Dessous[duh-soo]/Dessus[duh-sew]

1/4/2012

Dessous meaning under, indicates that the foot of the action leg, passes behind the foot of the standing leg.
Dessus meaning over, indicates that the foot of the action leg, passes in front of the foot of the standing leg.

For example: pas de bourrée dessous or pas de bourrée dessus

Anyone have any tricks they want to share for remembering which one is which?

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Term of the week

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.

Dessous[duh-soo]/Dessus[duh-sew]

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