Ballet terms are in French. These terms are sometimes used in Jazz, Modern, Colorguard, and other types of dance. Below are some commonly used dance steps.

Common terms for the ballet barre:
Demi plié-half bending of the legs.

Grand plié-full bending of the legs.

relevé-rising up onto demi-point (balls of the feet) or onto pointe.

Tendu-to stretch--brushing a "straight leg" to a pointed foot.

Dégagé-to disengage--like a tendu but the foot comes off of the ground about two inches--keep your leg straight.

Coupé-to cut. Can be a position or an action.

Fondu-to melt--a one legged plié.

Passé-to pass--in America, usually we use the word passé as a position name.

Frappé-to strike--the ball of the foot strikes the floor.

Rond de jambe-rounding of the leg--can be done à terre (toes stay on the ground) or en l'air (foot off of the ground).

En dehors-doing a step in an outward direction from your body center.

En dedans-doing a step in an inward direction to your body center.

En croix-in the shape of a cross--(example: doing tendu's from first position to the front, then side, then back. Your foot will do tendus in the shape of a cross).

Développé-to develope a line of the leg. Your leg will usually go through the passé position, then through attitude, then to a straight leg.

Grand battement-large beating of the leg. Brushing your foot off of the ground while executing a large "kick" of the leg. Another name is a "high Kick".

Pointe/demi-pointe-where the foot and toes are extended as far as they can go.

flex-when your foot is bent or flexed at the ankle.

More Dance Terms