Dance Terms

1. À la seconde: "To the second position" or "to the side," as in plié à la seconde or grand battement à la seconde.

2. Adagio: "Slow tempo." In ballet, a tempo in which the dancer moves slowly and gracefully.

3. Allegro: "Brisk tempo." In ballet, a tempo in which the dancer moves briskly and excitedly.

4. Arabesque: A pose in which the dancer stands on one leg-either straight or demi-plié, and either flat-footed or en pointe-while extending the other leg straight behind at a right angle. The shoulders are square with the arms held to create a long line from fingertips to toes.

5. Assemblé: "Joined together." A move in which a dancer brushes the toes of one foot along the ground, then brings both legs together in the air.

6. Attitude: A pose in which the dancer stands straight on one leg with the other leg lifted in back or front and bent at 90 degrees. The arm on the side of the raised leg is curved over the head, and the other arm is held to the side.

7. Ballon: "To bounce." A light jump. Used to indicate the delicacy of the movement or jump.

8. Battement dégagé: "Disengaged battlement." A rapid back-and-forth movement of the non-supporting leg with the toes hovering just off the ground.

9. Cabriole: "Caper." A jump in which the dancer extends their legs out from their body and beats their calves together before landing.

10. Cambre: he classical ballet term Cambré means "arched". A Cambré describes an arched movement of the upper body, bending from the waist upwards, and can be done forwards, backwards or sideways.

11. Chaînés: "Chain" or "link." A popular movement in which the dancer turns on both feet, bringing each foot up and back down in rapid succession that allows for quick movement.

12. Changement: The changing of the foot position mid-jump en l'air, or "in the air".

13. Chassé: "To chase." A triple-step pattern in which the feet glide together step-by-step.

14 Coupé: "To. cut." Used to describe a step in which the foot replaces or "cuts" the opposite foot.

15. Dégagé: "Disengage." Pointing the foot in any direction with a fülly arched instep

• while the dancer's weight remains on the straight supporting leg.

16. Developpe: "To develop." Moving one leg up to the knee of the standing leg and slowly extending it in the air, holding the hips square according to the direction the dancer is facing.

17: Échappé: "Escaped." When the feet move from a closed position (first, third, or fifth position) to an opening position (second or fourth position)..

18. Elevé: "Elevated." Rising up on the balls of the foot (demi-pointe) or en pointe; a relevé without a demi-plié. Smooth and continuous rise to half toe

19. Grand battement: "Large battement." Lifting one leg in the air from the hip with the knee straight and the standing leg straight, then bringing the working leg down again without bending the knee.

20. Grand jeté: "Large throw." A high jump in which the legs are extended to 90 degrees. It is preceded by a preliminary movement, like a glissade (a gliding step).

21. Pas de chat: "Step of the cat." A sideways jump in which the legs bend, one after.: the other.

22. Passé: "Passed." A passing movement, in which one foot passes in back or in front of the knee of the supporting leg, or one leg passes the other in the air.

23. Penché: "Leaning" or "inclining," as in arabesque penché, in which the dancer's body leans far forward, with the forward arm and head low and the foot of the raised leg behind high in the air.

24. Piqué en arabesque: A movement in which the right foot is in front in fifth position, then the dancer demi-pliés and dégagés the right leg to step onto the point of the right foot, extending the left leg in arabesque.

25. Piqué turn: A pirouette where the dancer steps onto pointe or demi-pointe and raises the other leg in any position. Also known as piqué tour.

26. Pirouette: A complete turn of the body on one foot, either turning inward or outward, with the body centered over the supporting leg, the arms propelling the turn but remaining stationary during the turn, and the eyes "spotting" a fixed point while the head quickly turns.

27. Plié: Bending the knees in either a grand plié (full bending of the knees) or a demi-plié (half bending of the knees), with the legs turned out from the hips and the knees open and over the toes.

28. Port de bras: "Movement of the arms." The passage of the arms from one position

to another.

29. Relevé: "Raised." A movement in which the dancer starts in a demi-plié and then rises up to pointe or demi-pointe on one foot or both feet.

30. Rond de jambe: "Round of the leg." A circular movement of the leg, either clockwise or counterclockwise with the working leg either in the air or with a foot touching the floor.

31. Soussus: This term refers to a relevé in fifth position in which the toes of the leg that is forward are placed directly in front of the toes of the back leg. In soussus, both legs are completely straight and turned out.

32. Soutenu: "Sustained." A movement when the dancer turns en pointe in fifth position, landing on the opposite foot. The back foot should now be in front. Used öften by the corps de ballet.

33. Tombe: A step in which a dancer falls from one leg to the other, landing with all the weight on the foot that has just moved, while flexing the knee.

34. Turn-out: This term refers to the ability of the dancer to turn the legs outwards (en dehors) from the hip-joint. All of the steps in ballet must be executed with turn-out.

35. Variation: A solo in classical ballet.

36. Working Leg: This term refers to the leg that is executing a movement or a step.

It can be à terre or en l'air. The working leg is the opposite of the supporting leg.

37. First position: The heels stay together, and the feet turn outward in a straight line

38. Second position: The feet turn outward in a straight line, separated by about a distance of one foot.

39. Third position: The feet are turned outward with the heels placed together, one in : front of the other

40. Fourth position: The feet turn outward with one foot in front of the other, parallel and separated by about a foot. The big toe of each foot should align with the heel of the other.

41. Fifth position: The feet turn outward, one foot directly in front of the other with the first joint of each big toe extending past each heel.

42. Bras bas or preparatory position: both arms are down and rounded with both hands just in front of the hips, fingers almost touching.

43. First position. The arms are forward and raised in front of the body at 80 degrees. Elbows are rounded and fingers are pointed.

44. Second position. The arms are extended to the sides of the body horizontally. The arms are straight, but there is a downward bend to the shoulders and wrists.

45. Third position. The arms diverge in third position. One arm is kept at first position in front of the body, and the other to the side in second position.

46. Fourth position. One is kept in second position, while the other is raised about the head. There should be a slight bend to the elbows and wrists.

47. Fifth position. Both arms are raised above the head and slightly forward. Keep the elbows and wrists slightly bent.

Steps

• Ball Change: Syncopated weight shift onto the ball of the rear front foot and back to the flat front foot

• Charleston: A popular dance from the early days of jazz and swing, the Charleston has at its core a front-to-back weight shift accompanied by a forward kick, often performed with a partner and with arm motions and sometimes jazz hands.

• Fan kick: A fan kick is where one leg travels in a circular motion from in front of the other leg, up into the air at the full range of motion, over the head, and finally down in a resting position. It is named after its imitation of an opening hand fan.

• Hitch Kick: A scissor-like movement where one leg is in the air while the other leg kicks up to pass it

• Isolation: Movements that involve only one part of the body while the other parts remain still. Dancers most often isolate their heads, shoulders, hands, ribs or hips.

• Jazz walk: Many varieties but generally a turned out low walk using shoulder opposition while exchanging the weight from one foot to another with the hip leading. A forward-moving strut, the jazz walk is meant to convey a cool image, and to give the dancer a sultry and slinky gait when in motion

• Jazz pas de bourree: A back-side-front three step move which can happen in a variety of directions.

• Jazz square: A crossed front-back-back-front four step move in the floor pattern of

a square

• Kick, ball change:

• Triplet: is a generic term for dance step patterns that describes three steps done on two main beats of music. Usually they are two quick steps and one slow one, i.e., often they are counted as "quick-quick-slow",

, "one-and-two", "three-and-four", etc.

• Release: Following an isolated pose, the body "releases" into a freer form.