Foundations
01 · Term and function
What is Plié?
A controlled bending of the knees followed by re-straightening, with organized turnout, footwork, and torso alignment.
prepare · organize · move · return
Plié prepares movement, absorbs forces, and connects the body with the floor.
Interactive schematic movement analysis with its own movement logic
02 · Technical execution
What matters in Plié
Keep the feet actively connected to the floor. Heel, ball of the big toe, and ball of the little toe share the support.
The knees move in the same direction as the toes and do not collapse inward.
Turnout is organized from the hip joints rather than forced by twisting the feet.
The pelvis remains organized over the supporting base; the upper body stays long and responsive.
A plié is only as deep as foot contact, leg alignment, and torso organization can remain controlled.
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
Plié step by step
Organize weight, direction, feet, torso, and focus for the movement that follows.
Carry out this phase with a clear direction, coordinated weight organization, and controlled transition into the next phase.
Carry out this phase with a clear direction, coordinated weight organization, and controlled transition into the next phase.
Use the supporting foot and leg to create a clear upward or traveling impulse while maintaining alignment.
Organize weight, direction, feet, torso, and focus for the movement that follows.
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 Plié 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.
Tempo, duration, accent, pause, and repetition alter the movement’s effect.
Small and large ranges change scale and physical emphasis.
Direction, distance, pathway, and orientation shape how the action occupies the stage.
Synchronization, delay, counter-movement, response, non-response, and support change relational meaning.
07 · Feeling, need, and relationship
Possible readings — not fixed meanings
Feelings and needs are not derived from Plié 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 Plié to related movements
A controlled rise from the full foot onto the forefoot or demi-pointe, with organized leg alignment, footwork, and vertical lift.
A small jump from an organized starting position: plié, push-off, flight, landing in plié, and re-straightening.
A jump in which one working leg brushes out, both legs assemble in the air, and the landing is on two feet.
A turn on one supporting leg: preparation in plié, rise to demi-pointe, organization of the free leg in Retiré, rotation around the body axis, and a controlled finish.
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?