Talk:Positions of the feet in ballet

Lifar's sixth and seventh positions

Sixth position is mentioned but never described or explained; can someone elaborate? Seventh position is defined as "... in fourth position en point with heels in line". I assume this means open fourth, as heels are unaligned in fourth; is this correct? Have either of these position names been superceded by other terms? Lambtron (talk) 16:14, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

@Lambtron, can't help on seventh position but I've added a subsection and image for sixth position. (13 years after you raised the issue...) Schazjmd (talk) 14:59, 17 April 2024 (UTC)

Beauchamp's positions

While Beauchamp is credited with codifying the positions, it should be noted that his positions do not correspond to the current ballet positions, which are similar, but have evolved. For instance, the turnout in Beauchamp's first position was much less extreme, the feet making approximately a 90 degree angle instead of 180 degrees. See Hilton pp 98-99 for instance.

Also, there are actually 10 positions, five bonnes positions, or true positions, as discussed, and five fausses positions, or false positions, with both legs turned inwards or placed parallel.

--AJim (talk) 05:11, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Pictures

Aren't there any pictures that can be used that don't show quite such bad technique? The dancer's feet (especially in first and second) are clearly turned out at the knees, not the hips, as there is a lot of rolling in the foot towards the big toe, which would cause damage to the knees and ankles. Flat turnout like that is rarely technically correct nor attractive. Perhaps a picture of a less flat turnout could be found? 128.86.152.164 (talk) 06:59, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

A new editor attempted to add the following comment to the article's text: Please note that this photo shows feet that are over-rotated so that the dancers feet are "ROLLED OVER". This means that the weight is NOT distributed over the foot evenly - the dancer's weight is on the inward sides of the feet...which is incorrect. several photos on this page show feet that are "rolled over". While the observation is probably true, it's simply not in keeping with accepted Wikipedia writing style to editorialize in this way in the text of an article. The best thing to do here would probably be to substitute a new set of photos illustrating the positions more correctly. — Richwales (talk) 21:06, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

I finally managed to find a ballet dancer and take a new set of pictures illustrating better technique. — Richwales (no relation to Jimbo) 07:11, 22 September 2014 (UTC)