Glossary
À la quatrième derrière – To the fourth in back
À la quatrième devant – To the fourth in front
À la seconde – To the second
Á terre – On the floor
Adage – Slow movement
Allegro – Lively, quick movement
Allongée – Stretched out
Arabesque – A long extended line with one leg in the back
Assemblé – Assembled or gathered
Attitude – Pose based on the statue of Mercury
Autour de la salle – Around the room
Balancé – Balanced or rocked
Ballonné – Inflated step
Ballotté – Tossed step
Basque – From the Basque region of France
Battement dégagé – Disengaged beating
Battement frappé – Struck beating
Battement tendu – Stretched beating
Battu – Beaten
Brisé – Broken
Cabriole – Caper, leap of a goat
Chaconne – A dance performed to an early classical music solo form, characterized by a theme that is repeated over and over again, under or behind the rest of the music.
Chaîné – Chain of steps
Changement – Changing
Chassé – Chased
Cou-de-pied – Neck of the foot ankle
Coupé – Cut
Coupé fouetté raccourcci – Cut; whipped; shortened
Courante – A current or stream; a 16th century dance characterized by a running or gliding step
Couru – Run
Croisé – Derrière Crossed behind
Croisé – Devant Crossed in front
Cuisse – Thigh
De côté – Side
De Suite – Continuous, immediately one after the other
Dégagé en tournant – Disengaged movement turning
Demi – Half
Demi-contretemps – Half off beat step
Derrière – Behind
Devant – In front
Développé – Unfolded
Développé en tournant – Unfolded turning movement
Douze – Twelve
Écarté – To separate or move apart, spread apart
Échappé – Escaped
Éffacé – To hold something sideways on, to erase, eclipse, shaded
Élancer – To dart
Emboîté – Fit together
En arrière – Backwards
En Avant – Forwards
En bas – Low
En croix – In the form of a cross
En dedans – Inwards
En dehors – Outwards
En haut – High
Entrechat cinq – Interweaving five times
Entrechat quatre – Four interweaving actions
Entrechat royale – Regal interweaving
Épaulement – Shouldering
Etendre
Exercises à la barre – Exercises at the barre
Exercises au milieu – Exercises in the center
fermé – Closed
Fondu – Melted
Fouetté – Whipped
Gargouillade – To gurgle, an embellished step
Glissade – Gliding step
Grand Battement – Large beating
Grand fouetté en l’air – Big whipped movement in the air
Grands jetés en tournant – Big leap turning
Jeté – Thrown
Joué – Playful
Ouvert(e) – Open
Pas de Bourree – Bourrée step or stuffed step
Pas de Chat – Step of the cat
Passé – Passed
Penchée – Tilted
PERGSET – An acronym used for Seven Basic Movements of Dance
P Plier – To bend
E Étendre – To stretch
R Relever – To rise
G Glisser – To glide
S Sauter – To jump
E Élancer – To dart
T Tourner – To turn
Petit Jeté – Small thrown step
Petits tours – Small turns
piqué – Pricked
Pirouette – A turn, spin
Plié – Bent
Poisson – A fish
Port de Bras – Carriage of the arms
Posé – To set or put, placed, posed
Posé tour – Placed turn
Pose developpé – Placed step unfolding
Promenade – A walk
Relevé – Raised
Relevé cinquième – Rise in fifth, a lifting action
Renverser – To turn upside down
Retiré – Withdrawn
Retombé – Fallen again
Révérence – Bow or curtsey
Rond de Jambe – Circle of the leg
Sauté – Jumped
Sissonne – Term not found in French, but thought to be named after the step’s creator
Soubresaut – Sudden leap or bound
Soussus – Under over
Soutenu – Sustained
Sur place – On place
Temps levé – Lifted movement
Temps lié – Linked movement
Tombé – Fallen
Tour en l’air – Turn in the air
Tourner – To turn
Volé – Flown
