Don't turn with your butt!

How's that for a headline? Grabs your attention, eh?

Today's Pirouette Tip comes courtesy of a number of my students of all skill levels. I noticed a tendency among them to initiate their en dehors pirouettes with their derrieres which results in:

--a sinking in the center of the body like a fallen souffle
--drooped arms and a collapsing of the pirouette's integrity
--a lowered heel so the turn becomes more like a spin
--"kneeing" the turn so the knee is in front of the body during the rotation instead of turned out to the side

There are 2 main reasons for this occurrence:

1. Pirouette anxiety which prevents you from taking the "leap of faith" required to fully stack your head, shoulders, torso, hips, etc. all the way over your leg.
2. Lack of strength in your glutes and core to hold the external rotation and press the floor up and away from you rather than in a circular motion.

Are you doing this? How do you know if you are?

Q. Are you falling out of your turn?
Q. Are you unable to complete more than one turn?
Q. Does your support knee bend during the turn?
Q. Is your passe knee in front of you instead of the side?
Q. Do you sink instead of float?

Honestly, a well-aligned pirouette is the best feeling in the world! You float, you're lifted, you feel...well, you just feel right. That's not very technical but for anyone who has completed even a single pirouette correctly, you know you have done it right.

So how do we stop doing this? A few tips:

1. Strengthen your core and glutes so they will keep you lifted during the entire turn. Exercises are found all over the web but they can include planks, sit-ups and push-ups, squats, etc.
2. Push the floor away with your entire foot when you start the turn.
3. Use the external rotation at the tops of your thighs in your 4th position to work like a screw going straight up.
4. DO NOT initiate the turn with your butt.
5. Leave the passe knee behind as you turn; feel it rotate as you press it back in opposition to the opposing shoulder, e.g. right knee & left shoulder.
6. RELAX...don't hold your breath before you start the turn. Exhale instead. Create a rhythm in your pirouette from plie to releve to plie.

Spiral action!

A consistent problem I see in my classes, among all levels of students, is a gripping of muscles and shortening of the line, whether it's legs or arms that are being "stunted."

A great visual image is to imagine your limbs spiraling away from the center of your body (from your shoulders if it's the arms and from your hips if it's the legs) all the way to your fingers and toes.

source: Martialbody.com

Try a developpe devant at the barre first before you come to the center. Bring the leg from 5th to coup de pied devant up to passe and extend the leg in front of you; feel the femur in the hip socket rotating as you develop the leg out and imagine the muscles rotating outward like stripes on an old-fashioned barber shop pole. Your leg should feel like it's lengthening and your muscles should not feel like they are gripping to hold the leg off the floor.

Now try the same thing when you come to the center. Really hold onto your center as you bring the leg up and out and away from you.

Your arms too can be spirals; it's a great image to keep in your mind especially when you are holding them in second position. Too often people simply open their arms to the sides of their bodies, not noticing that they are drooping at the elbows. Sometimes when I ask people to engage their backs, instead they merely lift with their shoulders. If you think of your arms twisting en dehors as they reach away from your body, you can keep all the muscles engaged, out to the very tips of your fingers.

Once you get the visuals of spirals in your mind, it's easy to see them in other parts of your body:
--the connection between opposing shoulder and hip
--attitude devant and derriere
--your head and neck connection as you tilt it in ecarte
--your knees as you jump in changement
--your back foot as you push off the floor for a pirouette

And so many others! Don't think lines. Think spirals! Happy dancing~