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.