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Are there some people who just can’t do ballet pirouettes?


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Angel I agree, but no one seems willing or available or capable of helping. 

 

She has asked & asked teachers for help but only ever gets general advice/corrections with no one actually looking at her & analysing the issues. 

 

She feels confident in jazz, but ballet isn’t working. 

 

Its doubles & triples that are the problem. 

Edited by Picturesinthefirelight
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22 minutes ago, Picturesinthefirelight said:

Angel I agree, but no one seems willing or available or capable of helping. 

 

She has asked & asked teachers for help but only ever gets general advice/corrections with no one actually looking at her & analysing the issues. 

 

She feels confident in jazz, but ballet isn’t working. 

 

Its doubles & triples that are the problem. 

Pictures I would highly recommend getting in touch with Rosina Andrews and asking for workshop info or 1:1. Yeah she mainly does jazz but is fab at breaking down the mechanics of the movement. She has books out too. 

My dd found a wobble board helped with core strength and foot strength - legs in ballet prep pirouette position and a turn board helped with spotting and control of arms to help stability. 

 

https://www.rosinaandrews.co.uk/pirouettesurgery

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She has done one of Rosina’s workshops we travelled to London & back on Easter Monday. It helped with jazz ones. She’s been trying to get to one for ages but most of them clashed with school. 

 

Unfortunately we can’t affird the hundreds of pounds train fayre, possible overnight hotel, studio hire & fee it would take to bring her up here for a private & the only 1:1 availability is down south on weekday evenings which would mean taking Dd out of school during GCSE’s.  

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2 minutes ago, Picturesinthefirelight said:

She has done one of Rosina’s workshops we travelled to London & back on Easter Monday. It helped with jazz ones  

 

Unfortunately we can’t affird the hundreds of pounds train dates, studio hire & fee it would take to bring her here for a private & the only 1:1 availability is down south on weekday evenings which would mean taking Dd out of school during GCSE’s.  

Where are you based? 

 

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Just now, Picturesinthefirelight said:

Cheshire

If you contact Rosina via email she will let you know of any open workshops up in this area - you could ask if possible to do a quick 15 minute surgery with her after session ( she does these at move it for £5 for 5 minutes I think) 

Dd did one in Halifax last summer. 

 

Or they have launched a new set of training courses - theres one in Preston towards end of the year maybe you could tag a quick private onto that? 

 

I m sorry my knowledge of dance is fairly limited. If its ballet ones your Dd struggles with but can do jazz ones I d think maybe due to needing to strengthen muscles in turnout???  Other than that the tip my dd uses is balance foam yoga block on ledge of raised leg ( whilst strengthening for tge position not whilst turning) and holding on to one with arms - also tells herself shes going to do one more - so says to herself I m going to do a quad and more often than not can secure a triple using this. 

 

Sorry not much help. I thought might be balance/inner ear issue but I m guessing if can do jazz ones then that's not the case.

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We’ve had lengthy correspondence over the past year but there have been no open workshops or opportunities for privates apart from going to London or the studio she works from. She did offer to visit specially if I covered her minimum fee & travel expenses but due to commitments there are only set days/times she can come. 

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I believe that EVERYONE should be able to do a ballet pirouette with the right teaching. There are lots of fantastic teachers out there who aren't quite so prolific in their commercialism and social media presence! Having studied with several teachers who 'claim' to be experts in pirouettes, I was surprised to see that I use a lot of the tips and tricks with my own students, including those at MIDAS (and have done for many years). I'm not saying don't go to those workshops, but you might be better off spending the same amount of money on a private lesson with a less famous, but equally expert teacher (such as a teacher at DD's school if that's possible).

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8 minutes ago, drdance said:

I believe that EVERYONE should be able to do a ballet pirouette with the right teaching. There are lots of fantastic teachers out there who aren't quite so prolific in their commercialism and social media presence! Having studied with several teachers who 'claim' to be experts in pirouettes, I was surprised to see that I use a lot of the tips and tricks with my own students, including those at MIDAS (and have done for many years). I'm not saying don't go to those workshops, but you might be better off spending the same amount of money on a private lesson with a less famous, but equally expert teacher (such as a teacher at DD's school if that's possible).

I think op had mentioned had asked about this but not able to find anyone. I certainly dont fall for the commercialism of alot of the dance world but credit where credit is due Rosina has helped my dd in her technique. 

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Yes, we knew there was an issue back in Year 8 and it has taken until now and no-one has been able to sort it.  She did have some help from Olivia Pickford in Birmingham but she has a lot of other commitments these days and both her and studio availability is an issue.  Booking the workshop with Rosina was a last resort.  Believe me getting a train at 6am to London on Easter Monday and returning the same day was not something we did lightly!  In holidays dd attends open classes with a teacher that sometimes teaches for MIDAS but they are run as open adult style classes where personal corrections are not the norm.  Dd has enquired with him about private lessons but they have to be booked in blocks of so many weeks and she is at school during those times (possibly to do with the way the leisure centre system works).

 

Private lessons at her school are not allowed.

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How about a lesson with Nicky Henshall? She runs privates occasionally around SYB classes and sometimes does a full day of them. She’s been great when my dd had them in the past and will spend the time focusing on a particular issue or goal if you like. Local too so definitely worth a try xx 

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We enquired with her a while back (before she went into AIP) & had a provisional date during one half term but it was cancelled.  Dd won''t attend her classes now even when they co-incide with weekends off etc due to feeling embarassed and of course this year GCSE study has had to take priority on Sundays.

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Has your daughter looked at any of Katherine Morgan's videos on You Tube? I recently watched one of hers which was specifically about multiple pirouettes. She said it really helps if you count them backwards. For example, if you want to do three, say to yourself, "three, two, one". She said psychologically this is much easier than starting off at number one and then striving to get round another two times. I know what she means and it makes sense to me, so it will probably make sense to your daughter too. She might have developed a bit of a mental block about them, so needs to approach them with a different mindset.

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Claudia Dean also has multiple youtube videos on pirouettes which might have some new tips.

 

While some youtube clips may provide a bit of help, it sounds like what your DD needs is someone watching her, analysing the mechanics of her turns and figuring out why they fall apart. Does her weight fall backwards? Does she not use her spot? Does she spot too hard which throws her off? Is her hip sitting in the wrong spot in a turned out retire? Is her foot or knee collapsing during the second turn? Are her arms drifting to the side and down, rather than staying lifted, long and supported from the back? There's a lot of things that can go wrong in pirouettes (and these all seem to go wrong in mine at the same time!) but I generally believe that, with the right corrections, anyone can get consistent doubles and fairly regular triples if they are strong in their ballet otherwise. More than a triple may have to stay a freak occurrence, but when will someone need more than a triple anyway?

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What shoes does your DD wear?  It is very hard to do multiple pirouettes in soft blocks as the stiff sole stops the dancer from getting onto a proper demi pointe and thus throws the weight back.  Most vocational dancers worldwide wear similar shoes to the dancer in the clip above.  

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I think that pirouette technique is very subjective, there really isn't a one fits all solution. Sometimes the more you analyse the worse it is. (Pull up/press down, arms like this, arms like that etc...) Maybe she needs to just try turning without any 'technical' stress' and see how it goes. Obviously weight over the supporting leg on preparation, secure arms and back, a good passe position and a relaxed neck so that she can spot well will help. Have you looked at any Finis Jhung videos ? X

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