What does “Failli” mean in ballet?
( 'given way', past participle.) A slide or brush-through transition step following a preceding jump or position. Failli is often used as shorthand for a sissonne (ouverte +pas) failli, indicating a jump from two feet landing on one ( sissonne ) with the back foot then sliding through to the front ( chassé passé ), and this is often done in conjunction with an assemblé: (sissonne) failli assemblé . E.g. From croisé, the upstage leg opens behind on the sissonne as the body changes direction in the air to land ouverte effacé; the back leg which is now downstage slides through in a chassé passé to fourth in front, ending the dancer croisé the corner opposite the original. This chassé passé is the (pas) failli. An assemblé (dessus/over) to the opposite corner would reorient the body back to its original position. Failli phrased with arabesque indicates the brushed follow-through of an arabesqued leg from elevated behind to fourth in front as lead-in to a following step.
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Definition adapted from Glossary of ballet on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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