What port is de Bra?

port de bras, (French: “carriage of the arms”), in classical ballet, both the general arm movements of a dancer and a designated set of exercises designed to improve the quality of these movements. The port de bras of classical ballet is meant to be a graceful and harmonious accent to the movements of the legs.

What makes a good port de bras?

In contemporary ballet, there are many exceptions to the rules of port de bras, but generally port de bras should always look coordinated with the lower half of the body and still look balletic in nature (meaning, not raising the shoulders awkwardly or having excess tension in the arms) unless instructed specifically …

How many port de bras are there?

In this and the next several blogs, we will closely analyze how the arms should move from one position to another. In Vaganova technique, there are six established port de bras exercises designed to train dancers in the graceful and fluid movement of the arms coordinated with the head and the rest of the body.

What muscles are used in port de bras?

In fact, a simple sweeping of the arms from en bas through second to fifth position utilizes a host of muscles throughout the upper back and shoulders, including the trapezius and deltoids. When these muscles aren’t engaged, otherwise pristine port de bras can appear droopy and weak.

What is the difference between Passe and retire?

The difference between passe and retire is that passe is the actual movement in which the leg passes the knee of the supporting leg from one position to another and retire is the position itself. Retire de cote is the position where the pointed foot is placed on the side of the supporting knee.

What is second port de bras?

Second Port de Bras trains the use of the arms in separate and opposing movements with complex involvement of the head and focus. Stand with your body in croise (angled an eighth turn from front). If the arms are in preparatory to begin, they will rise together to a circular First Position across from your diaphragm.

What is a caMBre in dance?

caMBre: In ballet, a bend from the waist to the side or to the back. cHaSSe: A sliding step in which one foot “chases” and displaces the other.

What is the difference between cou-de-pied and coupe?

Cou-de-pied and Coupé are two terms that I often hear used interchangeably by teachers, but there is a difference. The long and the short of it is that cou-de-pied is a position and coupé is an action. In either case, cou-de-pied designates a position of the foot rather than an action.