Coupé [koo-pay] vs. sur le Cou-de pied [sewr luh koo-duh-pyay]

12/30/2011

I want to have a little chat about this position that we use so much. Most people are in agreement in their teaching that when the foot is actually wrapped around the standing leg just above the ankle, it is called sur le cou-de pied. However, when the location of the pointed foot changes to the front or the back of the standing leg suddenly many people begin to call it coupé. Coupé in actuality is a verb meaning cut, or cutting. It is an action where one foot cuts to replace the other. If we are referring to the position where the foot is in front or behind we should just tag on a devant or derriére. For example: sur le cou-de-pied devant. Aside from the fact that you generally pass through sur le cou-de-pied while executed a coupé I wonder why this evolution has happened?

I myself do not know French. We all know that many ballet terms are in French and you can buy ballet manuals that give you a translation. Out of curiosity, I decided to check the translation with a program that comes on the Mac. Here is what it spit out at me:

Coupé: half-compartment
sur le cou-de-pied: on the instep

I would love some input from anyone that knows a little French, or anyone that knows how reliable the mac's translater is. Thanks for reading!

3 Comments

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For people who are complete beginners to ballet, it can all be a little overwhelming. You are asking your body to do things that are completely foreign and you're asking your brain to work in a completely different way. On top of that your instructor is spitting out terms you have never heard before. Even for people who have been dancing a long time and hear the terminology every day from your teacher, you may never learn what all the different terms mean. Most ballet terms are derived from the French language. I am going to post a ballet term each week with it's meaning and a little bit about it. I am no ballet god so I am hoping that if any of my ballet nerd friends have anything to add, or disagree with anything I say, that they chime in and leave a comment. To be honest, with teaching ballet twice a week and only taking it about once a week I feel the vocab slowly slipping away from me. Not only is the purpose of this to educate others, it is meant to help me to keep up with what I feel is important to know. I am using Gail Grant's Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet as a source for the direct translations and or definitions.

Moira

12/30/2011 04:17:59 am

In terms of French vocabulary, coupe means 'to cut'-it's an action, rather than a position. I think different schools have different opinions on this-some use sur le cou de pied devant and derriere, and some say coupe devant or derriere. I tend to use a mish-mosh of these, though! My personal favorite that I've heard is to use 'conditional front,' 'conditional back,' and 'sur le cou de pied' to eliminate confusion.

Jennifer link

12/30/2011 06:20:43 am

Nice, thanks Moira. I remember at BTM we were all taught "to cut".....the ballet manual I have says "cut, cutting" but then good ol' mac says "half-compartment". I was curious how reliable all sources were. I have heard stories of people translating sentences and such on the mac, and it comes out not completely correct.

Laura Teeter

1/1/2012 12:17:24 pm

I thought it meant 'on the neck of the foot'. pied is definitely foot.

Coupé [koo-pay] vs. sur le Cou-de pied [sewr luh koo-duh-pyay]

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