French is the language of ballet. Most of the names of the steps in ballet come from the French language. King Louis XIV of France loved ballet. He performed in ballets along with members of his court. In 1662 he established the first official school of ballet, known today as the Paris Opera Ballet. The names of the steps created by King Louis are still used today. Ballet instructors pride themselves on teaching their students the French ballet vocabulary.
Many of the terms, when translated, give clues to their corresponding steps. There is an excellent book "Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet" written by Gail Grant published by Dover that gives you the French pronunciation and definition of each term. Here are some French terms used in ballet and the meaning of the word:
- assemble - assembled or joined together
- avant - forward
- plie - bend
- changement - change
- battement - beat
- pas de chat - step of the cat
- ballonne - bounced, like a ball
- ballotte - tossed
- chaines - chains, links
http://www.theballetcenter.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment