How to do an entrechat quatre
In the dance of the little swans thread, commenter “Paul in Boston” asked:
What’s the step where they all jump in the air together and “clap” their feet 4 times. How do they do that?
I’ll let these pictures (videos) take the place of a thousand words. I’ll just add that although the entrechat quatre (that’s what it’s called) is plenty difficult, as is just about everything in ballet, it’s one of the rare ballet steps that’s not quite as difficult as it looks. In other words, I used to be able to do an acceptable entrechat quatre or even a series of them, although you wouldn’t want to have paid money to see me do it.
Here’s a regular speed and slow motion demo:
And here are some mighty impressive ones, male and female versions. The man is actually doing a more complex jump with an extra beat (or actually two, since each leg beating is counted separately) to make a step called the entrechat six. Both of these clips (widely separated in time) are from the ballet “Giselle,” in which spirits known as Wilis are trying to dance the prince to death, and the loving spirit of his betrayed love Giselle is trying to save him:
Thanks. Great skills and athleticism.
Neo, I don’t care what you say. I watched the Cygnets last night, and now the clips here, and I tell you those dancers are not human. I don’t know where they’re from … maybe Faërie? But to move like that, with those feet that twinkle — it’s just not given to humans.
Really truly amazing. Athletic, sure, but so graceful…and beautiful!
Thanks so much. :>)))
Your dance videos definitely showcase the athleticism of these remarkable people. They remind me of the whole body mastery of high level martial artists. Ki, shin, tai. Spirit, mind, body unified.
Cool instructional video. Incidentally, as I understand, the easiest move is called a royale because Louis XIV liked to dance but wasn’t good enough to do the full move.
Great videos – fantastic footwork! So important to good dance (also boxing!).
Very impressive ability to dance a lot in order to avoid being “danced to death”. Still, the overdevelopment of huge thighs on the male dancers, so clearly shown in the tights, is beyond what I find most attractive. I’m not so keen on it for bike riders, either. Funny aesthetic?
Well muscled women seem to mostly avoid such overdevelopment. I’d guess most have their own border of when a lot becomes too much, and maybe my own long distance running and admiration of runners has biased me more than others. Have you seen dancers with too much muscle?
The physics of it opens up an area familiar in ballet, but less familiar in other areas
but would you believe the other area that its familiar in is clicking your heels the Irish leprechaun way
The Perfect Heel Click!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsjMZsCcv6o
its the idea that you have enough time to do things while in the air…
but for fast feet? NOTHING beats TAP…
the record is around 740 taps a minute
ah, but the guinness record has been smashed since i last mentioned it
Jo’s record has since been beaten however, with the benchmark now standing at a toe-tapping 1,163 and was achieved by Anthony Morigerato (USA) at Eleanor’s School of Dance in Albany, New York, USA.
Thats just under 20 taps a second…
Anthony Morigerato: Best tapper in the world at NUVO 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0h8pK5UdsQ
Anthony Morigerato (Nuvo BIrmingham 2019)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjKMaaa2Iq8
Tom Grey:
I don’t share your aesthetic about the male dancers. For example, I especially liked Edward Villella, whose thighs were formidable.
As for the females, lack of testosterone sets its own limit on leg development, not the dancers themselves. Also, choreography for females certainly features jumps, but not as many as for males. Male dancers naturally leap higher anyway because of their physical structure (hip shape and musculature).