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






2. Term used to describe the ability of a dancer to raise and hold her extended leg en l'air.






3. Arms






4. Behind you - movements done behind you.






5. Dance for four






6. Step






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






8. 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.






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






10. To turn in the air. A complete sing - double - or triple turn in the air; usually landing in 5th position.






11. 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.






12. 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.






13. Dance for three






14. Slow - sustained movement






15. Dance for two.






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






17. Small jeta - from a demi plia.






18. Two






19. To stretch out - make longer






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






21. On the points. Rising to the tips of the toes.






22. To prick






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






24. To face hips square. Not particularly to the front.






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






26. 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.






27. Whirl - or spin






28. Round of the leg. Circular movement of the leg.






29. Outward. Leg moves clockwise in a circular motion






30. Open - opened.






31. 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






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






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






34. Borken/breaking






35. 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.






36. Running.






37. Connected movements on the points






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






39. 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.






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






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






42. Change of the feet in the air.






43. A






44. Leg.






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






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






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






48. A step traveling in a diagonal direction.






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






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