- Relevé versus élevé
- Both rise onto the balls of the feet or onto pointe. A relevé rises from a plié; an élevé rises from straight legs with no preparatory bend.
- What is a battement tendu?
- The working foot slides along the floor away from the supporting leg until the leg is straight and the foot fully pointed, with the toes never leaving the floor.
- What is a battement dégagé?
- A tendu that continues until the foot brushes off the floor to a low height, usually a few inches, and returns.
- What is a rond de jambe?
- A circular path of the working leg. À terre the toe traces a semicircle on the floor; en l'air the lower leg circles at hip height.
- What is a battement frappé?
- From a flexed or wrapped position at the ankle, the working foot strikes outward and the leg extends sharply to a low or medium height.
- What is a fondu?
- A melting movement in which the supporting leg bends while the working leg simultaneously unfolds, so both legs move together and arrive at the same moment.
- What is a développé?
- The working foot draws up the supporting leg to retiré and then unfolds to an extended position in the air.
- Retiré versus passé
- Retiré is the position with the working foot drawn up beside the supporting knee. Passé is the action of passing the foot through that position from one place to another.
- What is a grand battement?
- A large, fast throw of the straight working leg to hip height or above, with the pelvis and supporting side held still.
- What is an attitude?
- A position on one leg with the other lifted front or back and bent at roughly 90 degrees at the knee, the thigh turned out so the knee is higher than the foot.
- What is an arabesque?
- A position on one leg with the other extended straight behind, the body held so the line runs from the fingertips through the spine to the pointed back foot.
- What is an arabesque penché?
- An arabesque in which the dancer tilts the torso forward and the back leg rises correspondingly, opening the two legs toward a vertical split.
- Adagio versus allegro
- Adagio is slow, sustained work on extension, balance and line. Allegro is fast, jumping work; petit allegro is small and quick, grand allegro is large and traveling.
- What are the five basic categories of ballet jump?
- They are classified by how the dancer takes off and lands: two feet to two, one foot to the same foot, one foot to the other foot, one foot to two feet, and two feet to one foot.
- What is an assemblé?
- One leg brushes out, the dancer pushes off the supporting leg, the legs assemble together in the air, and both land at once in fifth position.
- What is a grand jeté?
- A large leap from one foot to the other, usually with a split in the air, traveling forward.
- What is a sissonne?
- A jump from two feet onto one, traveling, with the legs opening in the air. It may be closed, landing back in fifth, or open, landing and holding the second leg out.
- What is an entrechat?
- A vertical jump in which the legs cross and change rapidly in the air. The number counts the crossings, so an entrechat quatre has four.
- What is a pirouette, and what do en dehors and en dedans mean?
- A turn on one leg, usually in retiré. En dehors turns away from the supporting leg, outward; en dedans turns toward it, inward.
- What is spotting?
- The head technique for turning: the eyes fix on one point, the body begins to turn, then the head whips around and refinds the same point.