How to do a Pirouette
We’ve put together a series of four videos to help you get from 0 to 360 degrees in one beautiful turn and learn everything you need to know about how to achieve the perfect pirouette.
Follow along with Alicia as she takes you through all the steps to perfect your pirouettes.
Posture for pirouettes
It might seem trivial but posture is often the most overlooked thing when trying to master a pirouette.
Start with straight legs. Your supporting (turning) leg must be straight and strong. Squeeze your glutes, engage your core, make sure your back is straight with chest open and shoulders down.
Your posture is your balance - the true foundation of a perfect pirouette.
See video 1 in the Technique series for follow along tips.
Retire & Turnout
Bring one foot up to the knee and turn your bent knee out to the side. This turnout should come from your hips. Check out our blog post on how to improve turnout here.
This retire position is the position you will hold during your pirouette. Whether you are turning inwards or outwards.
See video 1 in the Technique series for follow along tips.
Relevés for pirouettes
A relevé is a rise with a ‘pulling up’ movement. Don’t just think about lifting your heel off the floor - that’s not going to drive enough power for your turn. Instead, imagine pulling energy from the floor right up through your body to the top of your head.
Push off your feet, lifting your leg to the relevé position and turn. Grow tall as you relevé and stay strong on this rise as you turn.
See video 2 in the Technique series for follow along tips.
Spotting your head
If you ever took a ballet class as a child, you probably remember fixing your eyes on a spot on the wall and shuffling around in a circle, learning to spot your head. This isn’t just for kids, spotting our head whilst turning helps to maintain our balance and assist our speed. Allowing us to maintain focus and direction.
See video 2 in the Technique series for follow along tips.
The turn
Hold your posture, retire and relevé as you bring your arms to first position (arms in front of stomach, palms facing in) Focus on a point in front of you - and turn. Stay on your rise with your knee turned out and spot your head back to the point on the wall as quickly as you can.
Lower your feet bending your knees into a plie to land your pirouette.
See video 3 & 4 in the Technique series for follow along tips.
Confidence
As with anything, a big dose of confidence will go a long way with a pirouette. Have confidence that you can turn all the way around and go for it!
Once you are on your way, you can practice turning both en dehors (outwards) and en dedans (inwards), as well as trying double pirouettes.
See video 3 & 4 in the Technique series for follow along tips.
Be rubbish and then get better :)
No one is good at pirouettes immediately. They will improve with practice and like everything in ballet, they require repetition and discipline.
If you only get half way, keep trying and remember to pull up more.
if you wobble, check your posture and keep trying.
If you fall, get up, check you haven’t hurt yourself, make a cup of tea… and try again.
Check out our full Learn to Pirouette video series for full step-by-step instruction and to understand the difference between en dehors and en dedans pirouettes.
Alicia is a Ballet Fusion Ltd instructor. Trained by the Royal Ballet School, you can find Alicia teaching our Classic and Basics online classes and instructing in our Devon studios.
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