What does “Tombé” mean in ballet?
( ; literally 'fallen.') The action of falling, typically used as a lead-in movement to a traveling step, e.g. pas de bourrée . A tombé en avant begins with a coupé to the front moving to a dégagé to fourth position devant, the extended foot coming down to the floor with the leg en plié, shifting the weight of the body onto the front leg and lifting the back leg off the floor in dégagé (to fourth derrière). A tombé through second starts with a dégagé of the leading leg to second position, the leading foot coming to the floor with the leg in plié, and the trailing leg lifting off the floor in dégagé to (the opposite-side) second position. A tombé en avant can also be initiated with a small sliding hop instead of a coupé. In the Vaganova school, the full term is sissonne ouverte tombée .
See also
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Definition adapted from Glossary of ballet on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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