Ballet Vocabulary
Positions of the feet
Premiere – First
Seconde – Second
Troisième – Third
Quatrième – Fourth
Quatrième ouvert – Fourth Open
Quatrième fermé – Fourth Closed
Cinquième – Fifth
Placement of foot
Pointe tendue a terre – stretch point on the ground
Point tendue en l’air – stretch point in the air
Point tendue demi-en l’air – stretch point half-way in the air
Positions of the Arms
Premiere – First
Seconde – Second
Troisième – Third
Quatrième en avant – Fourth front
Quatrième en haut – Fourth high
Cinquième en bas – Fifth low
Cinquième en avant – Fifth front
Cinquième en haut – Fifth high
Directions of the Body
Croisée devant – Crossed in front
A la quatrieme devant – to the fourth front
Ecarte – separated, thrown apart
Effacée – shaded
A la seconde – to the second
Epaulé – shouldered
A la quatrieme derriere – to the fourth back
Croisee derriere – crossed in back
Movements in Dancing
Plier – to bend
Sautér – to jump
Relever – to rise
Glisser – to glide
Tourner – to turn
étendre – to stretch
élancer – to dart
Devant – front
Derrière – back
En Avant – to the front
En Arrière – to the back
Basic words to know
Un – one
Deux – two
Trois – three
Quatre – four
Cinq – five
Demi – half
Pointe – point
Tendue – stretch
Et – and
Tour – turn
Petit – small
Grand – large/big
En – in
Bas – low
Battement – beatings
En Croix – in the pattern of a cross
Pose – posing step
Jeté – throwing step
Dégage – disengage
Sur – on
Coup – neck
Pied – foot
Jambe – leg
Rond – around
Terre – ground
Dehors – outwards
Dedans – inwards
Frappes – strike
Retires – withdrawn movements
Développes – developing movements
Echappes – escaping movements
Relevés – raised movements
Changement – changes of the feet
Croisée – crossed position
Chassé – chasing step
Couper – to cut
Dessous – under
Dessus – over
Adage – slower, graceful movements
Allegro – faster, light, brisk movements
Arabesque – a particular position in ballet
Enchaînement – chain of steps
Assembler – to assemble
Glissade – gliding step
Soussus – under-over step
Bourrée – ”stuffed” step
Balancé – rocking step
Basic word combinations
Sur la terre – on the ground
Rond de jambe – round the leg
Battements Frappés – beatings struck
Grand Battements – large beatings
Temps Levés – raised movements
Temps Liés – connecting movements
Port De Bras – carriage of the arms
Sur le cou de pied – on the neck of the ankle of the foot/ankle joint
Pas de Chat – step of the cat
A la quatrième devant – to the fourth front
A la second – to the second
A la quatrième derrière – to the fourth back
Grand Révérence – formal bow
PDF 
