What is "entr'acte"

Entr'acte \En`tr'acte"\, n. [F. Cf. Interact.]

1. The interval of time which occurs between the performance of any two acts of a drama.

2. A dance, piece of music, or interlude, performed between two acts of a drama.

n. 1 An interval between two acts of a play or opera. 2 Another performance, such as a piece of music or a dance, during this.

1. n. the interlude between two acts of a play

2. a brief show (music or dance etc) performed between the sections of another performance [syn: interlude, intermezzo]

(or ), means "between the acts" (German: and , Italian: Intermezzo, Spanish: ). It can mean a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonymous to an intermission (this is nowadays the more common meaning in French), but it more often (in English) indicates a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production. In the case of stage musicals, the entr'acte serves as the overture of act 2 (and sometimes acts 3 and 4, as in Carmen). In films that were meant to be shown with an intermission, there was frequently a specially recorded entr'acte on the soundtrack between the first and second half of the film, although this practice has died out in recent years.

Entr'acte is a 1924 French short film directed by René Clair, which premiered as an entr'acte for the Ballets Suédois production Relâche at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Relâche is based on a book and with settings by Francis Picabia, produced by Rolf de Maré, and with choreography by Jean Börlin. The music for both the ballet and the film was composed by Erik Satie.