Attitude Croisee Devant

   I just recently started a new ballet class which I'm really excited about. Since I haven't done ballet for a few years I thought I'd review a few of the main poses I learned when I was in ballet. One of those poses I reviewed was the "Attitude Croisee Devant". I used this pose more often than I thought, which I'm still using now. I never really mastered the most efficient way to make it as best as possible. But from a few tricks in this book, I have!

 

Ballet is one of my all-time favorite types of dances. But overall any type of dance is my favorite! Now since I'm starting ballet again, I thought I'd get more technical with my moves. When I was younger I used to love all the poses that'd involve the movement of arms from position to position. You first start off with first position as always and your arms relaxed down in front of you making a long oval shape. 

 

Going from first position I come up to a "Retire Devant" which means that the left or right leg is, "Withdrawn to the front where the thigh is raised to the second position en l'air with the knee bent so that the pointed toe is placed I front of the supporting knee." (Grant Pg. 97) This position is used as a transition to many different poses in the ballet world and is even used as turns. While in this position both arms go up to first position where your fingertips barely touch and are parallel to your belly button.

 

The supporting leg will always have a turned out foot since we're talking ballet here. After Retire Devant then comes the actual pose, "Attitude Croisee Devant." This means that the, "Raised leg is bent with the knee pressed outward and the foot raised as high as possible. The arms are held "en attitude" with the high arm on the same side as the supporting leg and the head slightly inclined toward the low arm." (Grant Pg.10)

 

 

This is how the overall pose should look. By doing it this way you are ensured to have the best outcome you could have. The tip I learned was that instead of going from first position right into the pose, you should use a transition that goes into the pose to make sure everything is in place. Other than making your pointed toe stronger and getting your leg higher and higher each time.

 

Question:

What's your favorite type of dance? Why?

Citation:

 Grant, Gail. Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet. Third Revised Edition ed. New York: Dover Publications, 1982. Print.