Arabesque allongée

Extended or outstretched arabesque.  See Arabesque à la Hauteur.

What's a Lyre?

The next Arabesque is Arabesque à la Lyre.  Which literally translates as "Arabesque with the lyre".  Its basically a Cecchetti Method Third Arabesque but with the palms facing up as if the dancer was holding a lyre.  Dusting off my Greek musical history, a lyre is basically a hand held harp.  I looked everywhere for a picture of this, and all I came up with were some stick figures from Zazzle.com.  This posting made me finalize my decision to have a photo shoot with some of my students so that I can have accurate pictures of all of these positions of dance.  I will post those soon...

Arabesque à la Hauteur

Arabesque at the height (90 degrees).  A term in the French School.  Also see Arabesque Allongée.

Arabesque à la Demi-hauteur

Arabesque at half-height (45 degrees).  A term of the French School.

Arabesque à Deux Bras

Arabesque with two arms is from my understanding is also a Third Arabesque in the Cecchetti Method.

En Arabesque

So I guess we get to start things off with an easy one.  En Arabesque means in Arabesque.  The example given is Pirouette en Arabesque.

I tried to find a clip of anything done En Arabesque, and came across this very nice video of an assortment of Arabesques performed by a Royal Ballet Dancer.

Varied to Infinity

I knew there were a lot of Arabesque listings in the Ballet Dictionary, but when the description said that  "The forms of arabesque are varied to infinity" I became concerned.  There are 23 different listings of Arabesques in this book, many of which mean the same thing, but just said differently based on which method you are studying.  The actual definition is:  "One of the basic poses in ballet, Arabesque takes its name from a form of Moorish ornament".

I thought long and hard how I was going to tackle this element of dance, and so I will go through each of the versions of an arabesque, but will combine the ones that are essentially the same thing.  So here we go...

You have great Aplomb

That statement might sound like an insult, but its actually a compliment.  Aplomb means assurance or poise.  Gail Grant states that "This term applied to the dancer means that he or she has full control of body and limbs with the weight correctly centered during a movement".  I think that most people who appreciate dance can think of a dancer that demonstrated great Aplomb and probably a few that didn't.  This isn't a measurable term, but is more of an aesthetic.  As a viewer you either feel that someone does or does not show poise and control over their movement.  This is something that all dancers strive to have, and that takes a very long time to master.

Angle of the Leg in the Air

"In the Russian School the angle formed by the legs in relation to the vertical axis of the body is measured in general terms.  For example, 45 degrees for half height (Demi-Hauteur), 90 degrees for a horizontal position with the toe at hip height (à la Hauteur) and 135 degrees for any position considerably above hip height."

The French School refers to these angles as Positions Soulevées.  But also uses the same terminology, à la Demi-Hauteur and à la Hauteur.  This school also adds Piqué à Terre which is with the toes touching the ground.

See my post about en l'air for a great picture of these angles.

One e or two ee?

The next term in the Ballet Dictionary is Allongé or Allongée.  There are many terms that have these two different spellings.  From my understanding, the first one is masculine and an noun where the second on is feminine and a verb.  Since english doesn't have masculine and feminine endings to words, this is not a concept that many English speaking students understand, unless they have taken a foreign language in school.  For the consistency of this blog, I will use the term as a noun when describing it, but when it is associated with another movement I will use the verb spelling.

Back to Allongé which means extended or outstretched.  I have really only used this term when preparing for Pirouettes.  The basic preparation for a Pirouette for younger students is a Tendu to the side, then a Demi-Rond de Jambe to the back followed with a Plié in Fourth Position, and then the Pirouette.  An alternate preparation is to use a Fourth Position Allongée with the back leg straight instead of bent.  This keeps most of the weight on the front foot which some teachers prefer.  I am not one of those teachers, but can appreciate the movement.  I prefer to have students execute a Pirouette from a Fourth Position Plié because I think that it sets them up with more power and also prepares them for Pointe Shoes in the future.  Not that Allongé is wrong, I personally don't like to use it with my younger students, until they can master leaving the ground from a Plié.

This term is also most notably used with Arabesque Allongée.  Which requires the line of the leg to be horizontal to the floor.  Or in Arabesque Allongée à Terre, which follows what I previously said with the Pirouette preparation.  I will go into more detail on these terms in the future.

Allegro - Brisk and Lively

Allégro is "a term applied to all bright and brisk movements" also that "the most important qualities to aim at in Allégro are lightness, smoothness and Ballon (bounce)."

As much as I love Adagio, Allégro is just so much fun.  A well executed Allégro makes me feel like a little kid bouncing on a bed, although much more difficult.

My "go to" Allégro for my younger classes is usually eight Soubresauts in First Postition, eight in Second Postition, and eight Échappé Sautés.  Allégro's in my more advanced classes usually consist of some combination of Échappé Battu, Changements, Royales, Sissonnes and Assemblés.  I've attached a video of myself performing a basic combination of these movements here.  Let me know what you think!

Body Alignment

Gail Grant states "The direction in which the dancer stands in relation to the audience is very important.  If all the steps and poses were taken en face (facing the audience), the dance would be very monotonous."  She is completely right.  Facing different directions adds interesting angles in which to view the dancers.

This is not at all what I thought of when I saw the term alignment.  I was thinking about the definition that is found in Medical Terminology Complete! by Bruce Wingerd.  He states that "Body alignment is the optimal placement of the body parts so that the skeletal bones are efficiently used, so the muscles have to do less work for the same effect."  I have had many teachers refer to this definition in their classes, including myself, but I like to think about it as training your body so that its allowed to be lazy, or do less work.

Up, in, the air, put your leg up in the air!

I couldn't resist with the hip hop title.  Sorry.

En l'air means in the air and is referring to "a movement [that] is to be made in the air".  This is most typically used with Rond de Jambe en l'air.  When performing moves en l'air a choreographer will usually use angles such as 45 degrees, 90 degrees, or more than 90 degrees.  This is one of the many instances when math and ballet merge.

I am one of those teachers who happens to use A LOT of math terms in my classes.  Enough so that my students once asked me if I was also a math teacher.  (I'm not).  This marriage of dance and math is not a new idea with the use of angles, geometry, symmetries, and counting, just to name a few.  I was lucky enough to work with some guest choreographers at my college who have received Kennedy Center Honors with their research in combining math and dance.  Dr. Karl Schaffer and Erik Stern wrote a book Math Dance where they describe many different ways that these two studies meet.  For more information on their book, or some of their research, please see their website www.mathdance.org.

Ailes de Pigeon - Pigeon's wings

Ailes de Pigeon is when "the dancer performs a Cabriole Devant, then the legs change and beat again, then change once more before the dancer lands on the leg he or she jumped from, leaving the other leg extended in the air.  Also known as 'Pistolet'."

Wow, that's a mouthful!  I have never heard of this move before, and so needed to look further.  The Oxford Dictionary of Dance by Debra Craine and Judith MacKrell states that Ailes de Pigeon is "A particularly demanding ballet step which most famously occurs in the Blue Bird variation in Sleeping Beauty."  When searching for this section of Sleeping Beauty, I believe I found something close to what an Ailes de Pigeon is, but all the landings aren't what is described in the Ballet Dictionaries.  The one's that I found either land in Fifth Position or Sur le Cou-de-pied.

The two most notable ones that I found are from The Royal Ballet (1963) and Dutch National Ballet (???).  Both times this move is performed by the Cavalier in a diagonal crossing.

Ultimately, this move remains a mystery to me, and I might have to do some asking around to learn more about it.

Adage vs. Adagio

"Adage is a French word derived from the Italian ad agio, meaning at ease or leisure.  English ballet teachers use 'adage', the French adaptation, while Americans prefer the original Italian."  I found this definition interesting, because I don't think I have actually ever read it in all the years of owning the Ballet Dictionary.  I just always knew that the Adagio section of a ballet class was slow and sustained.  I didn't know that Americans prefer the Adagio pronunciation of the exercise.  I thought I was going to have to do a lot of research on the difference, but there it was in the second sentence.

The Ballet Dictionary also states that the exercises of Adagio "develop a sustaining power, sense of line, balance and the beautiful poise which enables the dancer to perform with majesty and grace."  I love Adagio because I think its awesome that you can break a sweat by slowly moving or holding a balanced pose.  Adagio also reminds me of Yoga, where its almost a zen-like exercise.  It is relaxing while also being very hard work at the same time.

My "go to" Adagio in my classes consists of 6 of the Basic Positions of the Body.  Croisé Devant, Écarté, À la Quatrième Devant, À la Seconde, Effacé, and Épaulé.  I use this combination and can added more difficulty depending on my class by taking these positions with Développé and Tour de Promenade.  I've attached a video of myself performing the basic combination here.  Let me know what you think!

First Term, Long Answer

The very first term in the Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet (from now on will be referred as "Ballet Dictionary") is ABSTRACT BALLET.  It is defined as "A ballet without a plot.  A composition of pure dance movement expressed for its own sake."

After doing some more research, I found the book Ballet 101:  A Complete Guide To Learning and Loving The Ballet by Robert Greskovic (pages 197-201, and 523).  He states that Abstract Ballet is a 20th century term for a ballet without a particular story or narrative.  These are ballets not driven by a specific plot-line containing ballet pantomimes, but inspired by the music or the movement itself.

The first Abstract Ballet mentioned was "Chopiniana" from 1907.  This ballet was based on the musical themes of Chopin.  Its original choreography was by Michel Fokine, and it was orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov.  In 1907 it was reworked and became known as "Les Sylphides".  It was different than the ballets that audiences were used to.  They no longer had to sit and wait through a narrative to get to the dramatic reason to enjoy the dance.  Since the holiday's are over, the "Nutcracker Ballet" came into my mind.  The beginning of the performance largely contains pantomime and there is a large section of Act-1 that the viewer has to watch until the dream sequence starts and then the ballet world can begin.  As a child I thought the first part of this ballet was long (and I hate to say boring).  As an adult I can now appreciate the ballet as a whole, but understand why choreographers may have wanted to break away from the typical outline of a ballet.

From the technical side of things, Abstract Ballets are more commonly found in 1-act length rather than the multi-act Grand Ballets that came before them.  This was because they didn't need to "set up" the ballet sequences, but could just jump right into them.  The music became much more important being the inspiration more than the accompaniment.  Composers even got higher billing on the programs.  Also the costuming changed from the "old" ballets to the "new" ones.  Dancers were commonly found in simply a leotard and tights or a unitard so that the lines of their bodies could be seen better.

Some famous Abstract Ballets are:
--"The Four Seasons" choreographed by Jerome Robbins and premiered in 1979, to excerpts from Giuseppe Verdi's "I Vespri Siciliani" (1855).
--"Apollo" choreographed by George Balanchine and premiered in 1928, to two tableaux's composed by Igor Stravinsky.
--"Serenade" choreographed by George Balanchine and premiered in 1934, to Tschaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings in C" (1880).

I will leave you all with a quote from George Balanchine regarding Abstract Ballets:
"How much story do you want," he wondered.  "You put a man and woman on a stage together, and already it's a story."

A is for... Absolutely All Aspects (of Ballet)

When I started pointe class when I was 12 we were required to buy the Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet by Gail Grant.  Now, 18 years later I'm returning to college for a second degree in dance, and the same Ballet Dictionary was our required text book for my ballet courses.  I'm amazed that this one book has stood the test of time, and is so valued among dancers.  It is my dance bible, and I always have it on me for the classes that I teach, and the ones I attend as a student.

I have been teaching dance in one form or another for the last 14 years, and this blog (since blogs have been around) has always been a goal of mine.  I will be going item through item of the Ballet Dictionary and researching each element, fully understanding them, and post some pictures and videos of these moves as well.  I know this will help me become a better student of Ballet, but also a better teacher.

I will also be posting different barre lessons, center and across the floor exercises for some of the different terms.  Its an ultimate goal to make this a place where other dance teachers can purchase my lesson plans that I've spent so many hours designing.

So here's to the new year, and Ballet Basics from A-Z!