According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica the entrechat is most likely from the Italian word intrecciare meaning “to weave” or “to braid”. The same source defines the step as
“beginning in the fifth position, during which the dancer crosses his straight legs at the lower calf. Numerous rapid crossings make the entrechat a spectacular jump. Numbers (trois, “three”; quatre, “four”; and so on) are affixed to the term to designate the amount of leg movement (entrechat-quatre has two crossings; entrechat-dix has five). The dancer lands on both feet for even-numbered and on one foot for odd-numbered entrechats.”
The first woman to perform this step was Marie Anne de Cupis de Camargo. She was a French/Belgian dancer in the early 1700s. Thing have changed since the simple entrechat-quatre performed by Marie Anne however, through the years the goal has become to do as many entrechats possible in row, and the more complicated the entrechat, the better. Only the best of the best have been able to carry out the supremely difficult steps like the entrechat-dix and douze. Vaslav Nijinsky, referred to by certain newspapers of the early 1900’s as the greatest male dancer of all time, was the only one to achieve the entrechat-dix. A record not broken until 1973 when Wayne Sleep performed an entrechat-douze on British television; the entrechat-douze requiring the legs to cross six times. To achieve that many legs changes in a row the dancer has to jump high, have fast legs, a tremendous amount of talent and be a risk taker, all characteristics shared by Sleep and Nijinsky. Since then male dancers usually stick to entrechat-six’s and maybe huit’s during performances, but to get the dramatic effect an entrechat can create, the performers execute numerous in a row. Iñaki Urlezaga for instance, did 32 entrechat-six in a row in his performance of Giselle in 2007. The women on the other hand also stick to lower numbers, sometimes entrechat-six’s as well or entrechat-quatres. However, with women the step can be complicated through pointe shoes. Add a pair of pointe shoes and the movement can be done on pointe, requiring the dancer to jump and land on pointe instead of on flat. Olesia Novikova most recently in 2011 did 30 entrechat-quatres in pointe in her performance of Raymonda. Hence, through the years, the end goal of performing a difficult step has always been to create a jaw dropping moment on stage. To push the body to the maximum of its abilities and shock the crowd with something the everyday person would never be able to accomplish. The entrechat has been one of the steps that has provided such moments, showing that the simplest moves can always be complicated. The entrechat-dix and douze have only been accomplished by the best of the best, making this step something very special one can only aspire to. So the next best way to complicate the step today is to find ways to complicate the lower numbered entrechat.
“Entrechat.” Encyclopædia Britannica. March 18, 2012
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