Ballet Terms

Piqué

Pronunciation: /pike/

What does “Piqué” mean in ballet?

( ; meaning 'pricked.') A movement in which the raised, pointed foot of the working leg is lowered so that it pricks the floor and then either rebounds upward (as in battement piqué ) or becomes a supporting foot. In the latter case, it may be used to transfer a stance from one leg to the other by stepping out directly onto an en pointe or demi-pointe foot and often immediately precedes a movement that entails elevating the new working leg, such as a piqué arabesque . In Cecchetti and RAD, the term posé is used instead of piqué outside of the battement: piqué arabesque and ABT piqué turn/tour piqué ( en dedans ) / Rus. tour dégagé = RAD/Cecc. posé arabesque and posé turn/posé en tournant .

See also

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Definition adapted from Glossary of ballet on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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