Entrechat #

Entrechat is known as " a step of beating in which the dancer jumps into the air and rapidly crosses the legs before and behind each other" in the Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet. They can be be anywhere from 2 beats to 10. The even numbered entrechats land on two feet and the odd numbered entrechats land on one. Dancers are trying to get to ten and even more beats if possible. The following are some examples of dancers performing various entrechats.

Entrechat duex, entrechat quatre, entrechat six- These are entrechats performed with two, four, and six beats. The dancer beats on th way up especially when performing more than just two beats. He consistantly lands in 5th position in plie and uses this as his prep for the next jump.

Entrechat huit- This dancer performs an entrechat with eight beats. The dancer isn't as clean with his jumps as the one in the previous videos but it was a little hard to find footage of someone performing this move. The dancer could do better by making his beats more distinct and trying stay in the air even longer.

Entrechat Dix- I was unable to find footage of someone actually performing an entrechat dix, entrechat with ten beats. So instead I will talk about the person who first did one, Vaslav Nijinsky. Najinsky was a Russian dancer of Polish decent, born in 1889. He studied under Cechetti and Nicholas Legat at the Imperial Ballet School. He was a performer in multiple dances and even had his own company. In 1919 his career ended when he was diagnosed with schizofrenia. He later died in 1950. Here is a link for more information http://www.russianballethistory.com/nijinskythelegend.htm. 

Entrechat Douze- This is a entrechat with 12 beats. Wayne Sleep is the only dancer that has been said to have done this move, however I cannot find a video of him actually doing it.

Entrechats require plie, control, precision, and alot of practice to be able to increase their number of beats. While I doubt I will ever be able to do an entrechat dix or more, by watching others technique, we are able to see how the little details make all the difference in being able to do more beats.