Battu is a classical ballet term that means “beaten.” Any step in classical ballet that is made more technically difficult by adding a beating of the legs in the middle of the jump or step is considered battu.
For example, a jeté battu would have the dancer beat their legs once before landing in a coupé, where a plan jeté would not have the beat.
Battu in Ballet Class
Battu in a ballet class is very common. It is mostly seen in petit allegro combinations.
Battu on Stage
Steps with battu are most commonly done by males, and even more so in seen in Bournonville ballets.
