Expert: Jennifer - 8/25/2004

Question
I've noticed that in both ballet and jazz that I'm not a good turner. I think that's partly because I hate turns in particular and refuse to practice on them. I have come close to mastering turns in ballet except for chenee turns which I absolutely hate. Also when I have to do fast pique turns or fast soutenue turns, I end up having way too much momentum and I end up forgetting to spot. What do you think I should do to improve my turns?

Answer
Well, of course you expect me to say that your lack of practice is a big part of the problem! You probably don't want to hear it, but a great deal of getting the feel and rhythm of turns (which in itself is a big part of not "spinning out," so to speak) is just experience and practice. Of course, since I can't see you dance, I can't tell you exactly what you are doing wrong in your turns, but I can give you a few pointers that I have gotten and what a lot of the dancers around me have gotten.

Chaine turns:

The number 1 mistake people make when doing these turns is letting their feet get too far apart. This just leads to a loosening of the body and causes all sorts of problems. When the feet get too far apart, a dancer will begin "stepping around" to turn, which then causes the feet to get ahead of the body. This will make you feel out of control and lose your spot. Ideally, your feet should stay in the position of first position releve *or closer together.* This should keep your body working together better without getting out of sync. Though stiffness is not usually used as a positive in ballet, try to think of being like a board wheny you're doing chaines. Every part of you from the turnout of your legs legs to the position of your arms should be solid in the turn... and its your spot that gets you around, not any wiggling or adjusting in the rest of your body. This may not be how it actually works out physiologically, but hopefully that image will help you keep your body strong and under control.

Pique turns:

One thing that I see myself and a lot of other dancers do when pique turns go awry: they start *spinning.* And what I mean by that is that they no longer think about where they're going with their turns; they're just focused totally on spinning around as fast as they can. Two things happen here. A) The dancer loses their spot and so the directionality gets confused and dizziness ensues.  B) The pique no longer "goes anywhere" and pulls under the dancer. This causes the turn to go out of control and get off the music. You have to remember that pique turns almost always go somewhere. And you know that in ballet, if you're supposed to be dancing toward something or someone, you'd better make it convincing! When you pique, pique *out* and *away* from yourself. Pique past where your tendu rested on the floor. It makes you movement look so much bigger and more demonstrative and above all, more *interesting.* It also feels better! C) Also, once you get to your pique, really *see* where you're going. Pretend like you're looking at somone on the other side of the room that you're piqueing to! Bring your focus from inside your head, and project it out of yoursef. I think projecting your focus like this will help you keep spotting, because if you are concentrating so hard on the inside, your eyes wander. These elements of travelling, focusing, and spotting work together to make a turn feel more controlled and more purposeful. You may fall behind the music at first when working on these things, but once you get the hang of it, you can pick up the speed.

Other things to think of in pique turns is really feeling the balance of that plie between every turn. That plie is what anchors you for the turn so if momentum is taking you off balance there, its defenately gonna mess you up in the turn. Think of it as a brief moment to collect yourself before you go on. Also think about getting the working leg to retire as quickly as possible, and also turning it out -- this helps you get around with less help from your arms.

Many of the same elements i described above will help you with your pique soutenu... but if you have some more specific problems with that turn, I will help you with that one specifically too.

Hope this helps you!