plié
1
8.6
- noun
- /pliˈeɪ/
- Specialized
:
plié
- In ballet, performing a plié helps to build strength and flexibility in the legs.
- plié position
- ballet plié
- deep plié
Examples
-
On whatever side of the building was receiving the faint breath, whole rows of windows would be filled with people frozen in this position, like misshapen ballet dancers about to execute a plié.
Fiction book (1990) -
Let's do the plié.
-
The plié is like a classic ballerina move.
Blog text (23) -
Let her get a real good plié, so you both have a good preparation for the pas de chat.
-
You see, ballerinas can leap as high as you can, but when they go down, they go down in plié.
-
He draws his feet into fifth position, pliés, and turns, stopping in front of me.
Fiction book (1992) -
It was no fault of her own, even though she arrived late and we were already warming up with pliés; she slipped in silently, dropped an apologetic curtsey to the teacher, and found a place at the barre.
Fiction book (1997) -
The ballet class began with a series of pliés to warm up the dancers' legs.
-
She executed several graceful pliés as part of her routine.
How Bent
- Specialized
1
8.6
162
1.0
Surface Forms
Etymology
Plié comes from the French verb plier, which means 'to bend', and from the older Latin root plicare meaning 'to fold'. You can see the same idea in the English word ply, and a plié in ballet is literally a 'bending' of the knees, which explains the movement.