pas de chat

[pahd^uh sha]

noun

Ballet.

plural

pas de chat 

1. a jump of one foot over the other.

pas de chat

/ pɑdʃa /

noun

1. ballet a catlike leap

Word History and Origins

Origin of pas de chat¹

1910–15; < French: cat step

Word History and Origins

Origin of pas de chat¹

French: cat's step

Example Sentences

Then, at the end of the season, he’ll go back to being just another boy, struggling with his pliés and his pas de chat.

Read more on The New Yorker

They are the owners in the “Restaurant” scene, which includes a rubber chicken and — this is a head scratcher — a moment for the dancers, dressed as waiters and holding plates, to cover the stage in pas de chat jumps while “Swan Lake” plays.

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I can still see the Puff dancer, performing pas de chat across the stage—this huge guy, in shorts, doing these dainty little hops.

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But ballet steps — pas de chat, cabrioles, grands fouettés sautés and more — abound; so do Cunningham uses of legs and torso.

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Still, the pas de trois of odalisques from “Le Corsaire” needs more upper-body allure and pliancy if it is to look more than routine, while the four “Swan Lake” cygnets need pas de chat of uniform crispness.

Read more on New York Times