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Ok here goes ..... ds ballet teacher has sent us home with some basic positions for him to practice.... firstly i have a problem reading her writing as she has wrote them down for us and there is one i cant work out

demi plies 1st, 2nd
Rises
echappas 1st, 2nd ???
knees over toes

if anyone could give me the correct spelling of the 3rd position on the list would be very grateful.... also if anyone could recommend a site or link where it shows you how to do the moves would be even more grateful....

Échappé

Literally "escaped". A movement done from a closed (first or fifth) position to an open (second or fourth) position. There are two kinds of échappés: échappé sauté and échappé sur les pointes or demi-pointes. In an échappé sauté, the dancer takes a deep plié followed by a jump in which the legs "escape" into either second (usually when starting from first position) or fourth position (usually when starting from fifth position), landing in demi-plié. In échappé sur le pointes/demi-pointes the dancer, after taking a deep plié, springs onto pointes or demi-pointes, ending in either second position (when starting from first position) or fourth (when starting from fifth) with knees straight. In all cases, the dancer may or may not return to the initial position, depending on the choreography.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_ballet

great for ballet teachers with GP handwriting

if its the same for boys this YouTube link may help on a practical basis!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fSa3ESm ... er&list=UL
They also have links for hand positions.

Are boys and girls moves the same in ballet anyone lol ???? thanks for the link to you tube and the definition ash

I think that you should be very wary of any dance teacher that recommends that a child practices at home. However simple the exercise, this can lead to bad habits that can be hard to break and even injury through the incorrect use of muscles and joints.

Agree with funnygirl - my dd's dance school discourages home practise in ballet for that reason and my son does gymnastics and we have been told to not allow practise at home ( unless its practise for splits, and other flexibility exercises and core training) as he could learn the wrong movements and then its very hard for him to relearn properly.