More Movements of Ballet

Croisé

The crossing of the legs with the body placed at an oblique angle to the audience. The disengaged leg may be crossed in the front or the back.

En croix

Indicates that an exercise is to be executed the fourth position front , to the second position and to the fourth position back, or vice versa.

Effacé

One of the movements of ballet in which the dancer stands at an oblique angle to the audience so that a part of the body is taken back and almost hidden from view.

Écarté

One of the eight directions of the body

The dancer faces either one of the two front corners of the room. The leg nearer the audience is pointed in the second position a terré or or raised to the second position en lair. The torso is held perpendicular The arms are held en attitude with the raised arm being on the same side as the extended leg. The head is raised slightly and turned toward the raised arm so that the eyes look into the palm of the hand.

En face

Facing the audience

En avant

Used to indicate that a given step is executed moving forward, toward the audience.

En arrière

Used to indicate that a step is executed moving away from the audience

Port de bras

(1) A movement or series of movements made by passing the arm or arms through various positions

(2) A term for a group of exercise designed to make the arms move gracefully and harmoniously

Glissade

A travelling step executed by gliding the working foot from the fifth position in the required direction, the other foot closing to it

Pas de Chat

A ballet leap from one foot to the other in which the feet are drawn up and the knees are bent so that the legs form a diamond

Balancé

An alternation of balance, shifting weight from one foot to the other. Balance may be done crossing the foot either front or back.

Chassé

A step in which one foot literally chases the other foot out of its position; done in series

Tombé

This is a movement in which the dancer, with the working leg raised in the air, falls forward, backward or sideways into a fondu on the working leg

Pas de Bourrée 

A transitional movement in ballet in which the dancers transfers body weight quickly from foot to foot in three small steps.

Class Video Critique

Considering where we were at the beginning of the semester, we -as a class- have improved tremendously. In general, the class did well, however there were a few improvements that could be done on everyone's part- including myself. 

Posture
For critiquing the class as a whole, the primary issue was posture. Many of us need to work on finding our center, tightening the abdominal and back muscles, and pointing our pelvis down to obtain more balance and length. 

Plie
As in the posture section, the same goes for the plie- specifically the grand plie. As alot of the students got closer to the floor, they let their posture slip and began to lean forward. This also relates back to posture in that you must keep the back straight make sure the pelvis is facing downward.

Tendu
Many students were not stretching their legs as far as they can go. Improvements in the tendus can be made by fully extending the legs and fully turning out the heels when performing the tendu devant. Included in this section is also the execution of the degage, in which many people lost their energy when bringing the foot off the floor. One must used the energy that their body has to sweep the foot off the floor with energy.

Petit Battement
Petit battements were very good when compared to when the class was first introduced to them. However, there are still those that do not fully control the leg, thus allowing the whole leg to move rather that just below the knee.

Rond de Jambe
When performing the rond de jambe, many students did not fully complete the movement. they instead brought the leg in too short from the full half circle or did not stretch out completely to allow energy flow to make one smooth movement.

As stated before, the class has come a long way since the beginning of the semester, and we still have a long way to go. As with dance, it takes time, effort and years of consistent practice to become situated with the demands of ballet.