Port de bras & upper body
01 · Term and function
What is Port de bras?
The arms are not moved as isolated decoration. Shoulder girdle, elbows, wrists, hands, head, and torso form one connected movement organization.
guide · open · lift · lower · connect
arm coordination, line, connection of head and torso, and musical phrasing
Interactive schematic movement analysis with its own movement logic
02 · Technical execution
What matters in Port de bras
Keep the shoulders organized so the arms can move without unnecessary elevation or collapse.
Elbow pathways shape the classical curve between shoulder and wrist.
Wrists and hands continue the line softly rather than breaking it.
Head, gaze, and torso coordinate with the arms as one movement organization.
The pathway between arm positions is as important as the positions themselves.
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
Port de bras step by step
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.
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.
Carry out this phase with a clear direction, coordinated weight organization, and controlled transition into the next phase.
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 Port de bras 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.
Direct, circular, low, side, or overhead arm pathways change the visible frame.
Slow continuity and sharp redirection create different qualities.
Head and eyes can support or contradict the arm pathway.
Arms can frame, reach toward, withdraw from, or make room for another person.
07 · Feeling, need, and relationship
Possible readings — not fixed meanings
Feelings and needs are not derived from Port de bras 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 Port de bras to related movements
A slow movement phrase that combines several technically independent elements into one continuous musical and physical task.
A pose and movement organization on one supporting leg with the working leg extended behind; torso, pelvis, supporting leg, working leg, and arms form one spatial organization.
The working leg is first gathered through Retiré and then unfolded forward with control before returning through Retiré and closing.
A controlled bending of the knees followed by re-straightening, with organized turnout, footwork, and torso alignment.
Renversé combines an inclined or arched body line with turning and weight transfer; the form is technically detailed and varies between schools.
A waltz-like three-step with flowing weight transfer, often combined with travel, port de bras, and turning.
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?