The term Plié


It's a French word adopted universally, whose translation would be leg flexion; this may be small, medium or large, of one or both knees. The Plie takes place in five positions, which will deep in the course of delivery of the material, begins with demi-plie and medium flex, and then go to great grand-plie or bending.
The main function of demi plie is the preparation of the muscle, this requires the teacher and the student to reinforce, practice and correct it daily, making sure that during the exercises, steps and jumps from the center may not run twice, ie after stepping  or falling into a plie, a new one is made to lift or move to another step. Doing a double plie especially in the jumps, is counterproductive to the lightness, speed, and balance of the dancer. There is no difference between the demi-plie done at the bar and the demi-plie at the center.

Satisfactory performance of the Demi-Plie:

Feet flat on the floor or bending the knees, reach the top without lifting the heel or heels off the floor, the legs should be stretched and flexible, trying not to lose the line at three points, feet, knees and hips which should form a straight line, the trunk should be straight and suspended, the weight must be distributed on both legs, making sure that the arch does not fall into the big toe and back with the same intensity with which they started bending.

Satisfactory performance of the Grand Plie:

The grand plie begins with a demi-plie, trying to leave the heels as long as possible close to the ground, once reached the maximum when it is impossible to stretch the tendons of the feet, then slowly lift heels, deepens the opening, softly and up in the same way, lowering the heels as soon as possible.

The term Tendu

The battements tendus, are executed in order that the foot and leg muscles acquire a necessary basis for the preparation and maintenance of the dancers in the center. Of course in this exercise as any other, the maximum stress of both legs, coupled with the contraction of the stomach and the suspension of the body by the waist. Through this initial exercise, a summary of a large number of movements in the dance, give the line dancer, strength and stability.