Turning Tips???

Question:Overall I am a great dancer (very flexible, high leaps, strong, ect.) but I just lack a good number of pirouettes! I fight just to get a double!!!! Any tips on improving the number of turns I can do? Thanks!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Overall I am a great dancer (very flexible, high leaps, strong, ect.) but I just lack a good number of pirouettes! I fight just to get a double!!!! Any tips on improving the number of turns I can do? Thanks!

figure out what it is that holds you back:
if it's fear: don't think about what you're about to do. just do it

if it's balance: pull ur body up when you're turning and keep ur spine over the ball of your foot

if it's force: close ur arms quickly, exhale in the plie, and then inhale when you turn to focus everything into the turn

also: the more you push down in the plie, the more force you'll have in your turn; AND good position, completely turned out and everything (althought it is hard) will give you a more successful turn.

hope this helps

i can totally relate. there are a few tips i tell my students. first of all, spotting is key. i think that spotting is the biggest problem i see with my students. if you cant spot yourself in a mirror, put a sticker on the wall that is eye level and maybe that will help. also, i always tell my students to push down and pull up at the same time. meaning, think of a string that is on the top of your head and someone is pulling you up from it. another tip, make sure your arms are where they should be, if they are off you can easily fall off-balance. be sure to plie' before you turn, that is what helps you get around. if you forget your plie' you wont be able get enough speed to get more than a double. also, if your leg is in pase' (sorry my french is bad!) you should be ok. make sure its exactly where it should be and not either above or below your knee. that can knock you off of balance too. also, stay on your toe! dont let yourself fall on your heel, which some of my students do. and of course, practice makes perfect. turns were what i had trouble with when i was younger, so dont stress too much. practice when you can and you'll get it. good luck!

Two tips that I've picked up on over the years are:

1. While your lower body and arms need to be strong and engaged, your head, neck, and shoulders need to be relaxed. This will help optimize the power of your spot and prevent you from throwing yourself off balance because you're too tense.

2. This is a trick a friend taught me. When attempting multiple pirouettes, count the number of turns backwards in your head. For example, if you're trying 4 turns, count 4, 3, 2, 1 in your head instead of 1, 2, 3, 4. This tricks your body and brain into completing all of the turns because there is a natural tendency to want to complete the counting instead of leaving it hanging at 3 or 2. It also forces you to prepare properly for your turn in terms of power and speed because you know ahead of time how many you're going for instead of just hoping things will work out!

Hope this helps.

you need to focus and not to much force and you have to make shaw your on your leg coz if u do that is should come easy just to add i am doing all those things and i have got 4 pirouettes!

Straight strong body, pushing hard into the ground on pointe or high 3/4 pointe. Now you have eliminated friction as much as you can. Then it is all about spotting. The head knocks you around. Less is better. It shouldn't take much more wind up to do a double than it does a single. Think of chainees on one foot without moving. Each turn is just one turn, after the other. Your head knocks the edge of your neck flexibility, transferring the momentum into the turn...over and over. That's all there is.
There is also an arm technique I prefer, because it keeps my body straight. Let's say you're in fourth preparing for en dehors. Arms are in fourth middle. Open your forward arm to side (second) as you transfer your weight onto your turning leg. As you releve, bring both arms together to fifth en haut or en milieu with equal strength, tightening your abs, center.
You may not be allowed to do that in class, but use it in practice. When you are a professional, you get to change the choreography (unless you are in corps.) Anyway, learn the skill the easiest way, and then do the turn from different set positions.