Are you struggling to achieve two or three spins in your pirouettes? Or maybe even one? No worries! Every dancer experiences bad turn days, but here are five tips and tricks in ensuring that even your bad turn days are still stellar.
- SPOT
Your eyes are so much more important than most dancers may realize. It guides your entire turn, and you simply cannot have a beautiful, consistent turn if you do not use your eyes every time you do a pirouette. Find a specific spot in the room you are dancing in and focus your eyes on that single spot — do not take your focus away from that point at any time during your turn, even when you’re facing the other way! By focusing your eyes on a single spot like so, you are able to stay straight and get not as dizzy.
2. TURN OUT YOUR HIPS
As many of you should already know, a typical pirouette position consists of one foot in retiré. In your pirouette, it is super vital that your retiré stays turned out. A simple trick in ensuring this happens is continuously pushing your knees back, overturning almost. If you feel like you are overturning, you can be certain that your retiré is turned out. By doing this, your pirouette continues because of the motion of pushing out.
3. KEEP YOUR FIRST POSITION SHORT
In ballet, many dancers (including myself) like the look of extended, flowy arm positions. Although that is gorgeous, pirouettes are not the place to show off your beautiful port de bra. One way in maintaining your pirouette is keeping your first position short and close to your chest. This helps maintain your balance, keeping your weight more centered (as you are balancing on one foot). Try this out!
4. GO DOWN. NOT UP!
A common misconception is that in pirouettes, dancers want to extend upwards. However, what you REALLY want to do is push down. I still remember when my dance instructor told me to push down into the floor as if I was a screw — that completely changed my pirouette game. When turning, drive your feet down as if you’re trying to screw into the floor. This will help you stay stable on your feet, pushing your weight down.
5. YOUR PREPARATION DETERMINES EVERYTHING
Your preparation can easily be overlooked, however, it determines everything. When you achieve a stellar preparation, you will more likely achieve a stellar turn. In your preparation, assuming you are in fourth position, ensure that you do a very deep plié into the floor. But, here’s the special part — don’t stop the plié! From the time you start the plié to when you are turning, your plié should still be pushing down. In addition, do not freeze in your plié but instead, turn right when you feel as though your plié is deep enough! This gathers the momentum for your turn, and allows you to achieve a faster speed.
Although pirouettes can be annoying and challenging at times, implementing these five tips and tricks will make them more fun! Try these out and let me know how they go for you!
THE BALLET BARRE 