I've got fouettés and beets on my mind.
-fouetté: literally meaning "whipped", in which both the working and supporting legs work in concert to make a quick rotation of the hips; allows changes of internal leg-to-body* relations (eg: from "front tendu" to arabesque) via movement of the hips rather than of the working leg; not to be confused with fouetté turns
-beets: a strange bulbous root vegetable that is more fun to take pictures of than to cook and eat; not to be confused with beats
*where the body is a manifestation of the self; (eg: in "front tendu" position, the leg is extended to the front with respect to one's self, or body**)
**the other case in which we speak of directional relations is with respect to the audience (external); ie: self-to-audience relations (eg: croisé, in which the legs-- and thus the self-- are closed/crossed w.r.t. the audience)***
***the next level of complexity in conceptualizing directions in ballet would be to compound the two basic types of directional relations (eg: "front tendu croisé", in which the leg is in front wrt the self and the self is "closed" wrt the audience)
In summary, there are two basic types of directional relations in ballet: internal (leg-to-self) and external (self-to-audience). The two types may be compounded into a complex directional relation. Internal directional changes are provided by movement of either the working leg or the hips (ie: fouetté). Oh, and beets.
-fouetté: literally meaning "whipped", in which both the working and supporting legs work in concert to make a quick rotation of the hips; allows changes of internal leg-to-body* relations (eg: from "front tendu" to arabesque) via movement of the hips rather than of the working leg; not to be confused with fouetté turns
-beets: a strange bulbous root vegetable that is more fun to take pictures of than to cook and eat; not to be confused with beats
*where the body is a manifestation of the self; (eg: in "front tendu" position, the leg is extended to the front with respect to one's self, or body**)
**the other case in which we speak of directional relations is with respect to the audience (external); ie: self-to-audience relations (eg: croisé, in which the legs-- and thus the self-- are closed/crossed w.r.t. the audience)***
***the next level of complexity in conceptualizing directions in ballet would be to compound the two basic types of directional relations (eg: "front tendu croisé", in which the leg is in front wrt the self and the self is "closed" wrt the audience)
In summary, there are two basic types of directional relations in ballet: internal (leg-to-self) and external (self-to-audience). The two types may be compounded into a complex directional relation. Internal directional changes are provided by movement of either the working leg or the hips (ie: fouetté). Oh, and beets.
