Fun Friday Confusion
There are many terms in ballet that sound similar, and since
dance is taught largely without the words ever being written on a whiteboard or
a blackboard, confusion is not surprising. I will talk about many of these confusing words
in future blogs, and today I’m going to address the common terms “croisé” and “en
croix”.
The word “croisé” means crossed,
and means any position where the legs appear to cross (from the point of view
of the audience or the dancer in the mirror) when the dancer is at a slight
angle (as opposed to facing straight ahead, or en fas). The leg that crosses
can be either the working leg (like croisé devant), or the supporting leg (like
croisé derrière). This alone is confusing, especially for beginning dancers.
“En croix” means in
the shape of a cross. It indicates that the movements go to devant, à la
seconde, derrière and back to à la seconde.
Confused yet?
The easiest way to remember the difference is this: Croisé
is a position (how it looks), en croix is a pattern of movement (indicates the directions in which the
movements are done).
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Secret #5h:
“Croisé is a position (crossed), en croix is a pattern (directions the steps
are executed).”
Link of the Day:
Quote
of the Day:
“Much
unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left
unsaid.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky
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