Ever been in a ballet class and felt like they might as well be speaking a different language?
Well, that’s because they are! French is the language of ballet, meaning it’s the language of ballet movements, which can make picking up the steps even more tricky. Our Head of Dance and former Royal Ballet dancer, Clara Stone, has put together a ballet glossary to give you a multilingual boost and ensure you will never be lost in class again.
Ballet Glossary: A – D
Á terre - On the ground/floor
Adage - Slow, soft, sustained, and controlled movement
Arabesque - A position on one leg with the other behind either á terre, or en l’air (up to 90 degrees)
Assemblé - To assemble, to join
Attitude - A position standing on one leg with the other bent at an angle behind, en l’air
Ballonné - To bounce (with a closing action of the working leg)
Battement - To beat (a movement with a closing action)
Chaseé - To slide
Coupé - To cut
Croisé - Crossed to the audience (front)
De coté - To the side
Demi - Half
Demi-detourné - Half turn (towards the back foot)
Derriére - To the back
Devant - To the front
Developpé - To develop or to unfold
Ballet Glossary: E – O
Echappé - To escape (a jump or relevé from 1st, 3rd or 5th to 2nd or 4th and returning)
En arriére - Travelling backwards
En avant - Travelling forwards
En croix - In the shape of a cross (front, side, back or back, side, front)
En dedans - Inwards (towards the supporting leg)
En dehors - Outwards (away from the supporting leg)
En face - Facing the audience (opposite)
En l’air - In the air
Enchainment - A combination of steps (a linked phrase of movement)
Épaulement - Use of the shoulders, neck and upper back (looking over the shoulder)
Fondu - To melt (a melting action)
Frappé - To strike (like lighting a match on the floor)
Glissade - To glide (a sliding movement from 5th to 5th)
Grand - Large
Jeté - To throw
Ouvert - Open to the audience
Ballet Glossary: P – Z
Pas de basque - A movement from 5th incorporating a rond de jambe a terre and closing to 5th
Pas de bourrée - Small/tight running steps (5th to 2nd/or 4th back to 5th)
Pas de chat - Step of the cat a jump from 5th to 5th with an overlapping action with each leg bending and unfurling, one after the other
Passé - To pass (retire passé: the working leg’s toes supported just under the supporting knee)
Petit - Small
Pirouette - To turn
Plié - To bend
Port de bras - Carriage of the arms (a controlled movement of the arms)
Posé - To step (onto a straight leg)
Relevé - To rise with a small rising action starting with a plie (bent knees)
Retiré - To draw up (the supporting leg)
Rond de jambe - Round of the leg (circle the leg like a protractor on the floor from 0 degrees to either 90 or 180)
Sauté - To spring
Sissonne - A scissor step – a jump from two feet to two feet
Soubresaut - A single jump (without changing the feet)
Soutenu - To sustain (a turning action revolving the feet, either traveling or on the spot)
Sur le cou-de-pied - On the neck of the foot
Temps levé - To hop (a jump taking off and landing on the same foot)
Tendu - To stretch (an extending action of the leg, a terre with a return closing action)
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At City Academy we run Ballet Classes for adults, whether you're new to ballet or have previous dance experience. Here's our Ballet Dance Company performing at our yearly Spring Showcase at Sadler's Wells
We hope you found our glossary useful, you are now ready for the world of ballet!
For more information read our Ballet Terminology blog, or browse our Ballet Classes:
