pirouettes

[balletboy101]

I recently made what i thought was a break through in terms of turning(5-6), but am having trouble. First off I am having some trouble maintaining the consistancy of the turns after 3, and also i can not seem to turn right at all. Honestly 2 turns at most as apposed to the 5 or 6 on the left. Does anyone have an awnser to what might help to fix this. Thanks

[Hans]

You may be spotting differently to each side. As you plié in preparation for your pirouettes to the right, be sure that you keep your eyes focused in exactly the same spot as you go into the turn--that is, make sure you don't change your spot just as you start the pirouette.

[balletboy101]

thank you Hans, that really seems to help.

[Bobbertt101]

I was told that I need to get up to 6 turns by the end of the month to stay at the Release Time program at my school and I was wondering what I can fix to do it...My teacher says that I slouch in my turns adnd I was taught balanchine so my port de bras is screwed up ...as well as my hands. So I was wondering what I could do to fix my posture mostly in my turns...are there any excersises? anything would be great!

[Hans]

One easy image is that of growing upward as you turn. Try imagining your spine as a drill, not going down into the floor but rather up through the ceiling. Of course, at the same time you must pull your shoulder blades strongly down.

[citibob]

This is a bit off topic, but I find quantitative performance benchmarks like "six pirouettes our else you're out" to be disturbing.

[Bobbertt101]

Not to say anything bad about my teacher because he is an amazing teacher but I agree!

 

Hans I think you taught me last year

 

 

Well thank you for all of the help I will try to do what you say

Edited September 22, 2007 by Bobbertt101

[Bobbertt101]

that wasnt supposed to mean that Hans gave me that habit...he was one of the people that was trying to help me stop it! Sorry if that was slander...I didnt mean it to sound that way... Hans if anyone would not have taught me not to do that...he taught me to hold myself up and taught it to me one of the best ways I have ever heard! He made it much more simple than most of my other teachers have said...once again I would like to apologize if that sounded rude

 

 

I never went SAB over summer its just taht Ive been taught balanchine my whole life...I have solved my problem tho...i have worked at it very hard and apparently it was really a problem with my strenght instead of my arms...

 

I know that this is off topic but r u coming to teach this year ever again Hans? your classes were always so fun...really great combinations and the variation that we did was fun as well...we never really got to finish it...

Edited September 22, 2007 by Bobbertt101

[Hans]

Please don't worry, you were not rude at all! In fact I am thrilled that you enjoyed my class so much. I would love to teach at WSB again and will let you know if I have the opportunity to do so in the future.

[Bobbertt101]

That would be great! Thank you for understanding!

[Metaldancer]

Hi

 

I bought a copy of an instructional DVD called The Male Ballet Dancer by Finis Jhung. In it, he coaches Joseph Gatti in the Black Swan solo and the Corsaire solo. The demonstrations are truly amazing, but what was really different, was his teaching of pirouettes.

 

He talks about pushing the pirouette down into the floor as opposed to pulling up in the pirouette. He says that as long as you turn down into the floor, you will finish on balance(!?) And seeing how Joseph Gatti always finishes 5 or 6 pirouettes on balance, I can't really argue!

 

In it, he says "I never use the command: 'pull up' because there is nothing to pull up. You can only push down"

 

Has anyone else seen this DVD?

[Mel Johnson]

Haven't seen the video, but it depends on the student what commands to give. In this case, we deal with a terribly advanced student, (This must have been made a few years ago, Gatti is a professional dancing at Principal level) Some students will collapse the pectoral girdle when essaying pirouettes. These are the ones who need the "pull up" command. At the same time a teacher issues a "pull up" command, it is, I believe, important to tie in that "push down" command. "You can't go up if you have no push down!"

[davidg]

Length is one of ballet's principles. In pirouette, you need to make yourself as long as possible from the tip of your toes to the top of your head. That involves (among other things) "pulling up" at the top and "pushing down" at the bottom.

[Chronus24]

From the musculature perspective, "pull up" refers to the appearance of correct and active alignment of the pelvis and torso (and essentially everything else, but that's where it begins). The problem comes when this directive is given, but the student isn't sure what exactly to "pull up" on since we all know things like shoulders and ribs should stay down. Generally speaking, you want to feel an opposition between the muscles of the mid-to-upper back & abs lifting in and up towards the spine (this is the usual "puppet on a string" analogy) while the lower back & ab muscles lengthen in and DOWN to the floor. This opposition of the two muscle groups lengthens (but maintains) the natural and cushioning curves of the spine, aligns everything from the pelvis, the chest and shoulders, and head, grants a very solid and stable "center" to work from, AND gives you that "pulled up" look, even though half of you is pulling down.

 

One last thing I find humorous with all this "pulling up" is that the muscles of the lumbar and sacral spine (lower back) are not able to "pull up" in any way, only down...yay anatomy, haha...

[tantalus]

Does it help to video tape yourself doing pirouettes?