Gail Grant - Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet

Technical Manual and
Dictionary of
Classical Ballet

Technical Manual and
Dictionary of

Classical Ballet

Third Revised Edition

Gail Grant

ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR

Dover Publications, Inc.
NEW YORK

Copyright 1967, 1982 by Dover Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved.

This third edition, first published by Dover Publications, Inc., in 1982, is a new thorough revision starting out from the second edition, first published by Dover in 1967. That 1967 version was itself a thoroughly revised republication, with regard to both text and illustrations, of the work first published by Kamin Dance Publishers, New York, in 1950. The Prefaces to the Second and Third Editions, the Pronunciation Guide and the Bibliography are completely new features of the Dover editions.

International Standard Book Number

ISBN-13: 978-0-486-21843-4

ISBN-10: 0-486-21843-0

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 67-26481

Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation

21843040

www.doverpublications.com

TO W. J. R.

Preface to the Third Edition

This new 1982 Dover edition of Gail Grants Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet has been completely revised, and over 300 new terms have been added, all of them alphabetized into the text.

Four new books have been added to the bibliography as sources for the revisions and the additional terms.

W ALTER J. R YAN

Boca Raton, Florida

Preface to the Second Edition

The first edition of Gail Grants Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet was published in 1950. This new and revised 1967 Dover edition has so considerably broadened the scope of her original work that it should find even readier acceptance by students, teachers, choreographers, dance directors and balletomanes.

Augmenting Miss Grants initial effort are these new and valuable adjuncts:

Nearly 100 additional terms have been incorporated.

All terms are now in one complete alphabetical listing, including all the newly added terms and those formerly added in an appendix.

Each foreign-language term is followed by an improved phonetic aid to pronunciation which will be immediately useful even to those readers who may know little or nothing of the French and Italian languages. The general guide to this phonetic aid is to be found on page xiii.

New and revised illustrations have been added. All illustrations are now located in one section of the book for ease of reference.

A bibliography has been added.

There are three distinct schools of ballet techniquethe classic Italian (Cecchetti method), the graceful French and the strong Russian. The fundamental principles of classical technique are the same in all three. However, certain steps, exercises, poses and movements are performed in different ways and different names are given to similar steps and positions by these three schools. This edition has completely cross-referenced these dissimilarities and the resultant terminological deviations. The new typographic arrangement makes for effortless reading and quick references.

By vastly improving her original text and format, Miss Grant has fashioned a manual and dictionary that has every opportunity for acceptance as the official textbook of classical ballet for all dance associations and institutions.

W ALTER J. R YAN

Toledo, Ohio

January 1967

Contents

List of Illustrations

Pronunciation Guide

Since most of the terms used in classical ballet are French (a few are Italian), we have provided a phonetic aid to pronunciation immediately following each foreign-language key word. Naturally, these simplified pronunciations are only approximate, but you will not go far wrong if you remember the following rules of thumb:

All other sounds are as in English.

Syllables printed in capital letters receive more stress (although stress in French words is generally not as strong as in most English words).

The phonetic pronunciation is always given in the normal word order. For instance, the phonetic pronunciation for the key word Battement, grand is given as if for Grand battement: gr ahn bat-M AHN .

Bibliography

Albertieri, Luigi. The Art of Terpsichore. New York, 1923.

Beaumont, Cyril W. Dictionary of Technical Terms Used in Classical Ballet. London, 1939.

. A Primer of Classical Ballet. London, 1941.

. The Theory and Practice of Classical Theatrical Dancing. London, 1940.

Bourgat, Marcelle. Technique de la Danse. Paris, 1946.

Bruhn, Eric, and Moore, Lillian. Bournonville and Ballet Technique. London, 1961.

Craske, Margaret, and Beaumont, Cyril W.