jwg

Or so my ballet mistress always screamed at me.

The player has his leg up en attitude arriére, but the supporting leg is far too turned in to allow that we are seeing a classical ballet position and the line of the back leg, (not to mention the foot, which is not classically beveled!) is notsa hotsa (too turned in as well). But the extension is impressive and it was certainly one of those very quick movements of the leg, called a grand battement en arriére, basically a high kick (which, in ballet, would have to conform to very strict parameters of line and position). The arm is in a basic flailing-about position that really has no ballet equivalent, unless one, generously might consider it a form of very radical allongé. That being said, the player is to be commended for being so flexible and having achieved this position, even for a nanosecond.

Since dancers never have to write these words down (we only use them verbally), I had to check the ballet dictionary for proper spelling. Almost every movement in ballet is part of a highly codified French vocabulary, and there usually is a name that can be applied to almost anything the body does. Whether it is classical or beautiful is another story.

My father always said, "Don't ever ask Mike anything. He'll tell you more than you want to know."

Tatiana Youbetchabootskaya (aka MissKinley)