Split

Split

A split is a configuration of the legs to a straight 180 degree (or more, oversplit), they can be done in right, left, or center positions, the ability to do a split also demonstrates the flexibility of the dancer. Splits are usually done as floor work, barre work or incorporated into dances; the ability to do splits is critical to ballet dancers as it allows for proper execution of certain movements, for example, the Grand Jeté, Arabesque Penchée and many other movements. Proper execution of a ballet split includes turned out legs from the hip and pointed feet, without proper technique it may be harmful or impossible for the dancer to perform a proper split. A notable difference between front splits in ballet and gymnastics is the turnout of the back leg, in gymnastics the back leg faces downwards, in ballet the back leg faces to the side.

Fouetté

Fouetté

Literally "whipped". The term indicates either a turn with a quick change in the direction of the working leg as it passes in front of or behind the supporting leg, or a quick whipping around of the body from one direction to another. There are many kinds of fouetté: petit fouetté (à terre, en demi-pointe or sauté) and grand fouetté (sauté, relevé or en tournant). Similar to a frappe. An introductory form for beginner dancers, executed at the barre is as follows: facing the barre, the dancer executes a grand battement to the side, then turns the body so that the lifted leg ends up in arabesque.

Royal Academy of Dance

The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is a UK based examination board that specialises in dance education and training, including classical ballet. The RAD was founded in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Teachers of Operatic Dancing, and and was granted a Royal Charter in 1935. HM Queen Elizabeth II is patron of the RAD, with Darcey Bussell elected to serve as President in 2012, succeeding Antoinette Sibley who served as President for 21 years.
The RAD was created with the objective to improve the standard of ballet teaching in the UK and, in pursuit of that goal, a new teaching method and dance technique was devised for the Academy by a group of eminent European dancers. The RAD is one of the largest dance organisations in the world with over 12,000 members in 79 countries including about 7,500 who hold Registered Teacher Status. There are currently about 1,000 students in full-time or part-time teacher training programmes with the RAD, and each year about 250,000 candidates enter RAD examinations worldwide..
RAD exams are recognised by the national qualifications regulators of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, with selected exams also carrying a UCAS tariff towards university admission. The RAD is also a validated awarding body of the Council for Dance Education and Training. The RAD works in partnership with the International Dance Teachers' Association. Royal Academy of Dance® is a charity registered in England and Wales No. 312826, VAT reg No. GB 603 176371. Royal Academy of Dance Enterprises Ltd (RADE) (http://www.radenterprises.co.uk/) is authorised by RAD to sell products and goods using the Academy's logo and brand name. All profits made by Royal Academy of Dance Enterprises Ltd is gift-aided to the RAD.

Opéra-ballet

Opéra-ballet was a popular genre of French Baroque opera, "that grew out of the ballets à entrées of the early seventeeth century". It differed from the more elevated tragédie en musique as practised by Jean-Baptiste Lully in several ways. It contained more dance music than the tragédie and the plots were not necessarily derived from Classical mythology and even allowed for the comic elements which Lully had excluded from the tragédie en musique after Thésée (1675). The opéra-ballet consisted of a prologue followed by a number of self-contained acts (also known as entrées), often loosely grouped round a single theme. The individual acts could also be performed independently, in which case they were known as actes de ballet.
The first work in the genre is generally held to be André Campra's L'Europe galante ("Europe in Love") of 1697, "but Les Saisons of 1695 is so typical of the genre that it is mentioned as the most distinctive prototype of this sort of composition", even though the latter has a mythological plot. Famous later examples are Les élémens (1721) by Destouches, and Les Indes galantes (1735) and Les fêtes d'Hébé (1739) by Jean-Philippe Rameau.

Tarantella

The term tarantella groups a number of different folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time (sometimes 18/8 or 4/4), accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional southern Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance tammuriata in Campania, pizzica in the Salento region, Sonu a ballu in Calabria. Tarantella is popular in Southern Italy as well as in parts of Argentina.

 

Character dance

Character dance is a specific subdivision of classical dance. It is the stylized representation of a traditional folk or national dance, mostly from European countries, and uses movements and music which have been adapted for the theater.
Character dance is integral to much of the classical ballet repertoire. A good example of character dance within ballet is the series of national dances which take place at the beginning of Act III of Swan Lake. The ballet Don Quixote as well as Paquita also features many character variations based on traditional Spanish dances. Popular character dance adaptations for ballet also include the national dances of Hungary, Russia, Poland, Italy and Spain: csárdás, mazurka, tarantella, flamenco, etc.
One of the best known schools that incorporate character dance to teaching syllabus is Vaganova Ballet Academy. Outside of Russia and the former republics of the late Soviet Union, there is little training in the art of character dance. However, it is still widely taught in the United Kingdom and Australia and in Central Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary) where it is integral to the training of students at the Royal Ballet School and the Australian Ballet School. It is also taught as a separate skill within the graded examinations syllabus of the Royal Academy of Dance, Statni Konzervator Praha. Most performing companies or schools elsewhere are not familiar with the history or technique of this style. Therefore, the term "Character Dance" is often used in misleading ways that have no bearing to the original definition in ballet terminology.
Yuri Slonimsky writes in his book The Bolshoi Ballet (Second edition 1960, pg.8) on the history of character dance:

"....The Moscow theater thrived because at the beginning it was free from Court tutelage...another important factor was the popularity of various fairs and festivals among the Moscovites. It was here, at the turn of the 19th century that a new genre came into being-one inspired by the national comic opera-dance scenes suggested by folk festivals, games,Yule-tide, Shrovetide Festivals, etc. These dances were created by Vasily Balashov, a former inmate of the Orphanage, soloist of the Court Stage at St. Petersburg and choreographer of the Petrovsky Theatre in Moscow. Petersburg's choreographers Ivan Valberg, A. August, and others after them, borrowed and developed Balashov's methods. And in 1812-14 Russian folk dances were successfully shown by Charles Didelot and his colleagues in a "Russian Divertissement" at King's Theatre in London."

 
Folk traditions have been incorporated into what is known as ballet for centuries but it was not until Aleksandr Shirayev, Assistant to Marius Petipa, that Character Dance became a unique and codified art-form that takes its rightful place as an integral part of Classical Ballet.
Character dances are usually performed in shoes or boots, with a suede sole and a small heel. Men typically wear black character shoes and women typically wear a flesh coloured shoe with a larger, more feminine heel.

 

Foot Positions

First Position
 
When you begin learning ballet, one of the first things you will learn is the five basic ballet positions. They are important because every basic move in ballet begins and ends in one of the five positions. In first position, the balls of the feet are turned out completely. The heels touch each other and the feet face outward, trying to form a straight line.

Second Position
 

The balls of both feet are turned out completely, with the heels separated by the length of one foot. Similar to first position, but the feet are spread apart.

Third Position

 

One foot is in front of the other with the of the front foot touching the middle of the back foot. 

 

Fourth Position

 

The feet are placed the same as third position, but one step apart. 

 

Fifth Position 

 

With both feet touching, the toes of each foot reaches the heel of the other. 

Arm positions

Preparatory Position

Every ballet step originates from one of the five basic feet positions of ballet. There are also five basic positions of the arms in ballet. (Both the names and actual positions vary based on method. The positions shown here illustrate the French Method.)
Practice these positions, as they form the basis for all of ballet dancing.
The preparatory position, or premiere en bas, is not considered one of the basic arm positions of ballet, but it is used often and worthy of noting. The preparatory position is a beginning pose used to start and finish a floor combination.

• Holding your back straight and your head high, allow your arms to relax in front of you, slightly extended away from the body.
• Both arms should be rounded with your fingers almost touching.
• Relax your hands and shoulders.

First Position of the Arms


First position of the arms, as well as the other arm positions, can be executed with the feet in any of the five positions. For example, many times your feet will be in first position while your arms are posed in fifth position.

• Hold both arms low in front of the body, with hands almost touching.
• Round the arms, slightly bending the elbows.
• Raise the arms so that your fingers almost touch your navel.

Second Position of the Arms

• From second position, raise your arms to the side.
• Keep your arms slightly rounded.
• Lower your elbows slightly below your shoulders.
• Make sure your wrists are lower than your elbows.
• Keep your shoulders down, your neck long and your chin up.

Third Position of the Arms

In third position, the arms work opposite the legs. If your right foot is in front, your left arm should be raised.

• Raise your left arm over your head, slightly forward.
• Round your right arm to the side at belly button height.
• Keep the palm of your hand turned forward.

Fourth Position of the Arms

As in third position, the arms work opposite the legs.

• Bring your left arm forward, slightly rounded at the height of your chest.
• Raise your right arm above your head, slightly rounded.

Fifth Position of the Arms

• Starting with arms in first position, raise the arms over the head. You should be able to see your hands without moving your head.
• Round your arms with your elbows slightly bent.
• Your hands should be about 6 inches apart.
• Make sure your palms are facing inward.

Note: There are actually three positions of the arms in fifth position in ballet: low, middle and high fifth. The illustration pictured is high fifth.

Rond de jambe

Rond de jambe

Literally "circle of the leg". Actually, half-circles made by the pointed foot, returning through first position to repeat; creating the letter 'D' on the floor. From front to back rond de jambe en dehors, or from back to front rond de jambe en dedans.

• Rond de jambe à terre: straightened leg with pointed toe remaining on the ground to sweep around.

• Rond de jambe en l'air: in the air. The leg is lifted to the side, movement is only below the knee. If the thigh is horizontal, the toe draws an oval approximately between the knee of the support leg and the second position in the air. If the thigh is in the lower demi-position then the oval is to the calf of the support knee.

• Rond de jambe attitude: the leg is swung around from the front around to the side into attitude position behind as the supporting foot goes en pointe. (see also Attitude)

• Demi-grand rond de jambe: the leg is straightened and sustained horizontal to make the circle to the side. If not reversed, foot returns past the knee.
• Grand rond de jambe: the leg is straightened and sustained at grand battement height, with the foot making the circle high. Requires advanced "extension" flexibility and strength. If not reversed, foot returns past the knee.

Releve

Relevé

Literally "lifted". Rising from any position to balance on one or both feet on at least demi-pointe which is heels off the floor or higher to full pointe where the dancer is actually balancing on the top of the toes, supported in pointe shoes. Smoothly done in some versions, a quick little leap up in other schools.