CROISÉ, EFFACÉ OR ÉCARTÉ? Directions, facings and body positions in Ballet Class | natalie danza

The body directions and which way you face in ballet can be confusing especially for a beginner!

Today I'm going through some of the main positions (en face, croisé, effacé and écarté) as well as two systems for numbering the directions you face in ballet (1-8 Russian and R.A.D. methods).

PLEASE NOTE - I demonstrated these positions using the example of tendus but you can do many more ballet movements from these positions /directions too.

Here are the french terms and what they mean (these are just my general definitions, please check the exact definitions of your school or style in particular):

EN FACE means facing - the dancer is facing directly towards the audience.

CROISÉ means crossed - the dancer is facing a diagonal with one leg crossed or crossing in front of the other.

EFFACÉ means shaded - the dancer is facing a diagonal with one leg in front of the other but in an open position.

ÉCARTÉ means separated - the dancer is facing one of the diagonals with one leg a la seconde. There are two types of écarté - devant and derrière.

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