How is a battement used as a ballet training exercise?
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ballet
La Camargo Dancing, oil painting of Marie-Anne Camargo by Nicolas Lancret, 1730; in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes, France.
In ballet, a battement (French for "beating") is a fundamental training exercise involving the extension of the leg to the front, side, or back. These movements are essential for developing strength, control, and precision in a dancer's technique.1
Common types of battement exercises include:
- Battement tendu: The leg is extended until the point of the stretched foot barely touches the floor.1
- Grand battement: The leg is lifted to hip level or higher while kept straight.1
- Battement frappé: The working foot is briskly extended from a flexed position against the lower calf of the supporting leg, with the ball of the foot brushing the floor.1
- Petit battement sur le cou-de-pied: The working foot repeatedly touches the front and back of the instep of the supporting leg.1
These exercises are typically performed at the barre or in the center to refine the dancer's ability to move the legs with fluidity and power.12