Ballet Positions

The ballet dance originated in the 15th century in Italian Renaissance courts and underwent development in France, Russia and England, which can be gathered from history of ballet dancing. The dance involves complex moves and positions. Development of this dance form lead to a complete new vocabulary of ballet terms.

Ballet Positions
The ballet positions are difficult to master and even sports critics consider ballet as one of the difficult form of physical activity. It requires enough practice to master the ballet positions and movements necessary to assume them. It is said that ballet dance moves helps in exercising most of the body muscles. Read more on ballet dance moves.

Ballet Positions for Beginners
The ballet is a form of dancing which include various technical terms and names of moves. The basic ballet positions are explained in the paragraphs below.

First Position
In this position, the feet face outwards. Heels touch each other and the feet form a straight line i.e. a 180° angle is formed. Turning the feet shouldn't be done forcefully. One can master it with regular practice. Hips need to be employed in the process of turning the feet. Even if, it is not possible to turn the feet completely (180°) at the beginning, one should never use ankles or knees to apply extra force. The placement of arms is also important in the first position. Arms need to be positioned, as if around a barrel, in a rounded shape; the position should appear like one is carrying a huge barrel.

Second Position
The second position is very much, similar to the first one. In this position, turning the face of feet in an outward direction is same as that of the first one. However, heels should not touch each other. A distance of 1 foot has to be maintained between the heels. Arms in this position should first be rounded, then swung aside on either side of the body and kept in an extended position.

Third Position
In the third position, heels should be brought back together. One of the foot need to be placed ahead of the other. The heel of foot which is placed ahead, should touch the arc of other foot. The positioning of arms depends on which leg is placed ahead. If the left leg is tucked in the arc of right leg, the arm position should be as follows: the left arm should form an arc and positioned over the head; placement of the right arm should be the same as that in second position. The placement of arms need to be exactly opposite, if the right leg is tucked in the arc of the left leg.

Fourth Position
The fourth position is similar to third one, however, a gap must be present between heel and arc of the legs. The leg presented to the front of body, in the third position, need to be extended forward and a gap of two feet created in between the legs. The arm which was in a raised position above the head should not be moved, while other arm at the side of the body should be brought in front of it.

Fifth Position
It is said to be the most difficult of all the basic positions. The leg which is placed in front in the fourth position should be brought back and aligned in parallel to the other leg. For example, the right leg if placed in the front position, should be turned in a manner such that the heel is placed in front of left toes. The right toes are thus, positioned behind the left heel. Legs , in this position, should be positioned in a manner that they are parallel to each other. This step can be learned with enough practice.

Ballet Position Names
The names of different ballet positions are enlisted below.

Première pointes	Première demipointes	Cinquième pointes
Arabesque	Seconde pointes	Seconde demipointes
Arabesque bio 2	Quatrième demipointes	Attitude

The basic ballet positions are explained in the article above. The five positions of ballet dancing described in the article above are important from the point of developing further skills.