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Show 100 THE CODE OF TERPSICHORE. ground ; but to give flexibility and strength to the instep they should be often practised on the toes. (See fig. 5, plate I, and fig. 3, plate II.) Battements. Battements consist of the motions of one leg in the air, whilst the other supports the body. They are of three kinds, viz., grands battements, petits battements, and battements on the instep. The first are done by detaching one leg from the other and raising it to the height of the hip, extending it to the utmost. (See fig. 5, plate II, which shows also the man" ner in which a beginner must hold himself.) After the performance of the battements the leg falls again into the fifth position. They may be crossed either behind or before. Grands battements enable a dancer to turn his legs completely outwards, and give much facility to the motions of his thighs, for high developments, and the execution of the grands terns; grands battements are made both forwards and backwards. W h e n they are done forwards the leg must be in the positions shown in fig. 1 and 2 of plate IV W h e n backwards its positions must be that of fig. 3, same plate. Petits battements are performed after the same way, but Jnstead of raising the leg into the air you only detach it a little from the other leg, without letting your toes leave the ground. These battements make the legs very lithsome, because the pupil is obliged to redouble his motions. Petits battements on the instep. It is the hip and knee that prepare and form these movements ; the hip guides the thigh in its openings, and the knee by its flexion performs the battemens, making the lower part of the leg cross either before or behind the other leg, which rests on the ground. Suppose that you are standing on your left foot, with your right leg in the second position, and the right |
