Tour jeté (turning grand jeté): what the jump demands, which prerequisites you need and how to build it up with a teacher. Not a do-it-yourself recipe.
The honest answer to “What is a tour jeté?”: it is a turning grand jeté – a big jump in which the body turns in the air and the legs almost meet. The term “tour jeté” does not appear in the American Ballet Theatre dictionary. The matching description is listed there as “jeté entrelacé” (Russian school): the body turns in the air, the legs almost come together and look “interlaced”, the second leg is swept past the first, and the landing follows in arabesque; the French school calls it “grand jeté dessus en tournant”, the Cecchetti method “grand jeté en tournant en arrière” [1]. Your school may name it differently too.
Plainly: this is a pro jump. So this guide gives you no sequence to copy; it explains what the jump demands and how to approach it with a teacher. And it is honest: there is hardly any research on the tour jeté itself. What we can support comes from the grand jeté and from ballet jumps in general – that is a transfer, not a measurement of the tour jeté.
Why look at the grand jeté? In a study with 20 dancers (average 12.5 years of ballet), the approach alone changed the jump values strongly: plié angles ranged between 43.6° and 68.2°, vertical ground force between 2.46 and 3.81 times body weight, jump height between 33 and 41 centimetres (about knee high) and jump distance between 24 centimetres and just over a metre [2]. As an anchor: the participants weighed 58 kilograms on average; for them the ground force equals roughly 140 to 220 kilograms pressing on the floor with every landing. The tour jeté adds a turn on top.
How long does it take? No study has measured that. Expect years of steady classes, not weeks (experience value, no source).
Prerequisites are sacred here. Without them you do not start:
This is a build-up, not a recipe. Each step has a criterion before you move on.
The ABT dictionary says of the grand jeté: it is always introduced by a preparatory movement such as a glissade or pas couru; you start with a springy plié and finish with a soft, controlled plié [1]. Milestone: your grand jeté lands quietly and balanced on both sides, three times in a row.
The authors of the grand jeté study suggest that single-leg plié training may improve performance and reduce injury risk in preparations such as run, chaîné, chassé or step-step [2]. Discuss with your teacher how to test this. Milestone: your teacher signs off the single-leg landing on both sides.
In the study the preparations differed: the run gave height and distance but came with high ground force; the chassé was the next best choice; the two-legged assemblé needed a deeper plié and gave less distance [2]. Which preparation suits you is decided by your teacher, not by a study average. Milestone: you know the preparation your teacher chooses for you.
The ABT dictionary knows the coupé jeté en tournant as a compound step: a coupé dessous with a three-quarter turn followed by a grand jeté en avant, usually done in a series en manège or en diagonale [1]. This is a preparatory exercise for the turning movement. Milestone: a series runs calmly without you forcing height.
You try the full tour jeté only with a teacher, a suitable floor and fresh legs. How the turn and leg path run in detail, you learn in class, not from this text.
Pro jumps are build-up jumps: basics first, then the turn. In a survey of 90 professional dancers, the lower back, knees, ankles and feet were most often injured, and classical jumps produced the highest ground reaction forces of the three dance styles tested [5]. We therefore deliberately describe no execution to copy. Never try the tour jeté alone, never tired, never on a hard floor and never under outside pressure. For pain in the knee, hip, back or foot: stop and clarify with your teacher and a doctor. This guide explains and motivates but does not replace supervised training.
Ask your teacher for a side-and-front video comparison, each with the same preparation. In the study the preparation alone changed height, distance and ground force [2]. With two views you can see whether your landing looks the same on both sides. The video itself is practice, not a study result.
The grand jeté is the big jump in which the legs are thrown to 90 degrees [1]. The tour jeté is the turning variant: the body turns in the air, the second leg is swept past the first, and you land in arabesque [1]. What your school calls it may differ [1].
No study has measured that. It builds on a secure grand jeté, is a pro jump and needs classes over years (experience value, no source).
Not safely. It is a pro jump with a turn. You can prepare strength, single-leg landing and the grand jeté, but you should build the jump itself only with a teacher.
Common causes are a jump chosen too early or left-right differences [3]. Check landing and plié on video and go back to the grand jeté if the landing is not calm.
Tour en l’Air: The Turn in the Air – Building Up With a Teacher