Different Positions of the Arms

The arms have 5 main positions. 1^ST, 2^ND, 3^RD, 4^TH, and 5^th. The two styles that I am going to talk about are the Cecchetti and Vaganova style. In the Cecchetti style, 1^st position is where both arms are slightly rounded with the fingers besides the dancers thighs. In the second position, the arms are out to the sides with an angle down and forward and the palms facing forward. The elbow is slightly lower than the shoulder, and the wrist is slightly lower than the elbow. In third position, one arm is in the first position and the other is in demi-seconde. The fourth position has two different ones. The first is en avant. In that position, one arm is in second position while the other is in en avant fifth. The second fourth position is en haut. One arm is in high fifth and the other is in en haut fifth. The last position for the Cecchetti style is fifth position. That is whenever the arms are rounded to form an oval. Moving on to the Vaganova style. In first position, the arms are in line with the navel, maintaining a curve shape. The only difference in second position between the two styles is that the wrists are in line with the elbows in the Vaganova style. In third position, arms are curved and raised above your head, slightly forward. In fifth position, the arms are the same as they are in third position. So as you can see, there is a clear difference between the two styles.