arabesque

Arabesque (; literally, "in Arabic fashion") in dance, particularly ballet, is a body position in which a dancer stands on one leg–the supporting leg–with the other leg–the working leg–turned out and extended behind the body, with both legs held straight. In classical ballet, an arabesque can be executed with the supporting leg en pointe or demi pointe or with foot flat on the floor. The working leg may touch the floor in tendu back – an arabesque par terre – or be elevated. Common elevation angles of the raised leg are 45° – à demi hauteur – and 90° – à la hauteur. When the angle is much greater than 90° and the body trunk leans forward to counterbalance the working leg, the position is called arabesque penchée. The arms may be held in various positions. Arabesques are described from the perspective of the dancer, in terms of the stage reference points used by the training system. Vaganova Galina Kekisheva, a former soloist of the Kirov Ballet who studied with Agrippina Vaganova at the Leningrad School of Dance has described the changes in Russian ballet technique over time: Now it seems unimportant in the school if the dancer stands on his or her leg properly pulled up, or sits back into the hip socket. What is important to today's dancers is that the arabesque is higher than the head. There is no low arabesque that maintains a beautiful line, an arabesque from which, for example, you can do a turn. When you're sitting back on the [joint of the standing] leg, you can't go anywhere from there. Kekisheva, who is now a coach with the Mariinsky ballet, has said that "Vaganova's method is dissipating, and working in the classical repertoire has become more difficult". In the Vaganova method there are four basic arabesque positions. They are described here for a dancer facing point 8. In class practice, the arms are always level with the shoulders – arabesque de classe, whereas in performance the arm in front may be raised above shoulder level – arabesque de scene. The elbows are always facing downwards. In the first arabesque, the dancer stands in effacé position – with the left foot in front – with the right leg raised in arabesque, the right arm extended to the side, to the audience, and the left arm extended front, towards the corner.