orchēstra : AWR-kess-tra

(Latin; borrowed from Greek orchestra (ὀρχήστρα), the dancing place). The orchēstra was the primary performance space for the chorus in Greek theatre; also adapted for use as an arena for Roman “spectacle entertainment.” The orchēstra was the space between the audience and the Greek skēnē or Roman scaena possibly rectilinear in Early Classical Greek theatre; circular in Classical Greek theatre; horseshoe-shaped in Hellenistic theatre; semicircular in Roman theatres.