Glissades

February 20, 2012



      Glissade literally translated means to “slide”. And there are several types of glissades in ballet including glissade dessus, glissade dessous, glissade devant, glissade derriere, glissade en avant, and glissade en arrière. The glissade is a step usually used to connect other steps together.
It is a ballet move that is done from a demi-plié in the fifth position, with one foot sliding away to another point on the floor. And the other foot following by pushing off the floor and pointing the feet, straightening the knees, and shifting the body weight toward the first foot and landing in a fondu, with the second foot sliding in and finishing with both feet in fifth in demi-plié (Grant, 60). The differences between the types of glissades rests in the position the glissade starts in and the direction it is going in. Hence, the different types of glissades are defined bellow.

     The terms dessus and dessous have to do with movements that travel sideways with dessus meaning “above or over”, therefore denoting that one foot will be closing or moving over the other or in front of the other foot. While dessous means “underneath or below” so one foot will be moving or closing underneath or in other words behind the supporting foot. So when applied to glissades, glissade dessus would start in fifth position with the right foot back if you are moving to the right first, it travels sideways with the back (right) foot starting first and finishes with the left foot in back so that the right foot ends up in the front. Gail Grant explains the movement perfectly in her “Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet” explaining the glissade starts in“[f]ifth position R foot back: demi-plié and slide the pointed toe of the R foot to the second position. With a slight spring from the L foot, shift the weight to the R foot, bending the knee, and slide the pointed L foot to the fifth position back, lowering the heel and bending the knee” (60). Glissade dessous would also be travelling to the side but here the right foot starts in the front in fifth position and finishes in the back. In all these scenarios it would work the same way for the left side. But in this case the step starts in “[f]ifth position R foot front; demi-plié and slide the pointed toe of the R foot to the second position. With a slight spring from the L foot, shift the weight to the R foot, bending the knee, and slide the pointed L foot to the fifth position front, lowering the heel and bending the knee” (Grant, 60).

     The words devant and derrière on the other hand have different meanings, devant means “in front of” while derriere means “behind”. In reference to normal dance steps it would mean closing or sending your foot out in front of you or behind you. In terms of the glissade however, glissade devant is a glissade in the front, but it is still travelling to the side, so you start with the front foot which will also finish in the front. The step would start in “[f]ifith position R foot front; demi-plié and slide the pointed toe of the R foot to the second position. With a slight spring from the L foot, shift the weight to the R foot, bending the knee, and slide the pointed L foot to the fifth position back, lowering the heel and bending the knee” (Grant, 60).
While a glissade derrière is a glissade in the back like the term suggests. So you would start with the back foot which would finish and stay in the back when you land in fifth at the end. The step here for example starts in”[f]ifth position R foot back; demi-plié and slide the pointed toe of the R foot to the second position. With a slight spring from the L foot, shift the weight to the R foot, bending the knee, and slide the pointed L foot to the fifth position front, lowering the heel and bending the knee” (Grant, 60).

     Finally you have the terms en avant and en arrière. En avant means “forward” while en arrière means “backwards” both referring to the direction of a step. So here the glissades will be travelling forwards or backwards rather than sideways. A glissade en avant starts with the front foot which finishes in the front but you will be travelling forwards either directly in front of you, or in croisé or effacé en avant. This would start with “[f]ifth position R foot front; demi-plié and slide the pointed toe of the R foot to the fourth position front. With a slight spring from the L foot, shift the weight to the R foot, behind the knee, and slide the pointed L foot to the fifth position back, lowering the heel and bending the knee” (Grant, 61).
On the other hand the glissade en arrière is a glissade backwards so you would be starting with the back foot that also finishes in the back again your entire body travelling backwards directly behind you, or in croisé or effacé en arrière. This glissade would start for instance in “[f]ifth position R foot back; demi-plié and slide the pointed toe of the R foot to the fourth position back. With a slight spring from the L foot, shift the weight to the R foot, bending the knee, and slide the pointed L foot to the fifth position front, lowering the heel and bending the knee” (Grant, 61).


Resources:

Grant, Gail. Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet (3rd ed). New York: Dover
Publications