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Ballet Basics Vocab

Subjects : performing-arts, dance
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Turning fouetta.






2. To rock - or to swing.






3. To escape. From 5th to second. Feet slide and don't leave floor.






4. Small jeta - from a demi plia.






5. Bourrae step - done on pointe of demi-point.






6. Dance for two.






7. Leg.






8. To the front. Any step in front of your body.






9. In the shape of a cross. (Front - side - back - side)






10. To the second. Applies to legs or arms. Second position.






11. Bent or bending. Bending of the knee or knees






12. Foot rises about four inches from the floor with a well-pointed toe - then slides back into the the first or fifth position.






13. To strike powerfully. An exercise in which the dancer forcefully extends the working leg from a cou-de-pied position to the front - side or back.






14. Sating ballet slippers dancers use when dancing in sur le point.






15. Running.






16. The ability to jump easily and lightly into the air. Springy - usually men.






17. Arms low or down. This is the dancer's 'attention.' The arms form a circle with the palms facing each other and the back edge of the hands resting on the thighs. The arms should hang quite loosely but not allowing the elbows to touch the sides.






18. Section that brings you to the end of a dance - its big and important.






19. Step of the cat. Jump where legs come up to double passa.






20. Fish. A position of the body in which the legs are crossed in the fifth position and held tightly together with the back arched. This pose is taken while jumping into the air.






21. Male dance partner to the ballerina






22. A stationary handrail that is used during ballet warm up exercises. The term also refers to the exercises that are performed at the barre - as well as that part of a ballet class that incorporates barre exercises. Much of a ballet dancer's training t






23. To turn in a walk. The dancer turns slowly in place on one foot by a series of slight movements of the heel to the required side while maintaining a definite pose.






24. This means to pose on one leg whilst extending the other leg to the back.






25. Enrico Cecchetti was a ballet teacher. He had a system of passing the tradition of ballet down to the next generation. The method has a definite program of strict routine and includes a table of principal set daily exercises for each day of the week.






26. To throw. A jump from one foot to the other in which the working leg is brushed into the air and appears to have been thrown.






27. Pas de bourra - running. This is a progression on the points or demi-pointes by a series of small - even steps with the feet close together. It may be done in all directions or in a circle.






28. Carriage of the arm. The changing of arm positions.






29. Inward. Indicates that the leg moves in a circular direction - counterclockewise - from the back to the front.






30. A jump from both feet onto one foot






31. A step traveling in a diagonal direction.






32. Open - opened.






33. Change of the feet in the air.






34. Slow - sustained movement






35. Ground to ground. Feet never leave the floor.






36. Raised






37. Waltz step. Done with a graceful swaying body. Like a balanca but feet do not cross.






38. Big - large. (movements)






39. At the neck of the foot. Wrapped around.






40. Dance for three






41. To the front.






42. Sinking down. A term used to describe a lowering of the body made by bending the knee of the supporting leg.






43. Interweaving or braiding. A step of beating in which the dancer jumps into the air and rapidly crosses the legs before and behind each other.






44. Like a bell. Refers to grand battements to the front and back sliding through first position.






45. Shaded. Position in which the dancer stands at an oblique angle to the audience so that a part of the body is taken back - almost hidden from view.






46. Body.






47. Flying brisa. In this brisa the dancer finishes on one foot after the beat - the other leg crossed either front or back.






48. Small - half bend of the knees.






49. Backwards - reverse.






50. Closed sissone. Low elevation and a quick tempo - this sissonne finishes on two feet with the working foot gliding along the floor into the demi-plia in the fifth position.