Pulling my weight forward during Pirouettes

[Guest Dancergal92]

I have been having some trouble getting all of my weight forward during pirouettes. My teacher told me to concentrate on pulling my rib cage down more to meet up with my center. I was wondering if anyone had any additional tips of any sort for me. Thank you.

[Victoria Leigh]

Dancergal, you don't need to "pull" it forward, it just needs to "BE" forward, from before you start the pirouette! Be sure your weight is in the front leg and that you push into that leg to relevé. If you can't get on top of your supporting leg, it could be that the back leg is too far back. Practice the relevé to the pirouette position and find your center, then just go around the corner, then a little further around the corner. Another thing I use for that is promenade in the pirouette position to learn to maintain your center.

[Guest e1coli]

i personally find that its very difficult to maintain your center through a turn, i have problems being on balance. i don't land very nicely.

 

Maybe i should practice half turns first?

[Victoria Leigh]

Practice just the relevé first. Then quarter turns, then half turns, and finally just go for it! The promenade I mentioned above is also helpful. Before you can do pirouettes well, you need to be correctly placed in the preparation, and then be able to relevé to the position and make sure that you have a really good position, with rotation, foot not sickled, and arms in the right place. Practice it on flat with promenade, and then with relevé, and when you have a good position and can feel your center, then start the turning action. Make sure that you use your upper back muscles when you start turning, and your head is VERY important!

[Guest e1coli]

thank you!! will definitely practice as per your advice

[Guest Dancergal92]

Thank you for your help Ms. Leigh!

[Guest pavlovadancer]

Hmm... I've been having problems with my own pirouettes lately. I used to be able to do doubles with ease, but now I can't seem to find my balance, and even my singles are absolute rubbish. I feel very angry with myself, and I reckon its affecting my work in general. Paradoxically, I also find myself able to balance in a pirouette position than to TURN in a pirouette position. Shouldn't the reverse be easier? Pirouettes always came naturally to me. I have no idea what happened to them now!

[Victoria Leigh]

Pavlovadancer, there are several possibilities here. One would be that if you have had a growth spurt it could disrupt things for a while. Another would be that you are pushing too hard and creating excess tension instead of just allowing your natural turning ability to work. Sometimes we can even "overthink" things, and cause something that did work to stop working.

 

While pirouettes are certainly important in ballet, sometimes I think young dancers tend to focus so much on them that they make them THE most important thing, and when one pirouette goes off that day is ruined. The negativity that one allows to start with that one bad pirouette grows into more negative energy than positive energy going into all of your work. This creates major tension, which then just makes everything worse. Sometimes you just have to let go of something and realize that it's just not quite there today, or, at this moment, and focus on other things. Stay positive, know that you CAN turn, and that if they have been there, then they will come back. Don't ALLOW one thing to take on the kind of importance that can upset you and make you angry and disrupt your joy in your dancing!