Ballet dancers number walls and corners in the ballet room (from point 1 to point 8), with point 1 facing forward towards the audience. When we face the front, point 8 is on our left side and points towards the front left corner of the room.
Point 2 is on the right side and points towards the front right corner of the room. We rotate the body to point 8 and the head to point 2. The left leg is the standing one. The entire foot may be placed on the floor. It may be demi-pointe, which is like being on tip-toe, or it may be fully en pointe. Ballet dancers use special shoes, called pointe shoes, which have a flat, firm box at the tip of the toes. When the dancer stands on the box, she is standing on the tips of her toes, which is why this technique is called “on the points”.
The right leg is the working one. We cross the working leg over the left leg in front of us at a 90 degree angle. The right arm is in the second position, gently bent at the elbow and moving towards point 2. We hold it at such a height that if we had a drop on our shoulder it would run perfectly down to our index finger. We hold the left arm above our head in the third position, as if holding a balloon.
Our gaze moves to point 2 towards the fingers.