Fouettés, yes, Virginia, there is a right way.

I know, I know, different syllabi teach fouettés different ways, but you know me, I think I'm right and some people are wrong.

I believe ballet is about beauty. One of these blogs is about that. I believe steps should  be done in the most beautiful way possible. For fouettés, and grande pirouettes, you should present the most beautiful position to the audience. For me, that's on pointe, or relevé, leg and arms a la seconde. That's a beautiful position. Stretched. Lifted. Feet pointed.

I love Russian training and style, but the traditional Russian fouetté, taking the leg directly to second in plié, en face, just isn't pretty to me. I teach spot-plié-relevé, where as soon as your spot comes around, you start to open the leg in front of you- to the corner- you open the trailing arm into second, then you swing the leg and leading arm to second as you relevé. (I'm assuming you're doing your fouettés en face. If you do them in any other direction, the process is still the same). Then you just bring your arms into first as the leg comes into retiré. This is the prettiest, to me.

It's also the most efficient. If you're on relevé in second, your movement into the pirouette position is simpler than if you have to relevé and bring your arms into first and bring the leg into retiré. Viengsay Valdez, the brilliant Cuban ballerina, has the most perfect fouetté technique I've seen. It's clean, efficient, seemingly effortless, but also powerful, athletic and beautiful.

Sure, I tell my students that they have to find the way that works for them and, if they're doing solid fouettés different than I like, I'm not going to change them. If what they're doing isn't working, however, I'll teach them my way.

Because it's beautiful.

See you in class.

En Dedans Pirouettes

You should be able to do as many en dedans pirouettes as en dehors pirouettes, if you're doing them correctly.

Oh, I hear the cries of protest, now! Let's dive right in, shall we?

When do dancers usually do the most en dehors pirouettes? When they're pulling in from fouettés or turns in second. Why? Because they're using the force from the leg swinging around to launch themselves into their turns. In partnering, when the woman swings her leg through second, as in finger pirouettes or whip turns, you can get a whole lot of pirouettes without that paddling that I hate (I'll get to that in another post, if I haven't already).

One of your legs is a fifth of your body weight. In grande allegro jumping, throwing the leg is a big part of the movement. In turning, it is also.

There are a number of ways to do en dedans pirouettes, including one that Mr. Joffrey taught that pretty much nobody does anymore. The two most common ways are taking the raised leg directly into retiré, and taking it through second position, in a fouetté movement. You will get much more force by doing the fouetté. (I'm assuming you know that you must have more balance than force).

Now, fouetté, whipping the leg, is a circular movement in this instance. So, why do so many teachers teach brushing the leg through first to start an en dedans pirouette? If you are in your typical lunge position to start your turn, and you brush your leg through first, you are performing a linear movement. You are throwing your energy to the side in a straight line, then trying to translate that into a circular movement. It's not impossible, but it will never generate enough force to give you a lot of turns.

I was taught the best way to do en dedans pirouettes by the great Luis Fuente. He regularly did nine in the ballet "Fanfarita"... with castanets! From his deep lunge preparation, he took his leg through a true, circular fouetté, doing a round de jamb to take the leg to second. Staying in plié until the leg got there, he would then bring the leg into retiré as he rose up to relevé, and around he would go!

I was actually told at one school (I'm no longer there) to stop teaching en dedans this way. They wanted me to do the brush through first, even though I could explain and prove that my way was better, AND none of their students could do many en dedans turns their way.

(You must also maintain the turnout of your standing leg throughout the turn. Every en dedans turn, in whatever position, is an en dedans promenade, which must be led by the standing leg. If you are constantly turning out your leg, leading with that heel, you will continue to turn because you will be over your standing leg. If you let that leg turn in, your weight drops back and you're done.)

Now, if you have to adhere to a specific syllabus for exams or certification, okay, do it their way when you have to, but if you actually want to do it well and get more than two turns...

See you in class.