penché

[ French pahn-shey ]

adjective

, Ballet.

1. performed or executed while leaning forward.

Word History and Origins

Origin of penché¹

< French: leaned, past participle of pencher to incline, bend, lean; penchant

Example Sentences

“She was such an exquisite practitioner of breaking things down, each count, each half-count, each change of balance, each quarter rotation, each promenade, each penché … breaking things down to those minute details.”

From Seattle Times

At times, plunging into a penché or rotating in an arabesque, she seems like the prototypical ballerina against which more skewed, less classical movement defines itself.

From New York Times

In it, King plays with the very idea of ballet: Cecilia Iliesiu intentionally teetered, showing beautiful control, while balancing on pointe; Amanda Morgan struck a perfect arabesque penché and then flexed her free foot, quirkily changing the shape of the pose.

From Seattle Times

The better the dancer’s first arabesque penché—the more exact, the more spirited, the more singing its line—the more he or she will embody the promise of the ancient Greeks, lasting at least up to Keats, that beauty, truth, and virtue are inseparable, that we live in a good world.

From The New Yorker

After brunch at Le Clocher Penché, I stopped at an even newer addition to the neighborhood, right across the street: Deux22, a clothing boutique that opened in late spring and just added a bar serving local beers, Mexican food and tequila.

From New York Times