Basic Ballet Terms

This is a list of basic ballet terms which are mostly in french!





Barre: A horizontal wooden hand rail that runs around the wall of a ballet studio.

Barre work: Doing excirses at the barrre incuding tendus and others.


Alignment: The lining up of parts of your body to make a balanced and graceful line.

Posture: The position and carriage of the body.

Positions of the feet: Five different positions in which your weight is evenly distributed over your

feet no matter what position you body is in, with your legs turned out from the pelvis.

Port de bras: Carriage of the arms. Set movements of the arms from one position to the other.

Plie´: An exercise in which, standing erect and with back straight, you move down and up with
the bend of the knees.

Demi-plie´: A half knee-bend. Nearly every step begins and ends with a demi-plie´.

Grand plie´: A full knee-bend with heels off the floor.

Coupe´: A position of your foot, lifted and held flexed, tight against your ankle.


Battement: A generic term which describes the various movements in which the leg makes
a beating motion.

Battement tendu: An exercise in which you stretch your foot along the floor and end in a point.

En croix: In the shape of a cross (front, side, back) a lot of barre exercises are done en croix

Rond de jambes `a terre: Circle of the leg, on the ground (`a terre). An exercise in which you mark out a semi-circle on the floor with your pointed foot.

Balance: In dance, a term which describes the holding of your body in a stable position.

Centre Practice: a group of exercises similar to those à la barre but performed in the centre of the room without the support of the barre. These exercises are usually performed with alternate feet and are invaluable for obtaining good balance and control

Arabesque: A position in which you balance on one straight leg (or bent leg) with the other stretched out behind you.

Grand Battement: Meaning large beats. An exercise in which you raise your pointed foot high off of the ground keeping both legs straight.

Allegro: An Italian musical term meaning quick and lively. In ballet, allegro steps are completed in fast tempo without your arms flapping about.

Glissade: Gliding or sliding steps. A traveling step in which you glide your foot along the floor with your front knee bent and you transfer your weight. During the moment of transition, your legs are fully stretched.

Demi-pointe: Half point, meaning standing on the balls of your feet.

Bourre´e: A linking step in which you rise up on the balls of your feet (on to your half point) and glide across the floor with quick, tiny steps.

Pas de Bourre´e: A small stepping movement, executed on the balls of the feet or on pointe, in which the you either skim smoothly across the floor or transfer the weight from foot-to-foot three times as a transition into another movement. A pas-de-bourrée consists of bending both legs, extending one, then stepping up, up, down, finishing with bent knees.


Pas de chat: A traveling step-of-the-cat in which you bring one foot up along you leg to the knee, and transfer your weight to the other leg with a spring in the air, landing with your feet in 5th position.

Reverence: A movement, generally made by the sweep of an arm to acknowledge the rest of the ensemble cast (corps), the instructor, the choreographer, and/or the orchestra.