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Glissade
[glee-SAD]
Glide. A traveling step executed by gliding the working foot from the
fifth position in the required direction, the other foot closing to it.
Glissade is a terre à terre step and is used to link other steps.
After a demi-plié in the fifth position the working foot glides
along the floor to a strong point a few inches from the floor. The other
foot then pushes away from the floor so that both knees are straight
and both feet strongly pointed for a moment; then the weight is shifted
to the working foot with a fondu. The other foot, which is pointed a
few inches from the floor, slides into the fifth position in demi-plié.
Grand battement
[grahn bat-MAHN]
Large battement. An exercise in which the working leg is raised from
the hip into the air and brought down again, the accent being on the
downward movement, both knees straight. This must be done with apparent
ease, the rest of the body remaining quiet. The function of grands battements
is to loosen the hip joints and turn out the legs from the hips. Grands
battements can be taken devant, derrière and à la seconde.
Grand assemblé en tournant
[grahn ta-sahn-BLAY ahn toor-NAHN]
Big assemblé, turning. This assemblé is done in the same
manner as grand assemblé. It is traveled directly to the side,
on a diagonal traveling upstage, in a circle, etc.
Grand battement en cloche
[grahn bat-MAHN ahn klawsh]
Large battement like a bell. Grands battements en cloche are continuous
grands battements executed from the fourth position front or back en
l'air to the fourth position back or front en l'air, passing through
the first position.
Grand jeté
[grahn zhuh-TAV]
Large jeté. In this step the legs are thrown to 90 degrees with
a corresponding high jump.
Grand jeté en avant
[grahn zhuh-TAY ah na-VAHN]
Large jeté forward. The jump is done on the foot which is thrown
forward as in grand battement at 90 degrees, the height of the jump depending
on the strength of the thrust and the length of the jump depending on
the strong push-off of the other leg which is thrust up and back. The
dancer tries to remain in the air in a definitely expressed attitude
or arabesque and descends to the ground in the same pose.
Grand pas de deux
[grahn pah duh duh]
Grand dance for two. It differs from the simple pas de deux in that it
has a definite structure. As a general rule the grand pas de deux falls
into five parts: entrée, adage, variation for the danseuse, variation
for the danseur, and the coda, in which both dancers dance together.
Grande pirouette à la seconde
[grahrul peer-WET a lah suh-GAWND]
Large pirouette in the second position. This pirouette is usually performed
by male dancers. It is a series of turns on one foot with the free leg
raised to the second position en l'air at 90 degrees.
Grande sissonne ouverte
[grahnd see-SAWN oo-VEHRT]
Big open sissonne. This sissonne is usually performed with high elevation
and is done from a demi-plié on both feet and finished on one
foot with the other leg raised in the desired pose, such as attitude,
arabesque, à la seconde, etc. It is performed en avant, en arrière,
de côté, en tournant.
Huit
Eight.
Italian School
The Imperial Dancing Academy connected with La Scala in Milan was opened
in 1812. Its greatest period began when Carlo Blasis, Italian dancer
and teacher, became its director in 1837. Blasis published two textbooks,
Treatise on the Art of Dancing and Code of Terpischore, in which he codified
his teaching methods and all that was known of ballet technique. These
books form the basis of our modern classical training. Blasis trained
most of the famous Italian dancers ot the era, and his pupil Giovanni
Lepri was the teacher of Enrico Cecchetti, one of the greatest teachers
in the history of ballet. It was Cecchetti who brought the Italian School
to its peak. The Italian School was known for its strong, brilliant technique
and the virtuosity of its dancers, who astonished the audience with their
difficult steps and brilliant turns. |