Barre – the bar you hold on to in order to keep yourself from falling over when you’re doing things like pliés.

Chaîné turns – turns you do in a straight line or a circle unless you’re terrible at them like I used to be. If you’re like I was, you do a few, then crash into the wall.

Chassé – step where you move across the floor with one foot chasing the other. It’s kind of like a gallop, but gallop doesn’t sound fancy enough for ballet.

First position – when your heels are together and your toes (or, as Brenda would say, your phalanges) stick out.

Grand battement – big kick. If Tiara Girl’s standing in front of me at the barre, I do these extra–big.

Grand jeté – big leap across the floor. I’m really good at these unless my tutu falls off.

Plié – knee-bend. A demi–plié is a little one, and a grand plié is a big one. Epatha adds little jumps and flashy arm moves when Ms. Debbé’s not looking.

Relevé – when you go up on your toes. When Terrel does this, she’s almost as tall as the rest of us (unless we’re doing it too - then she’s out of luck).

Spot – look hard at something (like a jar of marinated mushrooms) so you don’t get dizzy while you’re turning.