Grand jeté is a large jump in which the dancer leaps from one leg to the other with both legs extended in mid-air, often into a full split.
Grand jeté ('big throw') is the largest of the travelling jumps in classical ballet. The dancer pushes off from one leg, throws the other forward and up, splits in the air, and lands on the opposite leg. At its height, the dancer's legs form a horizontal line, the body suspended above it. The illusion of floating — the so-called 'ballon' — depends on the precise timing of the leg's throw and the body's elevation. The Bolshoi training tradition produces grand jetés of breathtaking ballistic power; the Paris Opera tradition prizes elegance of line over maximum height. Vaslav Nijinsky was said to have a grand jeté so high that audiences swore he hung in the air. Modern dancers like Vladimir Vasiliev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Carlos Acosta have been celebrated for jumps that defy what the human body should be able to do.