Ballet Dictionary

This Week's Words

• Adage- to a of exercises or movements performed to slow music.
• Arabesque- a long, graceful pose made by balancing on the supporting leg while extending the free leg behind.
• Ballon- Bounciness. A dancer who jumps easily and lightly is said to have ballon.
• Barre- a wooden bar affixed horizontally to the walls of the dance studio.
• Battement- literally, beating. A beating action of the leg or foot.
• Batterie- literally, battery. The general term for all very fast steps in which the legs beat against each other in the air.
• Bras- arms, arms.
• Choregrapher- a person who creates a ballet.
• Cinquieme- fifth; fifth position.
• Classical, classic- style of dance that obeys the rules defined by the Academie royale de danse founded by Louis XIV.
• Corps de ballet- the main body of dancers of a ballet company, who usually dance together as a group.
• Cou-de-pied- the part of the foot between the ankle and the base of the calf.