Hey there! I'm going back to the basics and going to spend our first 4 Technique Tuesdays talking about the 8 Cecchetti Positions. This week: Croisé devant & À la quatrième devant.

Croisé devant (kw-ah-zay dē-vah-nt) translates into Crossed to the front.

In ballet class I often say "draw an imaginary square around your feet"; you always want to use that square in ballet, not the corners of the room.

Now, technically your leg is NOT crossed over the midline of your body, it is Crossed because you are facing the corner of your square, using your leg closest to the mirror or audience or front of the room (whichever you prefer to call it, lets say mirror today) and extending it into a tendu devant. Your body is straight from the waist down, hips square, toe on the floor directly in line with your hip joint, or it's also acceptable to have your toe in front of your standing heel or arch. It's ok to twist your shoulders to the mirror and the...