19 replies to this topic

[Helene]

My cheerleading squad in high school called it a "Russian Jump" when it was in the air, and a "Russian Split" when it was on the ground/floor.

[Mel Johnson]

Okay, that's a character step that's called in French and Italian Schools, pas ciseaux (scissors step).  Pas de ciseaux in the Russian schools is something else, which looks like a cross between a cabriole and a jazz switch-leap.

[Paul Parish]

In Berkeley we call this a Grand Ecart -- ("ecart" means spread wide open)

It's a classical step as well as a character step. It's a spring from two feet, landing on two feet, like a changement where the legs go wide (unlike a sissonne, which lands  on one foot).

Grands ecarts are done in both second and fourth, and with straight knees or in attitude.

Examples from choreography I'm familiar with crowd into my mind. In SFB's Chinese Tea, the male dancer does a series of grands ecartes in second and fourth, and usually some Italian changements throwh in for variety. And in our Trepak, the "Russians" do them too.

But in Ronn Guidi's Nutcracker (at OaklandBallet), the Snow Queen does them -- as high as she can, Janet Carole did them at 180 degrees; and in Sally Streets's "Waltz of the Flowers," the butterfly does them (not very high) alternating with soutenu turns. In The William Tell pas de deux, include in NYCB's Bournonville Divertissements, the ballerina (young Darci Kistler on my tape) has a fabulous passage of jumps including a releve echappe, a medium-height (45degree) ecarte, and entrechat (quatre or sixe, I can't remember); it's a marvellously airy, beautiful combination....

[Rachel]

Could some one enlighten me as to the correct terminology of this step:
It starts from 5th and is executed en face like a big glissade in which the legs reach a straddle split. It lands en fondu on the first extended leg with the second leg in retire. Occassionally to finish, the leg is extended to efface devant 90 degrees or 3rd arabesque. Is this a jete ouvert? I'm quite sure that it is a classical step because my Russian teacher teaches it as part of the Vaganova syllabus.

Rachel

[Mel Johnson]

Oh, it's certainly classical!  It's a jeté passé de coté in second position.