Single Pirouettes. Help?

[Ginger.x]

I'm new to ballet and have only been doing it for 4 months. I'm 15. I've got no intentions of being a professional, I just love dancing and do 6 classes a week of different types of dance including 2 of ballet.

 

All the posts about pirouettes I've found on here have been about doing doubles or more, but I still have trouble with my singles, I just can't seem to finish them properly or stay balanced.

 

I don't think my teacher has noticed the problem as there are people worse off than me and I'm shy so nearly always stand at the back.

 

I just wondered if anyone had any tips.

[Mel Johnson]

Hi, Ginger, and welcome to Ballet Talk for Dancers!

 

You don't have to be career-bound to post here, just serious about your dancing, and you sound like it. If you're in grade 5 RAD, you're playing catchup, as your classmates have been doing pirouette exercises for quite awhile now. All you have to remember is that a pirouette is a balance that turns. You don't need a great deal of force to do it, just enough to turn. You're not trying to KILL something, after all! Whether from fourth position or fifth, try a preparation and take a retiré balance, then come down. If you can balance on one foot without wiggling, you've got the basics for a pirouette.

 

Try doing pirouettes by quarter-turns. Prepare - quarter turn - finish, and so on around in a full circle. Then try them by half-turns. That's the way your classmates were trained.

 

Remember, it takes time, and you're really quite new to the mission. Patience is a real virtue in ballet.

[Ginger.x]

Thanks for the tips

 

I had a try and it feels better already. I hope my teachers impressed at the start of the new term. Fingers crossed. I just felt very behind with the pirouettes but I try my best

 

Thanks again.