the.com/arabesque
A pose that looks effortless and costs ballerinas years of agony to fake.
means A pose, design, or musical passage built on flowing, intricate, ornamental curves — in ballet, a balance on one leg with the other extended straight behind.
from From the French 'arabesque,' meaning 'in the Arab style,' itself from the Italian 'arabesco.' The word arrived in Europe alongside the flowing, interlaced geometric and floral ornamentation of Islamic art, which fascinated Renaissance designers who saw in it endless tendrils without beginning or end. Over time the word's grace migrated from carved surface to dance floor, where it came to name the long, curving line of a dancer's body.
- name origin
- French for in the Arabic style, from Moorish art
- not just dance
- Names a musical form and Islamic scrollwork too
- balance brutality
- One leg holds you; the other defies geometry
- debussy claim
- He wrote piano arabesques evoking that curling, endless line
arabeque in alhambra palace — intricate geometric and floral tile patterns covering the walls of the 14th-century palace in granada, spain
arabesque in topkapi palace — elaborate decorative tilework and calligraphy adorning the ottoman sultan's residence in istanbul, turkey
arabesque ballet position — classical pose where dancer extends one leg behind while balanced on the other, codified in 19th-century russian imperial ballet