Ballet for Dummies

Not knowing much ballet lingo, I googled ballet to see what some of the motions they were going through at the recital and the first website that came up was Ballet for Dummies and I thought I should share what I learned about: a Demi-plié in fifth position

The first exercise at the barre is the small knee bend, or demi-plié ("duh-MEE plee-AY"). The word plié means "bent," and demi means half — just as demitasse means half a cup, demi monde means half a world, and Demi Moore is half a Moore. When you do a demi-plié, you bend your knees as far as you can while still keeping both heels planted on the ground. That little caveat is the key. It means that the depth of a demi-pliédemi-plié in four of the basic positions. varies a little for every single dancer — as you're about to find out. To go from fourth to fifth position, begin by pointing your right foot, keeping it turned out as far as you can. Now close your right foot directly in front of the left, gently touching toe to heel. Lift your right arm through middle fifth position, and open it out to second. There you have it — fifth position.

Even in the unlikely event that you were born with mega-turnout, don't try to press your right foot flat against your left. A move like that can damage something important — your knees, for example.

In fact, your fifth position may stay "open" for years. It takes a long time for a dancer's hips to loosen up enough, and the muscles to strengthen enough, to hold the ideal position. Patience, young grasshopper.

While your right leg moves from fourth to fifth position, your right arm has something to do as well. Lift your right arm through middle fifth (arm) position, into second position. Okay now — time for the demi-plié. All the same rules apply, and the arm movements are the same in second position (refer to Figure 2b). Because of the strange contortions involved, the demi-plié in fifth position is the shallowest bend of them all. But perseverance pays off.