chassé

American  

[sha-sey, sa-shey] / ʃæˈseɪ, sæˈʃeɪ /

noun

1. a gliding step in which one foot is kept in advance of the other.

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verb (used without object)

chasséd, chasséing

1. to execute a chassé.

chassé British  

/ ˈʃæseɪ /

noun

1. one of a series of gliding steps in ballet in which the same foot always leads

2. three consecutive dance steps, two fast and one slow, to four beats of music

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verb

1. (intr) to perform either of these steps

Etymology

Origin of chassé

1795–1805; < French: literally, chased, followed, past participle of chasser to chase ¹

Explanation

A chasse is a ballet step in which one foot follows the other as the dancer glides across the floor. You can think of a chasse as a very graceful gallop. In French, chassé means "chased." The ballet move got this name from the way one foot "chases" the other. The chasse, in which the dancer's legs bend as their second foot slides across the floor to meet the first one, is also performed by ballroom dancers, line dancers, ice dancers, and even roller skaters. It's also a verb, so feel free to chasse over to the fridge to grab a snack!

Example Sentences

Maybe this emphasis on queerness doesn’t work in every scene, but any interpretation that allows the choreographer Jack Ferver to chassé while wearing a disco ball cannot be dismissed.

From New York Times • Jul. 15, 2018

During the 90-minute class, instructor Jessica Jaye Mackinson taught us to chassé, sauté, ronde de jambe and grand battement, a fancy French word for a three-sided kick.

From Washington Post • Nov. 8, 2017

But I can’t help feeling that something important had been sacrificed in the process; that this isn’t necessarily a giant leap forward, but a kind of chassé to the side.

From New York Times • Jan. 20, 2016

This time I mean those tough, growly guys who wouldn’t know a chassé step unless it kicked ’em right in the kisser.

From New York Times • Jan. 31, 2013

The Duc de Choiseul will be the victim; and they pretend to say that he has declared he will resign à l'Anglaise, rather than be chassé by such a creature.

From Letters of Horace Walpole — Volume II by Walpole, Horace