The Ballet Dictionary: 50 Terms Dancers Must Know

1. À terre: On the ground
2. Adagio: Slow, controlled movements, usually performed in the center of the room
3. Allegro: Fast, lively movements, often including small or large jumps and turns
4. Allongé: Extended or outstretched
5. Arabesque: A position in which the dancer extends the working leg behind the body while the other leg supports their weight
6. Assemblé: A jump where the dancer brings their legs together in the air and then lands on both feet simultaneously
7. Attitude: A position similar to arabesque, but with the raised leg bent 
8. Balancé: A three-step rocking motion where the dancer alternates balance on their feet; usually in a waltz (3/4 tempo)
9. Barre: A horizontal (often wooden) handrail used for dance and exercise
10. Battement: A straight extension of the leg to the front, side, or back; can be small (“petit”) or large (“grand”)
11. Cambré: Bending the upper body from the waist to the front, side, or back
12. Châiné: Quick-traveling turns done with the feet in first position
13. Changement: Jumps done in fifth position where the dancer alternates which foot lands in front
14. Chassé: A triple-step glide that resembles a gallop
15. Cou-de-pied: A position in which the dancer’s arched working foot is either on the ankle of the supporting leg (“devant”), behind the ankle of the supporting leg (“derrière”), or wrapped around the ankle with heel in front and toes in back (“sur le cou-de-pied”)
16. Coupé: A changing of the feet in which one foot cuts in front or behind the other
17. Dégagé: A movement in which the dancer’s foot brushes off the floor a few inches from the ground
18. Devant: In front
19. Derrière: To the back
20. Développé: A movement in which the dancer gradually unfolds one leg from passé into extension
21. Échappé: A jump from a closed position (first or fifth) to an open position (second or fourth)
22. Elevé: Rising to the balls of the feet (or full pointe) without a plié
23. En croix: Any sequence performed in the shape of a cross
24. En dedans: Inward
25. En dehors: Outward
26. En l’air: In the air
27. En pointe: Dancing on the tips of the toes in pointe shoes
28. Entrechat: A jump where the dancer leaps in the air, rapidly crosses the legs, and returns to the same fifth position
29. Fondu: A plié on one leg
30. Fouetté: A quick whipping movement of the working leg, usually accompanied by a pirouette
31. Frappé: A movement where the dancer’s working leg starts in cou-de-pied and brushes out to extension, striking the floor as the foot goes from flexed to pointed
32. Glissade: From demi-plié fifth position, the dancer brushes one foot into a side dégagé. Then, the dancer jumps and lands on that leg and extends the opposite leg to the side before brushing closed back to fifth position.
33. Jeté: A leap from one foot to the other; can be small or large (“grand jeté”).
34. Pas de bourrée: A quick traveling step on pointe or demi-pointe where the dancer’s legs cross “back, side, front” or vice versa
35. Pas de deux: A dance with two performers
36. Passé: Passing the working foot from front to back (or vice versa) by route of a retiré
37. Penché: An arabesque in which the dancer’s body tilts forward from the hip so that the working leg is higher than their head
38. Piqué turn: A traveling turn step in which the dancer’s leg steps out en pointe for support while the working leg moves from plié to retiré derrière
39. Pirouette: A turn on one leg
40. Plié: Bending of the knees
41. Port de bras: How the dancer moves and carries their arms 
42. Promenade: A balance where the dancer slowly rotates over the ball of their foot
43. Relevé: From plié, the dancer rises onto the balls of their feet or pointe.
44. Retiré: A position in which the dancer’s working leg is raised, turned out, and bent at the knee so the toes touch in front (“devant”) or back (“derrière”) of the supporting knee
45. Rond de jambe: A circling movement of the leg that effectively traces the letter D that can be done à terre or en l’air
46. Royale: A jump where the dancer beats their legs in the air and lands with their feet in the opposite position as where they started. 
47. Sauté: A jump 
48. Sissonne: A “scissor step” where the dancer jumps off two feet and lands on one
49. Tendu: Stretching the foot and leg straight out from one position to another without the foot leaving the floor
50. Variation: A solo dance

Understanding ballet terminology can better equip you for class and help you learn more complex choreography or even just identify movements while watching a performance. Make flash cards, keep a sheet of paper in your dance bag, or add these words to a note on your phone so you can quiz yourself later. Highlight terms as you memorize and perform them.