How To Get Good At Turns

Ballet dancers, the success of your performances can be attributed to good technique. Mastering turns are essential for mastering classical ballet - a key component in any dance routine!

Here are different ways to help improve your turnout:

1. Improving Your Body Strength

Repetition everyday helps improve so many techniques. The more you practice, have you noticed sometimes you reached a plateau? You aren’t getting worse, but you feel frustrated you haven’t improved.

Your body can only do as much as it can support. To truly own your turns, you need to hone in on more than just spinning. From strengthening your upper body to developing greater control and balance. Not only is good balance part of what makes a turn, look effortless and smooth, but your body needs the strength and endurance to support your body through a turn.

Here are some blogs that we've made that can help strengthen your body for your turns: How to Improve Your Balance and Stability For Dance, How to Protect and Strengthen Your Ankles, and How Dancers Can Benefit From Yoga. There aren't limited to other muscle groups, you'll want to strengthen to improve your turnouts. 

2. Find A Spot

Doing turns can be challenging for ballerina. When they first start, some dancers might feel dizzy. To combat this until your body becomes used to it is by pinpointing a specific spot and keeping it in your sight while turning, which will help you stay balanced.

Over time, a dancer's body can adapt to where they won't feel dizzy, ignoring any signals that would make their body feel like they can't stay up straight.

3. Proper Form

It's always a great idea to keep form in mind as you practice. Not only will proper posture help build balance and agility, but it can also prevent injuries! In the long run, correct positioning becomes second nature – making your turns even more effective over time.

Aren’t sure how your form is? While in class, your teacher will be your best eye if you need improvement on your form. Recording yourself can be an invaluable tool in improving technique. Watching a recording of each exercise allows you to ensure that your back is straight, arms are positioned correctly, and any other subtleties which may go unnoticed until viewed from the outside perspective.

4. Turn Board And Spin Disc

Turn boards and spin discs are a great way to improve your turns. It’ll help improve your balance and increase how many turns you can do. These tools are a great way to challenge yourself after you’ve built your foundations with turns.