Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
port de bras
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Quick Facts
Related Topics:
ballet
See all related content
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what youā€™ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

port de bras

ballet
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

port de bras, (French: ā€œcarriage of the armsā€), in classical ballet, both the general arm movements of a dancer and a designated set of exercises designed to improve the quality of these movements. The port de bras of classical ballet is meant to be a graceful and harmonious accent to the movements of the legs.

The position of the dancerā€™s head and shoulders (Ć©paulement) is important to the total grace of the port de bras. The arms together have five basic positions, and each one singly has five positions.