Allegro in ballet could mean either petit allegro or grand allegro. The term allegro in music means ‘at a brisk tempo.’ In Italian the word allegro means merry, but in ballet it means jumps. The term grand allegro refers to big travelling jumps and turns, and petit allegro is when the jumps are smaller and faster. … Read more
What Is Center In Ballet? Center in ballet is the reward for all your hard and disciplined work at the barre. It is not that center work in ballet requires less effort, but it is far more exhilarating for the dancer, as this is when she feels she is really and truly dancing. Center work … Read more
Most teachers dedicate a few minutes of class time to ballet barre stretches or stretching in general. Some leave you free to stretch yourself, and others give a combination of ballet barre stretches. It is very important for dancers to be both flexible and strong. If you want to read more about stretching exercises, you can … Read more
What is Rond de Jambe en L’Air? In the short video above, the dancer is demonstrating a single rond de jambe en l’air followed by a double rond de jambe en l’air. The dancer aims to touch her toe to the side of her leg at knee height each time her leg circles in. Rond … Read more
In the video above you can see the dancer demonstrating Petit Battement Sur le Cou-de-Pied very slowly. This step in ballet is usually done very fast, but a good way to learn it is slowly as the girl in the video is doing. Petit Battement Sur le Cou-de-Pied literally means ‘little beating on the cou-de-pied … Read more