Friday Favorites: Pirouette tips!

As many of you know, I love studying pirouettes and I'm fascinated by the science of turns.

The basics: Alignment, momentum, controlled landing.

The finer details: Spotting and arms.

The necessities: Strong ankles, strong core, strong back.

I was watching a group of my students turning this week and was surprised by the number of them that were hopping on their landing.

(NB: this is different from hopping during a turn. In that case, the most likely culprit is a bent knee or lack of spotting.)

Landing a pirouette is tricky stuff. I always tell my students not to wait until the last second to think about the finish. Many students do a single or double rotation and then suddenly slam on the brakes which, like traveling in a car or plane, usually results in a bumpy landing.

courtesy Chloe Smith, Creative Commons license

There are a couple of ways to approach the end of a pirouette:

1. Anticipate the finish by rolling down at the 3/4 mark, rather than waiting until a complete turn is made.

2. Complete the turn in the "up" position; that is, finish in retire on a high releve and then roll down to your fifth or fourth position.

In either case, it's crucial that you roll down through the foot and don't simply drop the weight.

From my observations, students hop down from pirouette because they lose their turnout which is typically a result of a change in their vertical alignment (that long straight pole from top of head through spine down to center of the support leg).

You change your vertical alignment when:

A. Your core collapses. Solution: hold your abdominals up and maintain a strong connection between ribs and hips.

B. Your pelvis tilts and doesn't recover. Solution: don't let your lower back hyperextend as you reach your passe leg to the floor. Stay pulled up the front of your body.

C. Your ankles roll. Solution: maintain a high releve and roll through your entire foot. Practice ankle strengthening exercises outside of class, including springing up and rolling down from a passe releve.

D. You don't bring your arms around with you in the turn. Solution: keep the shape of the arms throughout the entire turn and only open them when you want to finish the turn.

One last thing to consider: pirouettes, especially multiple pirouettes, are not rigid shapes rotating in space. Minor adjustments must be made during a turn, whether that means pulling in or opening the arms, pulling up the abdominals or engaging the knee and heel to stay in a high releve.

Happy turning, beautiful dancers~

Friday Funny

A cartoon about ballet! This was the cutest thing I've seen in a while. It's called "Ballet Oop" and it's from 1954. It was directed by Robert Cannon at UPA, an old animation studio that also did Mister Magoo. So you know it's going to be a bit silly.

What I love about it is that its ballet terminology is correct! Someone on the creative team must have known about ballet - its positions and even some technique - because it's actually right. Of course, Miss Placement loves all of her little students, doesn't she?

Thanks to Illya who found it and shared it with me so I can share it with you. Enjoy!


Ballet-Oop (1954) by iadb

5 Friday Faves - Barrework

5 Things I Love at Barre:

1. Demi-plie.
From the very beginning of class, a demi-plie combination in all positions really makes me engage all of my muscles and sets the tone for the class. If I can feel my deep external rotators firing up and turning out my legs from my hips, I will feel more solid and stable in everything that follows. And they just feel good, especially when a simple very open port de bras is added.

2. Very slow tendus.
I prefer to wear socks for the first couple of tendu exercises so I can really work the soles of my feet and articulate my toes. From teaching in dance sneakers, my arches can become very tight and knotted and they tend to cramp a lot so using the floor to massage my foot is extremely helpful. And they just feel good, especially in fifth where I can feel my legs "fit" together from top to bottom.
 

Me teaching tendu, not in socks

 3. Degage assemble.

As my legs and hips begin to warm up, I really like the feel of degage assemble with fondu. Both feet coming together in fifth position is solid and contained and the fondu action makes me feel lifted. Here I like how the feet and legs "assemble" as one, with the weight transferring from one foot to two. I like making the pelvic adjustment here because it reminds me to use my abdominals which is crucial for center work when we jump off the floor. And yes, they just feel good.

4. Retire balance en releve.
The one thing I have always been able to count on since I was a kid has been balance, particularly on one leg. Finding a center line has never been a problem for me and when I'm asked to releve in any position, I can usually feel confident that I can do it - and confidence in ballet is very important! Ha! Seriously, though, I love how retire fits in the hip socket, how the turned-out leg is flush from thigh to knee and I like fitting my big toe into the notch just above the knee to "lock" it in place - a good feeling! 

5. Developpe a la seconde.
Another thing I can count on is my developpe to the side. This is another one of those natural things for me but note, it wasn't always this way. As I often tell my students, I didn't find this extension until well into my 20s. Until I was an adult I kept using my quads to get my leg up and hold it. Now, I can feel the rotation in both hips as well as the straight line from head to toe through my spine. At barre, I love how it makes me feel taller to extend my leg to the side. Yeah, this feels good too.

Me teaching an adagio at barre

My main takeaway from barre? It feels good. That is why I love it. Yes, there are the practical reasons I wrote about previously, but the fact is, exercises at the barre simply feel good to me. I love warming up my spine and neck and feet and hips.

There is a natural endorphin rush with any exercise but there is also the relief that you are still alive, you still can dance, you still can move, you still can express yourself.

Happy dancing~