entrechat

American  

[ahn-truh-sha] / ɑ̃ trəˈʃa /

noun

Ballet.

plural

entrechats

1. a jump in which the dancer crosses the feet a number of times while in the air.

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entrechat British  

/ ɑ̃trəʃa /

noun

1. a leap in ballet during which the dancer repeatedly crosses his feet or beats them together

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Etymology

Origin of entrechat

1765–75; < French, alteration of Italian ( capriola ) intrecciata intwined (caper), equivalent to in- in- ² + trecci- tress + -ata -ate ¹

Example Sentences

“But I still look at a ballet like ‘Swan Lake’ or ‘Giselle,’ and I’m like, I have to do 24 entrechat sixes,” he said, referring to a virtuosic jump with rapid, crisscrossing feet.

From New York Times • Oct. 30, 2022

In an entrechat, the beat of her feet in the air seems as natural and effortless as the beat of a hummingbird's wings.

From Time Magazine Archive

In Paris, balletomanes were treated to an unprogrammed novelty when Dancer Michel Rayne leaped up in an entrechat, came gracefully down, kept right on down through a prematurely opened trap door.

From Time Magazine Archive

Bea is an earthbound Nijinsky who can entrechat her way across a stage in half-inch leaps.

From Time Magazine Archive

The man at the controls of the machine practically performed a ritual entrechat.

From Helpfully Yours by Smith, Evelyn E.