entrechat

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en·tre·chat

(ŏn′trə-shä′)

A jump in ballet during which the dancer crosses the legs a number of times, alternately back and forth.

[French, from earlier entrechas, alteration (influenced by entre, between, and chasse, chase) of Italian (capriola) intrecciata, intricate (caper), feminine past participle of intrecciare, to intertwine : in-, in (from Latin; see in-²) + treccia, tress; see tress.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

entrechat

(French ɑ̃trəʃa)

(Ballet) a leap in ballet during which the dancer repeatedly crosses his feet or beats them together

[C18: from French, from earlier entrechase, changed by folk etymology from Italian (capriola) intrecciata, literally: entwined (caper), from intrecciare to interlace, from in-² + treccia tress]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

en•tre•chat

(Fr. ɑ̃ trəˈʃa)

n., pl. -chats (Fr. -ˈʃa)

a ballet jump in which the dancer crosses the feet repeatedly while in the air.

[1765–75; < French, alter. of Italian (capriola) intrecciata intwined (caper)]

entrechat

A jump in fifth in which the legs are crossed and uncrossed at the lower calf. Entrechats are numbered not by the beats but by the number of positions taken by the legs, even numbers land in fifth, odd on one foot. Nijinsky reportedly reached entrechat dix (ten).

Translations

entrechat

Mentioned in ?

ballet

References in classic literature ?

The humble calling of her female parent Miss Sharp never alluded to, but used to state subsequently that the Entrechats were a noble family of Gascony, and took great pride in her descent from them.

View in context

AI'm 7 Entrechat; 6 Candlemas; 5 Canyon; Torrey The 4 gases; Noble 3 Squash; 2 Mexico; 1 DAY: THE OF QUIZ

QUIZ OF THE DAY

Sautes Sautes in first, second, fourth, 0' 50" and fifth foot positions, combined with entrechat quatre and changements.

Oxygen consumption and heart rate responses to isolated ballet exercise sets

flash of the seated entrechat, I did not throw one leg over the other

Legs Ode

La danse, permettant au corps, le temps d'un entrechat, de se liberer des contingences et de s'elever, a l'image d'un souffle, a l'image d'une ame, est, declare Pierre-Marie Miroux dans "Danser et boiter dans l'oeuvre de Celine", passage, ascension vers un monde feerique" (205).

Quand l'art assure la survie ... ou la necessite de l'art dans les pamphlets de Louis-Ferdinand Celine

Which British ballet dancer performed the world's first six-beat entrechat (crossing the legs six times in mid-air) in 1973?

Quiz of the Day

From developpe and entrechat (bare branches and frozen tears), Giselle.

Cold pastoral

In 1973, Wayne established a world record by doing an entrechat douze - a jump with six beats.

I danced with Di.. now I'd like to give her boys a twirl; Exclusive As Strictly Dance Fever reaches semis, judge Wayne reveals his secret wish

By the same token an entrechat in ballet (the criss-crossing of the calves in a vertical jump) can convey elation, or it can register ('unsemantically') as a lacing pattern in its own right.

Trans-formal translation: plays into ballets, with special reference to Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet

Theirs is a veritable entrechat dix of scholarship on the ever more crowded stage of ballet studies.

Satie et la Danse

Renowned for his incredible jump and spin, he set a world record in 1973 after completing an entrechat douze - a jump with six beats.