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






2. Dance for three






3. Round of the leg. Circular movement of the leg.






4. Turning fouetta.






5. To throw about. This is a jump from either one foot or both feet. Jump up to double passe and extend out.






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






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






8. Under. Indicates that the working foot passes behind the supporting foot.






9. Turning. Indicates that the body is to turn while executing a given step.






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






11. Dance for two.






12. 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.






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






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






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






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






17. Small jeta - from a demi plia.






18. Leg.






19. Chains - links. A series of rapid turns on the points or demi-pointes done in a straight line or circle.






20. Chased. A step in which one foot literally chases the other foot out of its position; done in a series.






21. Dance for four






22. Whipped. A term applied to a whipping movement.






23. Line. The outline of a dancer as she executes certain steps.






24. Small - half bend of the knees.






25. Small rise on the ball of the foot - usually in pointe shoes.






26. To rock - or to swing.






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






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






29. (Movements) in the air


30. Outward. Leg moves clockwise in a circular motion






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






32. Shouldering. The placing of the shoulders.






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






34. The crossing of the legs with the body placed at an oblique angle to the audience.






35. 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.






36. Royal. A changement in which the calves are beaten together before the feet change position.






37. To prick






38. To glide. A traveling step executed by gliding the working foot from the fifth position in the required direction - the other foot closing to it.






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






40. A jump from both feet onto one foot






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






42. Diversion - enjoyment. A suite of numbers called 'entraes -' inserted into a classic ballet. These short dances are calculated to display the talents of individuals or groups of dancers.






43. A ballet fan or enthusiast. The word was invented in Russia in the early nineteenth century.






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






45. Developing movement. A daveloppa is a movement in which the working leg is drawn up to the knee of the supporting leg and slowly extended to an open position en l'air and held there with perfect control.






46. This is a term used in double (supported) work for various lifts in which the danseuse is supported by the danseur in a poisson position. He may hold her above his head in a horizontal fish dive or she may fall from a sitting position on his shoulder






47. Big - large. (movements)






48. This term is used for a fault in which the dancer turns his or her foot in from the ankle - thereby breaking the straight line of the leg.






49. 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.






50. 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.