Glossary

This is the English  Glossary for the Ball.
Tämä on tanssiaisten englanninkielinen sanasto. Katso suomenkielinen sanasto täältä.

Terminology is described especially Alexander's ball in mind and the glossary is by no means exhaustive. Some terms are period, some modern.

 At the turn of the 19th century dance technique and terminology were evolving rapidly. Some terms are similar in Baroque dance or classical ballet, but they do not necessarily share identical meanings.

Frontispiece from A Description of the Correct Method of Waltzing.
Thomas Wilson 1816.
Bibliothèque Nationale de France gallica.bnf.fr

Allemande, allemande turn: A turning dance figure in a two-hand hold. Typically you begin turning clockwise and then turn back counter-clockwise. The style of hold may be chosen by the dancers. In addition to the ones described below, experienced dancers may have used other holds as well.

• Simple solution: gentleman offers both hands (straight or crossed) at about waist level, lady places her hands in his.
• Classic solution: turning clockwise right shoulders meet, right arm extends behind partner's back, place left hand at small of your own back, then take hands. Turning counter-clockwise left shoulders meet. Easiest to achieve if you begin as if you were going to walk arm in arm, then just don't bend your arm but slip it behind your partner's back.
• Picturesque solution: turning clockwise offer right hand to partner at waist or chest level, then extend left arms to form a gate above you, fingertips meet. Turning counter-clockwise offer left hand.

Balancé: A setting step, usually begins moving right. Plié, step about the length of your foot right with right foot (on the ball of your foot or whole foot), straightening knee. Hold. Bring left foot next to right, plié. Repeat to left. Two balancés occupy two bars of music.

Balotté: A setting step. Starting on right: leap onto right foot and bring it down in front of left, extend left up behind; leap onto left, bringing it next to right behind, extend right up in front; leap onto right, left remains in air, not extended but neatly behind right ankle.

Cast, cast off: A turning (and possibly travelling) dance figure. Half a turn away from partner and/or dance set, in other words you turn your back to partner. Usually followed by moving to a new place in the set. For example in a longways country dance the A couple would cast off like this: They start facing each other. They then turn half a turn via the presence and move down the set, behind the backs of B couple to end up either below the B couple or, if the B couple moves away, at their place.

Chaîne anglaise: Rigths and lefts in English, usually refers to four dancers changing places in a circle. Often begins by changing place from left (give right hand to partner), then right (give left hand to neigbour). This can go once round (four changes), sometimes more, sometimes less or you can reverse the direction at some point to return to place.

Chassé: A vigorous variation of a skip-change from Empire era. The step can travel forward, backward or to the side. Performed starting with right, going forward: temps levé: Hop on left, extend right, step on right. Bring left just behind right, step on left. Step forward on right, plié. Hop on right, straightening knees, bring left from rear and extend it forward to prepare the next step.

Dos-à-dos: A circling figure performed with partner, called back-to-back in English. Usually done clockwise: Both dancers pass their partner from left (right shoulders), curve to own right (this is the back-to-back part of the figure) and retreat to own place (passing left shoulders). You don't change the direction you are facing during the figure.

Down, downhall: The area in dancing space furthest away from The Presence and musicians.

Jeté assemblé: A typical finishing punctuation to a step sequence. Plié, free foot takes a gentle running step (ie makes a leap or bound), plie and the now free foot extends to the side. Hop on supporting leg and on landing bring the extended free foot next to support leg.

Moulinet: "Mill" in French, the figure is called hands across in English. Often performed by four dancers in a square, first clockwise, then back to place counter-clockwise. Dancers place right hands in the middle, taking the hand of the opposite dancer. The mill rotates, changes directions (turning via free hand) and rotates left hands back. Sometimes called star in modern usage.

Plié: Bending the knees. In Empire era dances several steps are prepared by a modest plié, equivalent to demi-plié in classical ballet.

Poussette: A turning and travelling dance figure, "wheelbarrow". This figure is often used for changing places between two couples. Take two-hand hold with partner. One dancer first pushes (along a direct or a curved track) then pulls the other, at the same time moving to the desired new place in the set.

The Presence, la présence: The most important are in the dance space, the direction the dance is performed to. Also called uphall. During Empire era the musicians sit at the presence and around and near them are the best seats to watch the dance. The name comes from royal balls at court: the Presence remains at the King's seat, even if he is not there in person. See also Down.

Quadrille step: A typical step sequence for travelling. Temps levé, three chassés forward, jeté assemblé.

Rigaudon, pas de rigaudon: Embellishment, usually begins with right foot. Plié, hop on left, straightening the knees, extend right diagonally forward. Step right, back next to left. Extend left diagonally forward, step back next to right. Plié, jump on both feet. Duration is two bars of music, the hop and jump come on the downbeat of each bar.

Sauteuse-step, sauteuse-waltz: Step-unit with three steps. Plié, free fot takes a gentle running step (ie leaps), plié, step on free foot, straightening the knees, take another step and plié to prepare the next step.

Skip-change: Step-unit with three steps. Example: Step right forward, step left bringing it together with and behind of right, step right forward. Then the "change" would follow by stepping left forward, right together, right forward. In Empire era can be varied according to music. Stepping on whole foot in a stately and slow manner or with bounce to a more lively music. For the lively version see Chassé.

Temps levé, tems levé: A small hop on support leg, free foot extends forward. Next step begins by stepping on the extended foot.

Turnout: Turning feet out from the hips, away from parallel position. In Empire era dances a modest turnout of about 90 degrees is sufficient. Because the whole leg is in turnout, the knee should point to same direction as the toes. As turnout is an unusual posture it may take time to learn it.

Up, uphall: Same as The Presence. See also Down.

Walking step: Exactly what it sounds like, an ordinary step. Usually two steps fit into a bar of music in duple time and three into a bar in triple time. If the whole dance is done with walking steps then there is no need for turnout and feet can be kept parallel.

Waltz hold: Any hold the dancers use for waltz, often a two-hand hold; may be chosen by the dancers. For progressive waltz you can choose for example:

• Simple solution: hand in partner's hand. Gentleman offers the hand on lady's side to her and lady takes his hand with the hand at the gentleman's side.
• More elegant solution: ring hold. Gentleman puts the arm on the lady's side to her shoulder, the lady puts her arm on top of his. Free hands join in front to make a curve. (See Figure 1 in picture above.)
• Even more elegant solution: skating hold, back. Lady bends the arm that is not on gentleman's side behind her back. Gentleman takes the said had with his hand on the lady's side. Free hands join in front. (See Figure 2 in picture above.)

Waltz step: Step unit of three steps. Plié, free foot steps forward, straightening the knees, another step, a third step and an immediate plié to prepare the next step. The steps can taken so that only the toes and ball of the foot touch the floor (exept during pliés, when the whole foot is down). Notice that this step is very different from modern waltz steps. The rhythm, however, is the same. Thus Empire waltzes can be danced with modern steps.