Insight: Ballet Glossary - Fouettés

Dawid Trzensimiech, Royal Ballet Artist, and Akane Takada, Royal Ballet First Artist, demonstrate fouettés. Fouetté: A whipping motion of the leg used to propel the dancer around. The dancer starts on flat foot in plié, and extends the working leg in fourth position en l’air (in the air) then whips the leg around pulling the working foot to touch the supporting knee. There are a variety of fouettés. In a fouetté en tournant, the dancer uses their free leg and arms to propel themselves around using a whipping motion. Done properly, the dancer should remain in the same place while performing a series of fouettés. Read more: