Ballerinas: Jeté (A Triplet Ballerina Leap)

In “The Triplet Ballerinas”, red-haired Annie’s ballet move is leaping-sometimes high! Leaping seemed to fit her personality. A leap (or jump) in ballet is called a jeté, which is a leap in which the weight of the dancer is transferred from one foot to the other. The most common leap is called a grand jeté (which is usually a step for advanced jumpers). This is a long horizontal jump starting from one leg and landing on the other. To make a jump even higher, the dancer lifts her head and arms and looks toward her high arm.

Some other leaps are the switch leap (this one starts like a grand jeté and then switches in the air), tour jeté (this is a turning leap), straddle leap (a Russian leap mostly found in jazz dance), supported leaps (this is one where a dancer uses a partner to help her get off the ground or to catch her at the end of a leap) and a pas de chat (this is a small leap performed directly to the front of the stage). Beverly