port de bras

port de bras, (French: “carriage of the arms”), in classical ballet, both the general arm movements of a dancer and a designated set of exercises designed to improve the quality of these movements. The port de bras of classical ballet is meant to be a graceful and harmonious accent to the movements of the legs.

The position of the dancer’s head and shoulders (épaulement) is important to the total grace of the port de bras. The arms together have five basic positions, and each one singly has five positions.