Marvelous Monday Croisé

Marvelous Monday Croisé

The term croisé means “crossed” and that is exactly what happens in this important position of the body. It is also a confusing issue, especially for beginning dancers.

Simply put, when a dancer is in a croisé position of any kind, the legs appear crossed  - from the audience’s point of view. This is an important point.  For a dancer, it is when they look in the mirror that they will see that one leg crosses in front of the other. But it is a subtle crossing, so dancers usually learn the position by studying  croisé devant (in the mirror), because the leg in tendu very clearly crosses in front of the other leg. If the dancer stands in effacé devant (effacé is the basic opposite of croisé), it should be clear that the tendu leg doesn’t cross in front of the other leg.

It is important for dancers to see this difference because croisé positions are used so often in ballet technique; and understanding the difference between croisé and effacé is the equivalent of learning right from left.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #5g:  

“ Croisé means “crossed”.

                Link of the Day:

http://www.littlethings.com/russian-folk-dance/

Quote of the Day:

“Success does not consist in never making blunders, but in never making the same one a second time."
- Josh Billings

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