Jean Balon

Jean Balon (born 1676, Paris, France—died 1739, Paris) was a ballet dancer whose extraordinarily light, elastic leaps reputedly inspired the ballet term “ballon” used to describe a dancer’s ability to ascend without apparent effort and to land smoothly and softly. The ballet term is also thought to derive from the French word ballon (“balloon”).

Balon, a popular virtuoso during the reign of Louis XIV, joined the Paris Académie (now Opéra) in 1691 and was a partner of Marie Subligny and Françoise Prévost. In 1708 he appeared with Prévost in Les Horaces, an early dance pantomime based on Pierre Corneille’s play Horace and considered a forerunner of Jean-Georges Noverre’s ballets d’action, or ballets with a plot.