Ballerinas: Ballon

In ballet,”ballon” (French for balloon) describes a dancer who appears to be floating in the air (or suspended in the air) while performing movements during a jump. It may seem as though the dancer effortlessly becomes airborne, floats in the air and lands softly. Dancers try to achieve ballon in large jumps as well as in small, quick jumps.

Ballon can also be used to describe a dancer’s “bounce” before they jump. In “The Triplet Ballerinas”, Annie “leaps” (jumps) while Julie “floats” and Macie “twirls”. Julie’s floats never leave the ground like Annie’s leaps do so she probably wouldn’t have a “ballon”, but Annie might. Knowing Annie’s character, it is probably perfect too! Beverly