Arabesque

One of the most popular ballet positions, in which a dancer supports their weight on one foot and extends the other leg behind them, either à terre (on the ground) or en l'air (in the air). Different styles of arabesques utilize different arm positions or the bending of the supporting leg.

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Written with some help from Ballet Basics (4th edition) by Sandra Noll Hammond, © 2000 Mayfield Publishing Company.

Ar`a*besque" (#), n. [F. arabesque, fr. It. arabesco, fr. Arabo Arab.]

A style of ornamentation either painted, inlaid, or carved in low relief. It consists of a pattern in which plants, fruits, foliage, etc., as well as figures of men and animals, real or imaginary, are fantastically interlaced or put together.

⇒ It was employed in Roman imperial ornamentation, and appeared, without the animal figures, in Moorish and Arabic decorative art. (See Moresque.) The arabesques of the Renaissance were founded on Greco-Roman work.

 

© Webster 1913.

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Ar`a*besque", a.

1.

Arabian.

[Obs.]

2.

Relating to, or exhibiting, the style of ornament called arabesque; as, arabesque frescoes.

 

© Webster 1913.