En Croisé & En Ouvert - What's the Difference?
En Croisé & En Ouvert are two states of body alignment used in classical ballet. We often use these positions in the centre for our Classic and Ballet Fitness classes.
En Croisé
En Croisé means Crossed in French and is a crossed line of body alignment.
To get into the En Croisé position, face the corner with your feet in first. Imagine you are on a stage - with the audience in front of you. Your downstage foot is the foot closest to the audience.
Cross this foot in front of your other foot to third or fifth position. You have created a crossed line with your leg. This is En Croisé.
En Ouvert
En Ouvert means Open in French and is an Open line of body alignment.
To find the En Ouvert position, face the corner with your feet in first. Imagine you are on a stage - with the audience in front of you. Your downstage foot is the foot closest to the audience.
Place your downstage foot behind to third or fifth position. You have created an open line with your leg (the opposite to En Croisé). Thie is En Ouvert.
Watch the simple video below to see examples.
How to pronounce En Croisé & En Ouvert
En Croisé: ah krwa-ZAY
En Ouvert: ah noo-VER
For more tips and technique info, visit our Video Library.