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. The body is turned to point 2 and the head to point 8. The right leg is the standing one. The entire foot may be placed flat on the floor. It may be demi-pointe, as if standing on tip-toes we usually say standing on tip-toe, or it may be fully en pointe. Ballet dancers use special shoes, called pointe shoes, which have a flat, hard box at the tip of the shoe. When the ballet dancer stands on the box, they are standing on the ends or the tips of their toes, which is why this technique of ballet is called “on the points”.
The left leg is the working leg. The working leg is behind the body, extended at a 90 degree angle. The back leg is bent, attitude.
The right arm is put in the second position, gently bent at the elbow and pointing towards point 2. We must hold it at such a height that if we had a drop of water on our shoulder, it would run perfectly down to our index finger. We have the left arm above our head in the third position, as if holding a balloon.
Our gaze is towards point 1 towards the audience.