Révérence

Pronunciation: ray-vay-RAHNSS

Translation: Reverence or curtsey

Révérence (Why American may skip it)
At the beginning of each class, in the tradition of classicism, a révérence is performed to show humility to the teacher, the room, the pianist, and the dancer’s peers. It is usually one eight-count music and is set as a preparation before barre work. It can be done as a promenade or walking around the room when you are younger. Americans tend to skip this because of the time constraints most ballet classes are under.

Grand Révérence

At the end of a class, grand révérence or big révérence has the same concept of humility as how you started class, but now dancers might go all the way down to the knee, to show their respect for the work of their instructor, the pianist, their partner, or colleagues.