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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. Sideways. Used to indicate that a step is to be made to the side - either to the right or to the left.






2. Male dance partner to the ballerina






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






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






5. To put together - to make a jump from one foot then landing on both feet.






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






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






8. Slow - sustained movement






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






10. Big - large. (movements)






11. Step






12. Jumped - jumping. When this name is added to a step - that step is done in the air.






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






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






15. Whirl - or spin






16. 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.






17. Change of the feet in the air.






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






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






20. Round of the leg. Circular movement of the leg.






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






22. Turning fouetta.






23. 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.






24. This jeta is done in all directions and in a circle.






25. 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.






26. Withdrawn. A position in which the thigh is raised to the second position.






27. The working foot slides from the first or fifth position to the second or fourth position without lifting the toe from the ground.






28. Open - opened.






29. Basque jump. A traveling step in which the dancer turns in the air with one foot drawn up to the knee of the other leg. Fifth position are foot front.






30. A jump from both feet onto one foot






31. A march in which two steps are taken forward on the demi-pointes and then the third step is taken flat with the supporting knee bent in fondu and the other leg raised in front.






32. Small - little






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






34. 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.






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






36. Over. Indicates that the working foot passes in front of the supporting foot.






37. Connected movements on the points






38. To lean






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






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






41. Dance for two.






42. Small jeta - from a demi plia.






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






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






45. Borken/breaking






46. Separated or thrown apart. Body position.






47. A step traveling in a diagonal direction.






48. Dance for four






49. A






50. This describes certain jumps and steps - for example - jumping and landing from two feet - or a specific movement that is usually performed at the 'barre' - to stand on one leg - the other leg will then beat against it.