Glossary of ballet | ...of pirouettes and concealers

Last time I introduced you to some simple things like pliés and foot positions.

Plié in fourth position

In keeping with the simplicity of pliés and foot positions, I bring to you the ‘fondu’.

Fun fact: Fondu means to melt! And guess what! The Swiss dip bread into melted cheese and fruit into melted chocolate (not at the same time) in a pot and they call it fondue!

Isn’t that a coin-ki-dink 😀

With this double meaning in mind, look at my recipe posts’ title and put two and two together…smart, eh?

“pat on back”

Returning to the ballet move. A battement fondu (this is the full name) is:

1) Fondu: a plié of the supporting leg, while the working leg forms a ‘coupé’ on the side of the supporting leg’s foot.

2) Battement: the working leg is then extended and the supporting leg straightens until both legs are straight. The working leg can end up on the floor (à terre) or in the air (en l’air), to the front (en avant), to the side (à la seconde) or to the back (en arrière). This whole process can even be executed ‘double’.

Non-dancers all go: Huuuuuh?! I might’ve well just said gobble-de-goop..Ballet moves are definitely not easy to describe non-visually, which is why I took some pictures.

Begin in 3rd/5th position

Plié of the supporting leg, coupé of the working leg

À la seconde à terre

À la seconde en l’air

En avant à terre

En avant en l’air

So what is a coupé, you ask? Coupé literally translated means to cut. It is both an action used as a link between steps, like here in the fondu (also used in pas de bourré and grand jeté, definitions coming soon :)). It’s also used as it’s own move where it will mean to close or fall, exchanging from one leg to another (more common: tombé avant, stay tuned!)

Coupé with the supporting leg in a plié

Interchangeably used for a coupé is the ‘sur le cou de pied’ (literally on the neck of the foot). This is a static movement unlike the coupé which is a linking movement. The working foot is placed between the base of the calf and the beginning of the ankle.

There are two accents here: devant, where the heel is placed in front of the leg, the toes point back and the in-step (cou-de-pied) ‘hugs’ the lower leg

..and derrière: the heel and the toes are pointed behind. Alternating between devant and derrière is called petit battement (bending action is at the knee, upper leg and thigh remain still). Stay tuned for more information on the petit battement, and many other kinds of battements!

Pfeeew I really threw some French at you 😉 I’m a bit rusty after not using it in over a year, but ballet helps keep some of the vocab alive!

With attitude and nail polish, Anoushé xoxo

A treat from the Swiss (isacclub.wordpress.com)
Jazz Vocabulary (natalantis.wordpress.com)

If you’ve read one of my blog posts, or even just my little ‘about me’ widget on the right, you would know that I am trying to create a quote..something to remember me by, something catchy, something that describes my blog in just a few words.

You guys figure out what I am talking about? I am talking about my signature: …with attitude and nail polish.

But uuuuhm what does THAT mean?!
Let me break it down for you..you’ll love it as soon as you get what it means 😉

..I think I’m not just a conceal-a-holic….:)

Nail polish. Simple. We all know about nail polish. Many of us use nail polish. I blog about nail polish every Monday.. Ok. That’s clear.
But attitude? What’s that all about? Is Anoushé talking about a state of mind or a feeling? Or even worse, an ARROGANT or HOSTILE state of mind? (Yes, I looked it up in the dictionary, and if you do so as well let me be clear, I do NOT mean the orientation of an aircraft’s axes relative to a reference line, nor do I mean the orientation of a spacecraft relative to its direction of motion, and I definitely do NOT mean being arrogant!!!!)
So, my dear imaginary internet friends, what do I mean when I sign my post with this quote above..?

It’s quite simple really..

Take one type of dance I do (Ballet), remember it, check the dictionary for something to do with that dance, and nod in understanding. Nooooooow you get it, and you smile (or not).

For those of you not in close vicinity of a dictionary, or are too lazy to check because you know I will tell you anyways…well, you got me! Unbelievable how well you already know me…;)

So here’s a picture

Attitude..still working on it!

…and an excerpt from the online dictionary: Attitude: A position similar to an arabesque in which a ballet dancer stands on one leg with the other raised either in front or in back and bent at the knee.

Now add two and two together. Attitude = dance; nail polish = beauty addiction…hmmmm, sound familiar?
Cause it should…!

This quote basically describes a synonym for none other than my very own blog title! Isn’t that awesome? Let me pat myself on the back for a second..

But back to life, back to reality..(that song quote is for my father; he knows why..)

So why did I opt for concealers over nail polish, and pirouettes over attitude from my title? Good question!
I did not choose with attitude and nail polish because I knew the word attitude may leave many of you thinking..huuuuuh? You wouldn’t instantaneously think of dance, which is why I chose pirouettes instead! Most people affiliate this basic turn/spin with dance, no?
For the beauty part I knew it had to either be nail polish or concealers… and both are equally present in my life, both left similar dents in my bank account! So the choice was really just a matter of which one I thought fit better..

Anyhoo, as you might have already noticed, I will be throwing random dance terms at you every so often, especially in my post titles! A great example for this occurrence would be my food posts: ‘fondu’ in the title does not mean melted cheese, it is actually a ballet step!
To prevent you from scrunching up your forehead – and causing premature wrinkles, while thinking ‘what in the world does that mean?!’, I bring to you this: Tuesdays/Thursdays and Tutus! These posts should help clear up many of your dance terminology questions.. word for word..week by week..

So let’s (fan-) kick things off and start (head-) rolling with the program (har har har)..

Plié

Translated from French, it means to bend. In dance it means we bend our knees.

There are two types of pliés: Demi-plié and grand-plié. A grand-plié is a bend to the deepest position possible, in most cases while lifting your heels, and a demi-plié is a bend where your heels should still stay on the floor. In either form, the movement should be fluent – you move downwards in the bend and then reverse back upwards to the straight leg, your body must remain tense and muscles should be flexed.

A plié can be done starting in any of the following positions (I took these pictures in the centre, without a barre, which sometimes still is slightly difficult for me…don’t judge! :))

6th (feet are parallel and closed)

1st