Hello! This is my page about ballet! I love ballet! It is my life! Anyhoo this is where you will find all sorts of information on ballet. However if you want shoe advice you can visit my page about shoes.

  Ok, first of all there are five basic positions. These postions are simply first, second, third, fourth, and fifth.

  To acheive these postions you must have something called turnout. Turnout is when you can keep your heel forward and your toes out to the side. For exaple, if you were standing facing something, you would have perfect turnout if the back of your heels were facing each other and your right toes were directly to the right of you, and same for the left ones.

  Here is how you do the five positioins:

First: Stand with your heels touching eachother and your toes tuned out.

Second: Stand how you did in first poition, but with your feet about a foot apart.

Third: Stand with one foot how it would be in first position. Stand with the other foot directly in front of it touching it and have the heel of the foot in front be by the arch.

Fourth: Stand how you would in third, except move the foot in front so that the heel of it is touching the toes of the foot in the back. Now move the foot in front directly forward about 10 inches.

Fifth: Stand how you would in third, except move the foot in front so that the heel of it is touching the toes of the foot in the back.

  Here are some basic moves:

Plie- There are two types of plies. First there are demi plies, and then there are grand plies.

            Demi Plie- Bend both knees, but dont lift your heels off the floor.

            Grand Plie- Bend both knees, and remeber to keep your turnout. Then keep going down so that your heels lift of the floor. Then slowly come back up and be sure to hold your turnout and to go through demi plie.

Releve- Lift your heels off the floor. Be sure to keep your turnout. There are many variations of the releve. You can do this move in any of the five positions, and more. Releve is one of the most used ballet moves(in my opinion).

Tendu- Tendu means "to stretch." So keep in mind when doing tendus that you need to stretch your foot. Remember to always feel the floor and keep your turnout. Do do a tendu, simply stretch your foot to  a position. Then pull it back in to your starting position. Tendus are usually but not always done from first or fifth position.

Rond de jambe- Rond de jambe is a movement where you move your foot in a semi-circle. Your leg will move either en dehors(outward) or en dedans(inwards). To do a rond de jambe simply tendu your foot to the front, and circle it around to the back. There are many other variations of the rond de jambe.