2 3 Terminology Tuesday Entrechat | Ballet Webb

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Terminology Tuesday Entrechat



Terminology Tuesday Entrechat

The French word entrechat literally means between cat. Hmmm. Did this word evolve as French ballet masters reworked or distorted the Italian word intrecciare (pronounced like intre-charay)? Intrecciare means “to interweave, interlace”. Maybe.

Gail Grant, in Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet defines “entrechat” (ahn-truh-SHAH) as meaning interweaving or braiding.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines entrechat as: “a leap in which a ballet dancer repeatedly crosses the legs and sometimes beats them together”.

From this source
comes the word’s orgin:
“… from French, from earlier entrechase, changed by folk etymology from Italian (capriolaintrecciata, literally: entwined (caper), from intrecciare to interlace, from in-2 + treccia tress.”

Therefore, the take-away from all this is that the literal French definiton of the word entrechat is different than the balletic term entrechat.

Isn’t this fun?!

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets
Secret #30e:
“The French word “entrechat” literally means ‘between cat’.”

Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.”
― Patrick RothfussThe Name of the Wind

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