subject: The Five Positions Of Ballet [print this page] If you were going to learn the positions you would start by standing next to a chair or table and holding on with one hand. This would take the place of the "barre," as it is called in a dancing school. (A real barre is a wooden rail fastened to the wall, just high enough to be held with one hand or both hands.) Now, while you are holding one hand on the barre (or on the back of the chair), raise the other arm out to your side. Then put your heels together, and turn your toes out so that your feet point away from each other. This is called the "turn-out," and is the first position. It is very important. Second position. Now, while you are standing in first position, slide out the foot that is farthest away from the barre. If your whole leg is turned out from the hip, and not just your feet, this is not hard to do-that is, if the first position is right. Third position. Now, from the second position, slide your feet together without letting your legs turn away from the turn-out, so that one foot is in front of the other, with the heel touching the middle (instep) of the back foot. Fourth position. From the third position, slide your front foot out in front of you about as far as the length of your back foot, and let the heel of your front foot be in line with the toes of your back foot. (This is hard to do at first, but gets easier the more it is done.) Fifth position. From the fourth position, slide your front foot back until it is alongside your back foot, with your heels and toes next to each other. Your knees are not supposed to bend at all. Now you are in fifth position, which is the position most often used in ballet dancing.
