Chapter Text
(A/n: Hello! I did my best studying up for this ballet au and there will be a lot of terms used. For those who have no experience with ballet, this could be helpful to you. I tried my best to be accurate as I can. Definitions come from a mix of myself, Ballethub, and this book called Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet [which I have now lost apparently]. I did my best to be as accurate as possible! I tried to find a balance for those who are experienced and for those who aren't. This story may contain some inaccuracies either because I couldn't find a clear answer when searching or for story purposes. Regardless, I did my best and I hope you enjoy!)
TERMS
A
À la seconde - the leg is positioned to the side. Turns are when one leg is kept in second position in the air while turning.
En l'air - in the air. A movement is performed in the air.
Adaigo - a slow, fluid series of movements that flow from one to another.
Allégro - fast and dynamic movements often including jumping steps. Petit allegro includes smaller jumping steps. Grand allegro includes large expansive jumps such as grand jeté.
Allongé - to elongate, stretch and make longer.
Arabesque - One leg planted on the ground with the other leg kept straight behind them. Height and arm positions vary.
Assemblé - brushing a foot to the side and allowing the upward momentum to make you jump. Both legs come together with feet pointed and then land in fifth position.
Attitude - One leg in the air that is bent/angled forward (devant) or backwards (derrière).
B
Balançoire - swinging the working leg back and forth repeatedly with the upper body tilting in the opposite direction of the leg.
Balancé - a rhythm of three counts like a waltz, a step that alternates the feet by stepping out, stepping front, and stepping back.
Ballerina - female dancer.
Ballet master/mistress - a person whose job is to teach company class and to rehearse the ballets.
Balletomane - ballet fan.
Barre - a horizontal bar along a studio wall for class exercise and every ballet class begins with barre exercises.
En bas - a low position of the arms in fifth. Arms are rounded with fingers almost touching.
Battement Développé - meaning "battement developed." From a fifth position, the dancer moves their working foot up to a retiré position and opens to the front, side or back with a deliberate motion. A battement développé finishes by closing back into fifth position.
B-Plus - a "resting" pose where the dancer stands on one leg with the other placed on the floor behind with a slight bend and point.
Bourrée - a series of small steps from foot to foot, appearing as if they are gliding or floating.
Brisé - Start in fifth position. The working leg brushes up and the other leg jumps up to meet it in front of or behind in the air. Finally both feet land in fifth position. This is similar to an assemblé however there is a beat and the dancer travels.
Brisé volé - when a dancer alternates between brisé front and back in succession. Each time the dancer jumps and lands, it is on one leg.
C
Cabriole - meaning caper. A dancer jumps in the air off one leg as the other is thrown upwards, as the bottom leg raises to meet and beat with the top leg, the top leg continues to go higher as the bottom leg returns to the floor.
Centre practice - exercises in the center of the room that don't require the support of a barre.
Chaînés tour - chains, turning on relevé with legs straight.
Chassé - to chase. A step-together-step traveling movement. It can be done in any direction with one leg stepping out with the other meeting together for a short moment before the starting leg shoots out again.
Changement - to change, starting in fifth position and jumping to switch the leg in front and landing in the same position.
En cloche - meaning like a bell. Typically used with battement en cloche where the dancer's leg goes back and forth through first position with the upper half straight. Essentially pushing a leg through first position either back or front.
Coda - refers to the finale of a group of dancers and more often, the finale of a pas de deux.
Corps de ballet - body of the ballet. The ensemble dancers who are not soloists or principals.
Cou-de-pied - neck of the foot. Having your foot pointed with toes pressed, resting above the ankle. A position of the foot and not a step.
Coupé - to cut. One foot cuts the other foot and takes its place.
D
En dedans - inward. For example with a rond de jambe en dedans, it would start back with a circular motion to the front.
Danseur - male ballet dancer.
En dehors - outward. For example with a rond de jambe en dehors, it would start from the front with a circular motion to the back.
Dégagé - to disengage. A step where the working leg pushes off slightly from the floor and it can be done in any direction.
Demi - means half. A demi plié is a half bend at the knees and being on demi pointe is standing on the balls of your feet.
Derrière - meaning back or behind. It describes the position or direction for a step. A tendu derrière could be described as a tendu to the back.
Devant - meaning in front. A tendu devant has the working leg in front.
Développé - to develop, extending your leg through a coupé, a passé, an attitude, and then to a full extension.
Détourné - turned aside. A pivot turn on both points or demi-pointes. It is a complete turn toward the back foot and reverses the position of the feet.
En diagonale - in a diagonal. A step done traveling in a diagonal.
Double tour en l'air - a standard step for men. Starting in fifth position, the arms provide momentum in which way the dancer is turning. They plié before jumping in the air to turn twice and landing back in fifth position. Both legs can be kept straight or one leg up in passé.
E
Échappé - meaning "slipping movement" or "escaping." A dancer does an échappé with their legs and feet. Starting in a closed position, usually fifth position with the feet, the dancer slides both feet out equally into either second or fourth position. A standard échappé is done without the dancer's feet never losing contact with the floor the entire movement.
Effacé - meaning "shaded." The term describes another step or pose in which the legs looks open, or not crossed, when seen from the front. You can say that effacé is the opposite of croisé.
Emboîté - meaning fitted together. A turn would be done like a chaînés, but one leg is picked up into passé and alternates with the other leg to do the same.
Entrechat - meaning "interweaving" or "braiding." It describes when a dancer jumps into the air and beats their legs by changing the position of their legs and feet to the front or back of each other.
Entrelacé - meaning "closed." It is used along with other terms to describe how the legs are or are ending in a step. For example, a sissone fermé is when a dancer jumps into the air in a sissone and closes to both feet in fifth position.
Enveloppé - meaning "enveloped." This step or movement can be considered the opposite of développé. When a dancer performs an enveloppé, they start with the working leg stretched to either the front, side or back. The leg is then brought into either cou-de-pied or passé and then usually closed to fifth position.
F
En Face - facing the front , directly where the audience is or should be.
Failli - to fall through. Usually a preparation or in between step
Fermé - meaning "closed." It is used along with other terms to describe how the legs are or are ending in a step. For example, a sissone fermé is when a dancer jumps into the air in a sissone and closes to both feet in fifth position.
Finger turns - describing a step where the girl is turning while being partnered by a male dancer. Their only connection during the turn is by the fingers/hands. The male dancer stands slightly behind the female dancer, both with one arm raised and connected as she does pirouettes.
Fish dive - describing a step where the ballerina is in a retiré position and held low to the ground by a male dancer. A fish dive can be done simply from arabesque where the male places his hands around the ballerina's waist and under the thigh of the arabesque leg.
Fondu - to sink down/melting, a plié with both legs with one in cou-de-pied before extending out with both legs straightening and coming back into a cou-de-pied.
Fouetté turn - meaning "whipped turns." A fouetté turn is when a dancer, usually female, does a full turn in passé (pirouette), followed by a plié on the standing leg as the working leg opens to second (à la secondé) before getting tucked back to passé and whipping out again.
Fouetté - meaning "whipped." The term fouetté is used with others to describe different steps, however, it almost always describes the quick whipping action of a dancer's leg or body. A fouetté sauté where they jump in the air with a single leg to the front, then quickly change body (whipping around) direction to the opposite side and rotating the leg into an arabesque before landing. A fouetté relevé is the same motion but only rising onto the fall of your foot instead of jumping.
Frappé - to strike, the working leg is flexed with the heel pressed up the ankle before brushing/striking the ground and returning to its flexed position. It can be done in all directions.
G
Glissade - to glide, a travel step that starts by jumping off from one leg and landing on the other.
Grand allegro - Large, slow movements often involving jumps.
Grand battement - a big beat, thrown. One leg planted straight while the other is brushes forward, to the side, or backwards in a large controlled kick.
Grand plié - a big bend, a deep bend in the legs.
J
Jeté - meaning "throwing" or "thrown." Though often used with another term, jeté usually describes a type of jump where the dancer extends one leg then jumps off the floor with the other.
Petit jeté - meaning "small throw." It describes a jump where a dancer throws, or brushes, one leg into the air, then pushes off the floor with the other jumping into the air and landing on the first leg.
Grand jeté - meaning "big throw." It describes a big jump where the dancer throws one leg into the air, pushes off the floor with the other, jumping into the air and landing again on the first leg.
Jeté en tournant - It describes a step where the dancer throws one leg in the air, jumps and brings the other leg up to meet the first leg, while switching their body position half way around, then landing in an arabesque on the opposite leg. Also referred to as jeté tour and jeté entrelacé.
M
Manèges - meaning circular. Describing a dancer doing a step in a circular pattern on stage.
P
Pas de bourrée - a sideways step in which one foot crosses behind or in front of the other, often en pointe, giving the appearance of gliding.
Pas de chat - step of the cat, pushing off one leg with the other coming up to passé and for a brief moment, both legs are up in passé. The first leg to have come up is the leg that you land on with the other following after.
Pas de cheval - step of the horse, starting fifth position to lift the front foot up into cou-de-pied and then extending it into tendu.
Pas de deux - a dance for two.
Pas de quatre - a dance for four. An example is the dance of the little swans in Swan lake, performed by four dancers.
Pas de trois - a dance for three. There can be partnering so either two male dancers with a female or two females with a male.
Passé - Hips turned out with the working leg up, pointed and pressed against the knee. Also called retiré.
Penché - meaning leaning. The back leg is extending up in an arabesque above 90 degrees with the upper body tilting down.
Petit allegro - Small, quick movements often involving jumps.
Petit battement - raising the leg to a cou-de-pied position and flicking the working leg to the front and back of the leg. Only below the knee moves for the working leg.
Piqué manège - piqué turns done in a circular pattern on stage.
Piqué tour - piqué means to prick, one leg extends out to stand on relevé with the other leg coming up to passé to turn.
Pirouette - a turn in passé that can be done in many positions. Normally with one leg up to passé.
Plié - to bend, bending the legs.
Port de bras - movement of the arms. It describes how dancers move their arms from one position to another.
Tour de Promenade - a slow turn with one leg in arabesque or attitude.
Principal - The highest rank within a company to be promoted to. A principal role is a lead character role.
R
Relevé - meaning raised. A dancer rising up onto demi pointe (on balls of feet) or fully en pointe with pointe shoes.
Relevé fouetté - throwing the working leg up and at the same time the supporting leg rises up to relevé as the dancer turns to face the opposite direction.
Ronde de jambe - round of the leg, a step that can be done en terre (on the ground) or en l'air (in the air). A circular motion of the leg, clockwise or counter clockwise. It connects all the tendus from forward, to the side, and backward before passing it through first position to do it again or in reverse.
Reverence - a curtsy or bow. It is the last exercise of a class to pay respect to the master and accompanist as well as at the end of a performance in front of an audience.
Revoltade/540 jump - to revolve. Kicking one leg in the air and jumping off from the supporting leg. The dancer revolves in the air, keeping the leg they originally kicked up in the air before landing back on the supporting leg that they had used to jump. Also called 540 jump.
S
Sauté - to jump, pushing off the floor by lifting up your heel, pushing down from the ball of your foot, and off the ground from your toes.
Sauté de chat - jump of the cat, pushing down on the floor to leap forward with one leg and the other développés into a straight leg to eventually do a splits in the air.
Sickling - wrong placement of the foot. The foot is turned inward and curved in the wrong direction.
Sissone - describes a dancer jumping from two feet and splitting their legs "like scissors" in the air before landing.
Sobresaut - describing when a dancer performs a quick jump from two feet and lands on two feet in fifth position, traveling slightly forward during the jump.
Soloist - A rank in between corps de ballet and principal. It is the middle rank that involves a dancer taking on both ensemble roles and smaller solo roles.
Soutenu - meaning sustained. Describing a turn when a dancer is in a sou-sous or fifth position en pointe and ending with the opposite foot in front.
Sou-sous - under-over. From fifth position and bringing legs tightly together in relevé.
Spotting - in order to not get dizzy when doing turns, a dancer will hold their head in place and keep their eyes focused on a wall, a person, or any object in sight as their body turns. Once they can physically no longer keep their head positioned to view their spot, they turn their head with their body and try returning to view their spot for each time they turn.
Supporting leg - describes a dancer's leg that is supporting their whole body while the other leg is free to do another step. A dancer's supporting leg is often called a "standing leg.
T
Temps levé - time raised or raising movement. A small hop on one foot, with the other foot raised off the floor in any position.
Temps lié - A connected movement. Where the legs transfer the weight of the body from one leg to the other. It can be done front, side or back.
Tendu - to stretch, one leg extends with the foot pushing through the floor to point. It is done through all five positions.
En terre - on the ground. The base of the foot is on the ground and step is done on the floor.
Tombé - to fall, falling onto one leg in plié. Commonly followed with a pas de bourrée.
Tour - turn. Turning of the body.
Turnout - having hips turned outward which naturally positions the feet to do the same. An essential technique in ballet.
Tutu - classical tutu has a metal hoop with many layers of net. Romantic tutu is a longer net skirt reaching the calf.
V
Variation - a solo dance in a classic ballet.
W
Working leg - describes the leg performing a step or movement in contrast to the supporting leg.
(Here are some picture demonstrations. Some of them depend on whether they're the Russian method, the Cecchetti method, English, French, Balanchine--I don't even know TwT I just did whatever my teacher told me. I'm more familiar with the Cecchetti method based off what I've seen.)
(Here is a video example! The Royal Opera House has a good playlist called Ballet Glossary that gives you a visual of the arm positions, feet positions, steps, and all that good stuff.)
(The basic anatomy of a pointe shoe.)
(I know it's a lot and it's complicated. The story can be a bit technical a lot in the beginning, but eventually that lessens a bit to focus more on the characters. It's not necessary to memorize any of this at all! It just adds to the story. If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them! I will also put definitions at the bottom of the chapter if a term is used for those who want to know.)