épaulement

[ey-pohl-mahn]

noun

Ballet.

plural

épaulements 

1. a position in which the shoulders are at right angles to the direction of the supporting leg, with one shoulder thrust forward and one back.

Word History and Origins

Origin of épaulement¹

1680–90; < French, equivalent to épaule ( epaulet ) + -ment -ment

Example Sentences

“Her finesse comes in the gracious way she shows every angle of her body, the attention to épaulement — the carriage of the arms and shoulders — all the while talking up space,” Gia Kourlas writes.

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Her finesse comes in the gracious way she shows every angle of her body, the attention to épaulement — the carriage of the arms and shoulders — all the while talking up space.

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Throughout her 33-year career with City Ballet, Nichols made it seem as if steps were flowing — sometimes gently, sometimes with a wild, gushing power — through her limbs, her torso, her elegant upper body, as epitomized in the dynamic épaulement of her shoulders and head.

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Quinn Starner exudes a special luxuriousness, especially the way her crystalline épaulement shows off the angles of her head and shoulders; Samuel Melnikov’s juicy jump has a way of lingering in the air, ever expanding through his long arms and fluent hands.

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Forsythe celebrates ballet vocabulary in bounding jumps, small and large — and always in his use of épaulement, or the angles and carriage of the arms.

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