Body Positions and Arabesques of Ballet | Back View Images
Between all the different schools of ballet (Cecchetti, Vagonova, RAD, French), there are over 10 body positions and 6 different arabesques. Wow!
These positions can be super confusing and feel really arbitrary. But that’s because they are rather arbitrary!
These are a curated collection of ways that we can hold our arms and legs that the creators of ballet thought were the most aesthetically pleasing. That’s why different schools have slightly different positions — those creators preferred a slightly different look.
Which school is presented here?
The positions presented here are mainly Cecchetti, with the exception that epaulé is not pictured, and ecarté derrière is pictured even though is is used in the Vagonova school. This a curation of the most commonly used positions. As adult dancers, we often encounter many different schools, techniques, and instructor preferences, so this collection represents the most commonly used.
Directional vocabulary
En face = facing the front
Devant = front (usually referring to the leg)
Derrière = back (usually referring to the leg)
The corners & walls are also numbered
WHEN YOU'RE FACING FRONT (EN FACE):
Front right = Corner 1
Front left = Corner 2
When you're facing front (en face):
Front wall = "Corner" 5
Back wall = “Corner” 7
Body positions
Body Positions when in tendu front or tendu back
Croisé = crossed
Effacé = shaded
À la quatriéme = to the front
Body positions when in tendu side
Ecarté = thrown wide apart
À la seconde = to the side
Download 9-page PDF with images and labels of all positions
Quiz yourself with the images below! Which ones can you identify?
Download the PDF above to receive all of the positions labeled!
These can be confusing, but once you figure them out, they’ll start to make more sense and you’ll even start to develop favorite positions!
