Test Review Ballet & General Terms

Ballet Terms to know ballerina - A leading female dancer of a ballet company.  A dancer earns the title ballerina through years of hard work and great dancing. ballet - From the Italian ballare, to dance. choreographer - Someone who makes dances.  Originally the word meant someone who records dances, but has come to mean the person responsible for the design of movement in ballet. pas - From French, meaning “step.” A simple step or compound movement, which involves a transfer of weight. “Pas” can also be used to describe a dance by a soloist. pas de deux - A dance for two people.

Types of ballets story ballets (not surprisingly!) tell a story. They contain narrative action, characters, a beginning and an end. plotless ballets have no storyline. Instead they use the movement of the body and theatrical elements to interpret music, create an image or express or provoke emotion. classical ballet graceful, flowing movements, classical form: turn-out of the legs and pointe work, balance and symmetry, ethereal quality, emphasis on story ballets and narrative, elaborate sets and costumes neo-classical ballet increased speed, energy and attack, manipulation of the classical form, asymmetry, an off-balance feel, non-narrative, often one-act ballets, pared-down aesthetic with simple sets and costumes contemporary ballet influenced my modern dance, floor work, turn-in of the legs, greater range of movement and body line, pointe shoes but also bare feet

Continued chaine - A series of turns on pointe (on tips of toes) or demi-pointe (on balls of feet) executed in a line or in a circle, in which the feet remain close to the floor and the weight is transferred rapidly and almost imperceptibly from one foot to the other as the body revolves. plie - From the French plier, to bend.  releve - From the French relever, to raise. To raise the body on one or two feet, either on pointe (on the tips of her toes) or demi-pointe saute -Jumped or jumping. port de bras - In ballet, the movement or carriage of the arms. demi plie – half bending of the knees grand plie – full bending of the knees tendu- “stretch” – The working foot slides from the first or fifth position to the second or fourth position without lifting the toe from the ground degage - “disengaged” – similar to the tendu but the leg is lifted about 4 inches off the floor, with a well pointed toe

Positions of the feet

General terms to know performing arts - art that is performed such as dance, theatre, music and opera. ballet - an artistic dance form performed to music using precise and highly formalized set steps and gestures modern - a free, expressive style of dancing started in the early 20th century as a reaction to classical ballet jazz – a dance form or dance that is matched to the rhythms and techniques of jazz music hip hop - hip-hop is a popular, energetic dance style that usually is performed to hip-hop music and evolved from the hip-hop culture improvisation - a performance given without planning or preparation

Stage directions

What to have in your folder MUST BE YELLOW Observation Handout Syllabus Pen/Pencil – IN A PENCIL CASE Paper Class Notes - General dance history class notes - General Dance Vocab - Ballet history class notes - Ballet compare and contrast essay - Ballet dance terms