How To Do A Grand Jete or Split Leap

A Grand Jeté is an awesome looking ballet trick or movement in which the dancer leaps into the air and does a split.  If done properly, it looks as though the dancer is hovering in the air for a second or two.  

The question is how to do a grand jete, also known as a split jump.

The correct spelling for this in French is Grande Jete, but most people forget the e at the end of Grande. For the sake of this post, it will be called a grand jete.

The Grand Jeté is a show-stopper if done correctly, but if not, you could strain your body if you don’t use the right muscles.  Many different dance forms use the Grand Jete, including gymnastics.

How To Do A Grand Jete Training

To be able to master the grand jete, you need to first of all train your body correctly.

These are some stretches to start off with.  Make sure you are warm first, so either do these after your class, or after exercising, or even after a hot bath.

Stretch Number 1:

Stretch your legs out in front of you and flex your feet.  Try to flatten your body against your legs.  Aim your belly button towards your knees. If you are stiff, take it slowly and hold for thirty seconds at a time.  Do this daily and you will see an improvement.

Stretch Number 2:

Train your body to do a split, because if you can’t do a split on the floor, you won’t be able to show a good one in the air.  Kneel and extend your right leg forward until it is completely straight in front of you, with your heel on the ground. Lean down and place your fingers on the floor to either side of your body. If this burns or pulls, hold this position. If not, scoot your heel forward until it does, and then hold. Repeat with the other leg. Aim to keep your hips square for more stretch of the back quad.

You will need to do this stretch each day until your legs are both flat on the floor and you are sitting comfortably in a split.  This may take several weeks.  Go slowly and carefully to avoid pulling a muscle.

Stretch Number 3:

Once you are in the splits, you will need to gently push your stretch a little further.  Go down into the splits, and once you are feeling comfortable here place a pillow underneath your front foot.  When this doesn’t burn anymore add another cushion.  Now try adding a pillow or two underneath your back foot.  Do this one very carefully and stop if you feel any pain besides the normal burning pain.

Switch Legs and repeat.

Now for some strengthening exercises:

Strength Exercise Number 1:

You will need to strengthen your gluteal muscles (bottom) in order to achieve spectacular leaps.

Start by kneeling on all fours.
Keep your knees beneath your hips and your hands directly underneath your shoulders.  Tighten your stomach as you breathe in and bring your right knee to your chest. Breathe out, point your right toe, and push your right leg out behind you and as far up into the air as you can whilst also bringing your chest upward.

Hold those stomach muscles so you don’t overextend your spine.  Make sure your glutes are contracted to help you achieve height.  Aim to do 30 or more reps on each leg.

Strength Exercise Number 2:

This exercise will strengthen your core.

Lie down on your back, and rest your feet flat on the floor with your knees bent upwards to the ceiling. Make sure to keep your stomach tight and straighten your right leg so that it points up towards the ceiling.   Breath out as you use your left leg to push your hips upward until your body is straight. Inhale as you lower your hips almost to the floor and breathe in again as you push up. Repeat this 30 times on each leg.  If you can’t, start with a smaller number and build up gradually each day.

Strength Exercise Number 3:

Strengthen your jumping muscles.  The most effective way to do this is to squat down like you are sitting on a chair, then jump up and land in a squat again.  When you squat, take care not to let your knees go too far forward over your toes.  Legs should be in a 90-degree angle.  Push your bottom back and keep your spine as erect as you can during all your squats.  Your knees are back behind your toes.

How To Do A Grand Jete

A grand jete starts off with a grande battement devant, then you propel yourself off of the floor by pushing off of your well bent back leg while attempting to do a grand battement derriere with the back leg in the air.

A grand jete could also start with a developpe or as some call it, a flick leap, but I personally prefer to teach it from a grand battement first.

Make sure to fully stretch the back leg in the air, as this is the biggest fault and it can ruin the line of your jump, unless of course you are doing a jump with an attitude leg at the back intentionally as you can see at the end of the second video below.

When landing your jump, make sure to do so on a bent leg and your landing should be soft and controlled. After a big leap, you always need to bend well so that your knees and legs can absorb the shock in safe way. When you land the back leg should aim to stay straight and well lifted.

There is nothing better than a video to explain how to do a grand jete.

Here is a video demonstrating how to do a grand jete with a professional dancer.

One thing they fail to mention on these videos, is that when you are in the air, in order to achieve the hovering effect, you have to feel like you are doing another split in the air at the height of the jump.  You should aim to split your legs even more here, so that you get the feeling of staying in the air longer.