Pas de cheval- Horse's step

The name of my blog, Walk of the Wild Horse, comes from the ballet term Pas de cheval or Horse's step.


Pas de cheval [pah duh shuh-VAL]. Horse's step. This step is so called because it resembles the movement of a horse pawing the ground. From the fourth position devant pointe tendue, brush the pointed foot inward toward the knee of the supporting leg. Wihout stopping the movement, execute a devellope, finishing pointe tendue a terre in the fourth position devant. *

Pas de cheval is a step in ballet. Thinking about the name of the blog I thought it correlated. For all of you out there who are not fluent in ballet speak here are some videos to give you the idea of what it looks like.


Here's a link to a demonstration of the step ( although it is closing 5th position not a terre for any of you concerned the definition I gave doesn't match the video) as well as the pronunciation:



http://www.balletisfun.com/pasdechevalone.htm



Now compare to a video of a horse pawing:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WcZQceNyxw








Ballet terminology from "Technical manual and dictionary of classical ballet" by Gail Grant the third revised edition"