Breaking Down Cambré 

Introduc on 

Beginner dancers are often asked to execute a cambré before they fully understand it. This leads to poor alignment, bad posture, possible injury, and a misunderstanding of one of the fundamental movements in ballet. Young dancers should fully understand a movement before attempting it, because once a movement is engrained, it’s hard to correct. This guide is for beginner dancers and ballet teachers.

Cambré is the French word for “Arched.” In ballet, it is often incorrectly replaced by the phrase port de bras, or “movement of the arms.” Port de bras is a movement is executed specifically by the arms, but a cambré involves the upper body (above the hips). It can also be called port de corps, or “movement of the body.”

Cambrés can be done forwards, backwards, to either side, in a circle, in tondue, in plié, in a lunge, in passé, in the attitude position, or in almost any other position. It is most commonly used at the barre while warming up or stretching out, but it is sometimes used in a reverence or an adagio.

Figure 1: Cambré back 

All photos are taken by Haley Mathiot 

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Not Stretching the Neck: A common mistake is keeping the head up while dropping the arm. This is most often seen in beginners; they look down at their feet to keep their balance (Figure 4), or they try to look up at the teacher and follow along (Figure 5). Instead, drop the head and allow the neck and back to stretch out. The arm should be over the head the whole time.

Figure 4: Looking at the floor    Figure 5: Crunching the neck  

Sinking back: One of the most common mistakes is sinking back in the hips, or leaving the weight backwards while bending forwards (Figure 2). Al-ways keep your legs perpendicular to the floor.

Figure 3 

Correct Cambré: In Figure 1 below, the dancer is straight over her feet, her arm is over her head, and her face is towards her knees.

Figure 2 

Cambré  to the Front  

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Cambré  to the Back  

Correct Cambré: Start the movement by tilting the head and bending the upper back and allowing the rest of the back to follow the movement.

Popping the chin: Dancers often try to keep their heads stationary (Figure 7). This strains the neck muscles and ruins the graceful line of the cambré. Turn the head out-wards towards the high arm and look at the elbow.

Bending from the hip: Many dancers start the cambré from the hips by pushing their backs out of alignment to try to bend as far as they can (Figure 8). This causes them to lose their turnout, and could lead to a strain or injury in the back. The angle of the back and pelvis is shallow, and the tail‐

bone is poin ng down. 

The angle of the back and pelvis is sharper, and the tail‐

bone is poin ng out. 

Figure 6  Figure 7 

Figure 8 

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Tilting the chin: In cambré to the side, a common mis-take is tilting the head instead of turning the head (Figure 11). Always look the direction you’re bending.

Cambré  to the Side  

Correct Cambré: This movement should come from the ribs. The head should be turned toward the direction you are leaning. Curve the upper arm around the head, and the lower arm in front of the body (Figure 9).

Lifting the heel: Another mistake in cambré side is letting the heel come off the floor (Figure 10). Keep your weight even and directly between both legs.

Figure 11 

Figure 9 

Figure 10