Battement Jeté

Grand battement jeté describes a grand battement that is “thrown” rather than lifted. The French word jeté means thrown, and it tells you exactly how the leg should reach its height. Instead of slowly raising the working leg to the top, the dancer brushes it powerfully off the floor so it shoots up quickly to its highest position, then controls it back down. The speed going up is the whole idea, and it separates a battement jeté from a slow, developing lift of the leg.

The Throw Is Everything

In a grand battement jeté the working leg accelerates as it brushes out, so the peak of the movement happens fast and the leg seems to fly to the top on its own energy. The lowering is more controlled than the throw, which keeps the movement clean and prevents it from looking like a wild kick. The supporting leg stays strong and still, and the hips stay level, so that all the speed lives in the working leg and not in a lurch of the whole body. Getting to the top quickly, then descending with control, is the signature rhythm.

Why It Builds Better Jumps

The reason teachers care about a fast, well-thrown battement jeté is that it feeds directly into big traveling jumps. Grand allegro, the section of class with large leaps across the floor, depends on the same explosive brush of the leg to launch height and reach. A quicker grand battement jeté trains the legs to fire fast and reach full height in an instant, which is precisely what a grand jeté or other large jump needs in the air. Practicing the throw at the barre and in the center builds the power and timing that make the big jumps look effortless.