Battement tendu, Grand écart, Entrechat, Hortensia, and Sissonne are terms in what art form?
Maria Tallchief asked Tallchief to marry him, much to her surprise. After some thought, she agreed and the couple wed on August 16, 1946. One night on tour in 1945, Tallchief was doing her barre when Balanchine remarked "if only you would learn to do "battement tendu" properly you wouldn't have to learn anything else." It was his way of saying she needed to start all over – "battement tendu" is the most basic ballet exercise there is. "I wanted to die", she recalled. "But I had seen the difference between Mary Ellen's [who was a pupil of Balanchine] dancing and mine.
Glossary of ballet the instep ("cou-de-pied" in French) of the working foot to hug the lower leg. On the accent derrière (back), the heel of the working leg is placed behind the leg with the toes pointing to the back. The action of alternating between devant and derrière is seen in a petit battement. (; literally 'stretched.') Gradually extending the working leg to the front ("tendu devant"), side, or back, passing from flat to demi-pointe to point where only the toes are touching the floor ("tendu à terre"), or only the pointed toes are elevated ("en l'air"). A common abbreviation for "battement tendu".