Tips of the Trade: Pirouettes
We get asked a few questions around the studio on how to improve the tricky moves in dance so read on for some helpful tricks to improve your dancing!
How to Improve Your Turns
Let’s face it, spinning on one leg in different directions is quite the task. There are so many things to remember while your body is spinning it feels like your brain might fly right out of your head! But turns can be mastered by anyone, especially you. So take a moment to have a read through some tricks and exercises to help your turns be as fabulous as they can be!
- Do not fear the turn!
Turns can sometimes be scary because we have to rely on all our body weight being on the ball of our foot (or on the tip of our pointe shoes) and it can be very disorientating. So here is my number one tip for turns: don’t be afraid of them! It’s not like you’re falling off a building if you fall over so be brave and go for it. I discovered that being fearless with pirouettes can help a lot of other aspects of dancing too because let’s be honest, if you can get through a double pirouette you can pretty much do anything! Plus the more frustrated you get the more you lose your balance and focus. So take a breath, give it all you’ve got and go for it!
- Strengthen those calf muscles.
The higher up you are on your demi-pointe (ball of your foot) the easier you’ll make it around to the front in a turn. Think of a pirouette like a spinning top where the point at the bottom is the ball of your foot. Your centre of gravity needs to be (as in a spinning top) directly through the centre of your body. The primary muscle that gets you on top of your demi pointe are your calf muscles so you need to train those muscles to be strong. Plus the stronger your calves are, the better stability you will have in your ankle joint which definitely helps in a pirouette. Calf raises are simple to do and you can do them pretty much anywhere at any time. I recommend doing at least 16 on each side in two lots of 8 and then holding a balance on your demi pointe afterwards for at least 20-30 seconds on each leg. When you do your calf raises, make sure that there is a straight connecting line from your hip, over your knee, over your ankle and through the middle of the ball of your foot; this will prevent you from sickling (when the ankle rolls out and the toes point in) as well as potential ankle injuries.
- Spot, spot and spot.
Did you know that your head is actually one of the heaviest parts of your body? It can weigh up to 5kgs! And did you also know that your head is held up by two small bones called the ‘atlas’ and ‘axis’ which form the first two bones (C1 and C2) of your cervical spine (i.e. your neck). These bones are responsible for the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ actions of the head. Another fun fact, your ears play an important role in keeping you balanced. In the inner ear, there are three small loops above the cochlea called semicircular canals which are also filled with fluid (endolymph) and have thousands of microscopic hairs that play a vital role in keeping balance and equilibrium of the body.
When you spot you are allowing the fluids in your ears to stay level – kind of like when you spin a bucket filled with water – this helps you maintain your balance throughout and after the turn. Keeping your eyes glued to one spot as you whip your head around allows your neural pathway to stay in control; your body won’t freak out if you know where you are in the space (i.e. still on your leg and not falling over!). To help both your eyes and ears maintain your balance you need to loosen up your neck muscles and keep your chin level to keep the atlas balanced on top of the axis, allowing you to spot with ease.
Here is a simple exercise to help you improve your spotting: facing a wall standing in parallel or neutral, find a spot on the wall that is eye level to you. Keeping your eyes glued to the spot, slowly move your head from side to side (as if saying ‘no’ slowly). Don’t take your eyes off the spot and keep your chin gliding on the same level i.e. don’t let your head tilt. Ask your dance teacher for some simple neck stretches you can do before and after class.
- Holding on to your turn out and maintaining your alignment.
Our bodies learn through repetition so if you are falling out every turn then you’re basically training yourself to fall out of a turn. It may sound completely crazy but holding on to your retire even if you have to hop or come down off your demi pointe then you are teaching your body to make however many complete turns without falling out of it. The other part of your turn to hold on to is the finish. Even if your turn was way less than satisfactory then always remember to finish it properly and with confidence – this is the part that the audience remembers anyway!
Holding on to your turn for the full spin and finishing it with confidence will train your body to remember the pathways of a good turn. Now the inbetween part is your alignment:
- Chin up, eyes up
- Shoulders down
- Elbows lifted
- Core engaged (belly button to spine)
- Hips square (make sure your retire leg isn’t lifting your hip up)
- Toe to knee
- Hold turn out
- Supporting knee straight
- High demi pointe
These are the essential things to remember but don’t let it get you over thinking. Just remind yourself of your alignment, breathe and go for it!
- Visualise yourself doing amazing pirouettes and nailing it every time.
Visualisation is one of the most powerful tools in dance but is highly underestimated. There is evidence that visualisation is just as good as practicing a step, rehearsing lines or helping you to remember tasks. Your mind is so powerful and if you visualise yourself executing turns with grace, ease and confidence then your body will believe that it can do it. The best time to visualise is right as you’re going to sleep; that moment between when you close your eyes and fall asleep. Another great time to visualise is right before you go in to the turn as visualising a perfect pirouette you are lining up your body, your self-confidence and your bravery!
“If you can convince your mind that you can, your body has a better chance of following suit. It can get to a point that your body has no choice but to follow what your mind tells it. That is the power of visualization.” Vito Bernasconi
We hope this article helps you improve those turns! Let us know how your practice goes and we look forward to seeing some super awesome turns in the studio!!
Here are some interesting and inspiring videos you might like also!
https://youtu.be/-vCNl270OVU – Technique: Episode #4 Pirouette
https://youtu.be/l5VgOdgptRg – The physics of the “hardest move” in ballet – Arleen Sugano
Sources: https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/ears.html https://owlcation.com/stem/How-does-the-ear-help-to-balance-the-body https://treningogrehab.no/atlas-joint-instability-causes-consequences-solutions/ http://www.danceinforma.com/2016/11/07/the-power-of-visualization-for-dancers/
