“Wouldn’t it be better if we all did a triple?” asks Anna in the film Center Stage, despite her teacher having just insisted on a double pirouette. Anna’s quotable sassiness aside, it’s a perennial debate: Is more always more, in terms of turns?
Behind every dancer who sails through multiple turns is someone who’s also experienced the frustration of a pirouette not coming together. Some days the balance, momentum, and timing fall into place; other days even a single clean rotation feels like a struggle. For insight into building the strength and confidence to achieve more rotations in each turn, Dance Magazine consulted a rehearsal director, a physical therapist, and a dancer for their advice and insight.
Going Full Circle
Dancers often reach a point where they can reliably do a certain number of rotations (although that number varies from person to person). “Many dancers have a sweet spot for the number of turns they know they can consistently hit,” says Patti Cavaleri, DPT, a physical therapist at NYU Langone Health’s Harkness Center for Dance Injuries, “but that number isn’t set in stone.”
Jonathan Alsberry, senior rehearsal director and director of summer intensives at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, says that turning is “an ever-evolving, ever-flowing practice” that grows with the progression of a dancer’s technique. “It can also change depending on the dancer’s artistry,” he adds. “It’s always exciting when dancers surprise themselves with more control.”
Most students reach at least one point when their ability to turn stops improving. Understanding that this is most likely a temporary plateau can make it easier to continue to work through it. “Eight turns is my ‘norm,’ but I didn’t magically start out that way,” says Arcadian Broad, a dancer and choreographer who appeared in the series “Étoile” and in Los Angeles Opera’s West Side Story. “For a long time, I was stuck at six. Even after you fine-tune the details, you have to keep striving to push your body’s limit—in a healthy capacity.”
Arcadian Broad in
Romeo & Juliet. Photo by Michael Cairns, Courtesy Broad.
Turning Heads
When is the right time to push for additional turns? Certain foundations of strength, timing, and technique need to be in place. “In a properly executed pirouette, you see a definite beginning, middle, and end,” says Broad. Alsberry recommends focusing on the end of the pirouette as a marker of readiness: If a dancer can complete a turn on balance, they’re ready to add more.
Finding the center of balance is crucial. “Balancing should be active—it’s not stagnant,” says Alsberry. He asks his students to consider timing: “How quickly can you arrive into the form of the pirouette? It should be immediate.”
Foot and ankle strength also play an important role. “Strong, high relevés, achieved by ankle stabilization and calf strengthening, will create a foundation for successful pirouettes,” says Broad, who also emphasizes the importance of “powerful, supporting glutes as the base.” As a student, he inserted relevés into his daily routines as a way to build strength. “I would relevé at any moment…brushing my teeth, eating cereal, even during homework.”
When trying to add rotations to turns, Alsberry recommends dancers home in on head spotting. “Release tension from your neck and shoulders and zero in on your focus,” he says. Alsberry asks his students to use their eyes with intention: “Be sure when you’re spotting you’re not just looking in a direction, but you’re actually seeing your spot.”
Sparking a Revolution
Self-confidence and a positive mindset can play important roles in turning. “When we’re scared of something, we tend to tense our muscles more and can’t always move efficiently,” says Cavaleri, noting that this can make it harder to achieve the necessary spring to full relevé. She advises dancers struggling with turns to consider taking a break and shaking off the negative thoughts. Even changing the environment can be helpful: “Try putting on different music, find a different space in the studio, or visualize performing the perfect turn with confidence,” says Cavaleri.
Broad encourages dancers dealing with fear or anxiety to focus on the process: “Practice makes progress, not perfection.” He says the studio is the place to fall and make mistakes. “If you find yourself on the floor after a pirouette,” he says, “get back up and keep practicing!”
As a student, Broad learned to break big goals into manageable steps. “Take the large feat of doing more turns and simplify it to an attainable goal,” he says. He would tell himself, “ ‘It’s just a double’—which I know I can do—‘and one more head spot.’ Then, boom, you’ve got a triple!” Encouragement from a teacher also stuck with him: “When you prepare for pirouettes, just believe you can do it and you’ll do it.” After endless hours in the studio, he says, dancers come to realize there’s “an endless repetition of technical exercises. At some point you simply have to believe in yourself.” For Broad, that belief is part of the journey: “Believe that the hard work you’ve put in will get you through the pirouette. Better yet, thrive in it!”
Exercises for Turning, From Patti Cavaleri, DPT
Holding relevé in a retiré balance: “Work to stay on balance for a few seconds longer than the turn you’re working on, to make sure you have the endurance to hold yourself up.”
Springing up: “Practice the spring from your preparation position to the turning position without the turn, to find your balancing point. To make the spring up harder, have a TheraBand wrapped about the pelvis pulling you backwards, and resist it as you shift your weight up and forwards.”
Pallof presses: “This is a great anti-rotation exercise to help build core strength and keep the torso stacked over the pelvis. Pallof presses help simulate the control needed to keep the torso stacked without having to turn.”
Patti Cavaleri. Courtesy NYU Langone Health.
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