Barre & battements
01 · Term and function
What is Battement soutenu?
Soutenu means “sustained” or “held.” The movement combines a long working-leg line with a sustained closing action, often in connection with demi-pointe.
open · carry · close · rise
coordination of working leg, weight transfer, and vertical organization
Interactive schematic movement analysis with its own movement logic
02 · Technical execution
What matters in Battement soutenu
Keep the supporting leg and foot organized while the working leg moves.
The working leg has a clear direction and returns without disturbing the pelvis.
Use the floor precisely through heel, ball, and toes according to the movement.
Avoid substituting pelvic shift or torso tilt for the intended leg pathway.
Close or recover the leg with the same control used to open it.
Body awareness: Notice which part of the body supports the movement, which part travels, and where the movement can remain clear without forcing range, turnout, speed, or height.
03 · Movement phases
Battement soutenu step by step
Organize weight, direction, feet, torso, and focus for the movement that follows.
Guide the working leg or body segment through the intended pathway without losing the supporting base.
Carry out this phase with a clear direction, coordinated weight organization, and controlled transition into the next phase.
Return or close with the same precision used to begin the movement and arrive in a clear final organization.
Use the supporting foot and leg to create a clear upward or traveling impulse while maintaining alignment.
04 · For children and beginners
Observe and explore safely
Work in a small, controlled range first. Make the supporting leg, movement direction, and return position clear before increasing range or speed.
Which foot or leg is supporting you right now, and which part is moving?
Can you keep the direction and supporting organization clear while the movement changes?
Work only as large, fast, or high as you can control comfortably and without pain.
05 · Teaching and feedback
What teachers and learners can observe
Alignment, footwork, supporting/working-leg organization, and controlled return.
Graded use of force appropriate to the movement task.
Usable range without visible compensation.
Timing, duration, movement flow, and intentional accent.
Direction, focus, beginning, and finish remain clearly readable.
Maximum height, speed, turnout, or range is not a meaningful criterion on its own. What matters is controlled, physically coherent execution.
06 · Choreographic use
How the effect of Battement soutenu can change
A technical movement is shaped on stage by time, space, form, gaze, and relationship. These variables change perception without assigning a fixed psychological meaning to the movement.
Slow, sustained, quick, or accented execution changes the visible quality.
A small or large leg pathway changes spatial emphasis.
Devant, à la seconde, and derrière reorganize focus in space.
The same leg action may mirror, answer, interrupt, or avoid another dancer.
07 · Feeling, need, and relationship
Possible readings — not fixed meanings
Feelings and needs are not derived from Battement soutenu itself. They are possible readings of a specific situation. Feeling, need, intention, and movement operation therefore remain separate.
Possible feelings: concentration, composure. Possible needs: orientation, stability. Possible intentions: prepare, organize, sustain a state.
Possible feelings: determination, tension. Possible needs: clarity, effectiveness. Possible intentions: set an impulse, mark a direction.
Possible feelings: connection, caution, resistance, or curiosity — depending on context. Possible needs: cooperation, autonomy, respect, or orientation. Possible intentions: respond, follow, avoid, support, or mark a boundary.
Choreographic guiding question: How does one person’s action change another person’s possibilities for action?
08 · Continue learning
From Battement soutenu to related movements
The working leg slides sideways from the starting position, lengthens through the foot, and returns with control.
A controlled rise from the full foot onto the forefoot or demi-pointe, with organized leg alignment, footwork, and vertical lift.
Fondu means “melted.” The movement combines controlled yielding of the supporting leg with gathering and subsequent extension of the working leg.
Temps lié is a connecting movement sequence. A direction is prepared, weight is transferred, and the new position is organized without interruption.
From an extended opening or a step, the body closes onto demi-pointe and turns in a closely organized position.
Additional professional background
Books on learning and body awareness
The movement lexicon complements two book projects by Mathias Ellmann: The Ballet Teaching Tree for reflective, healthy learning and Leni and Oscar and the Secret of the Ballet Tree for younger readers.
The Ballet Teaching Tree
A model for healthy, reflective, artistically oriented ballet learning — with body awareness, motivation, self-respect, and long-term development.
About The Ballet Teaching Tree
Leni and Oscar and the Secret of the Ballet Tree
A story about body awareness, courage, learning, and the joy of development for younger readers.
About the children’s bookConcept · Ballet knowledge · Choreography
Mathias Ellmann
Mathias Ellmann develops the Ballet Movement Lexicon as a connection between classical ballet technique, body awareness, learning, and choreographic application.
Movements are first described in observable terms. Choreographic variables, relationship, and possible dramaturgical readings are added only afterwards.
In the contemporary ballet projects, classical ballet technique is used as a precise language of human relationships. The central question is: How does one person’s action change another person’s possibilities for action?