ONT Re: Ballet
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| Arabesque [a-ra-BESK].
| One of the basic poses in ballet, arabesque takes its name from a
| form of Moorish ornament. In ballet it is a position of the body,
| in profile, supported on one leg, which can be straight or demi-plié,
| with the other leg extended behind and at right angles to it, and the
| arms held in various harmonious positions creating the longest possible
| line from the fingertips to the toes. The shoulders must be held square
| to the line of direction. The forms of arabesque are varied to infinity.
| The Cecchetti method uses five principal arabesques; the Russian School
| (Vaganova), four; and the French School, two. Arabesques are generally
| used to conclude a phrase of steps, both in the slow movements of adagio
| and the brisk, gay movements of allégro.
|
| Gail Grant,
|'Technical Manual And Dictionary Of Classical Ballet',
| Third Revised Edition, Dover, New York, NY, 1982.
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