The Five Positions . . . but not really

The positions of the feet are the ballet equivalent of the "Do, Re, Mi" of music, the building blocks from which all other ballet movement is created. Basically, if you're dancing ballet and you're not in one of the five positions, you're moving to and/or from one of them. Or, well, you're doing it wrong. BUT, one of the five has gone the way of the flip phone and the cassette tape. Read on to find out which . . .

If you're going to be all fancy and official, they're called CINQ POSITIONS DES PIEDS and were established by the maître de ballet (not maître d') of the Académie Royale de Musique et Dance, Pierre Beauchamp, in the late 1600's. (That will impress your friends at parties . . . maybe.) Here they are:

First position (Première position)

How to do it: Heels touch each other as legs rotate outward to make the toes face opposite directions

What about it? First position is, well, the first position that a ballet dancer learns. It is the simplest of the positions of the feet to execute and is the second most common functional position, after fifth. The most common mistake in executing first position is excessive rotatation of the feet past the natural capacity of the hip socket. This can be identified by checking to see that the knees track directly over the middle toes when bent. Basically, you want to look like an extended car jack - one that's not bowed!

Second position (Seconde position)

How to do it: Heels are placed directly under the shoulders as legs rotate outward to face opposite directions. Officially, there should be about one foot (12 inches, not YOUR foot) between the heels, but most modern-day dancers widen the position to be shoulder-width. Mostly because it looks cooler.

What about it? Second position is the most difficult position from which to change direction because the weight is dispersed over a wide area. Because of this, though, second position is the most stable of the five positions. It's also pretty great for trying to look shorter than you are.

Third position (Troisième position)

How to do it: One heel is placed touching the arch of the other foot and legs are rotated outward so that toes face opposite directions

What about it? Third position is no longer a functional position in the modern ballet world. While it holds a distinction as one of the five positions in ballet, it was probably more effective in the court dancing of King Louis XIV than on the modern day stage at the Metropolitan Opera. Fifth position has taken over as the position to beat and third is waiting to be cast into oblivion once someone decides to streamline the whole process and decide that there are actually only FOUR BASIC POSITIONS OF BALLET.

Fourth position (Quatrième position)

How to do it: Feet are placed one in front of the other, with legs rotated outward so that toes face opposite directions.

What about it? Fourth position's claim to fame is the Degas sculpture Little Dancer of Fourteen Years. It is most functionally a transition position and is the most popular position from which to turn, or pirouette (well, it's the easiest, anyway). The most common mistake made when dancers execute fourth is that they allow their hips to twist toward the back leg. How to fix this? Think of your hip bones as headlights of a car and always make sure they shine in the same direction.

BONUS GEEKY STUFF: Officially, according to the Vaganova and Cecchetti folks (see later blog on who these folks were), there should be one foot (again, 12 inches) between your feet. BUT Vaganova dancers position their fourth directly across from fifth and the Cecchetti folks have two options - Quatrième position ouverte (open fourth - opposite first position) and Quatrième position croisée (crossed fourth - opposite fifth position).

Fifth position (Cinquième position)

How to do it: One heel is placed touching the toe of the other foot with legs rotated outward and toes facing opposite directions

What about it? If third position were cubic zirconium of ballet positions, fifth position is a yellow diamond. Fifth position is the position from which most exercises start and end, but it is also the most difficult of the five positions to execute. Unless you're a (really awesome) freak of nature, there will be a space between your OTHER heel and toe (which is completely still correct, just not perfect). Also, though, if you don't have Kate Moss-sized thighs, it may be difficult, when moving to and from fifth position, to fully cross your heel all the way to your other toe. All I can say to a new dancer when attempting to execute fifth position is, "good luck".

Photo credit: John Manning
Dancers:

 Top Photo (L-R): Caitlyn Faucher, Katherine Nicholson, Julia (Juju) Lotz, Emma Touhey, and Erica Cohen

Center Photo (L-R): Alyse Carriere, Sydney Price