Ballet Term
Cuisse
Cuisse is a term in ballet that means “thighs.”
Cuisse is simply the French word for “thigh.” It is not a step or a position, so you will not hear a teacher call “cuisse” as a movement to perform. Instead it names a part of the body, and it shows up inside the descriptions of other steps.
You may meet it in the term temps de cuisse, a small linking jump whose name refers to the action of the thigh as one leg brushes against the other before the spring. Knowing that cuisse means thigh helps a dancer picture where the movement is happening.
Learning a few of these body-part words in French makes the rest of ballet vocabulary easier to decode. Alongside cuisse (thigh), it helps to know pied (foot), bras (arms), and cou-de-pied (the neck of the foot, near the ankle).
Good to know
Frequently Asked Questions
What does cuisse mean?
It is the French word for "thigh." It names a body part rather than a ballet step.
Where would I hear the word cuisse in class?
It appears inside step names such as temps de cuisse, where it points to the action of the thigh as one leg brushes the other before a small jump.