In our “Dear Katie” series, Miami City Ballet soloist Kathryn Morgan answers your pressing dance questions. Have something you want to ask Katie? Email [email protected] for a chance to be featured! Dear Katie, I’m a pretty good turner, except for one thing: Whenever I pirouette en dehors, I turn in my front foot just before […]
Even for natural turners, pirouettes from fifth can be a challenge. You need to take off from a small crossed position and stay straight over your supporting leg, from start to finish. “It’s the hardest place to turn from, because you can’t access your plié as much as you can from fourth,” says Jennie Somogyi, […]
You know that pirouette dream, when your placement is so perfect you can keep turning forever? That dream is the reality for highly technical tappers, who benefit from the decreased friction of their shoes. Get the placement right and, with a strong spot, they can pirouette for days. But turning in tap shoes isn’t all […]
This contest has ended. It’s time to get your pirouette on! From September 5th to September 30th, we’re hosting a contest to find out who’s the best turner of them all. Put together your most impressive turning combo. Post a video online. Share your turns with us and thousands of other dancers around the world. […]
There’s something mesmerizing about watching an amazing turner go around and around and around… Only a lucky few can turn like a top and part of the allure of watching them is knowing that, despite having the same training as the rest of us, they just seem to have a magical gift. Case in point: […]
Christine Winkler mid-pirouette in Darrell Grand Moultrie’s Boiling Point (by C. McCullers) Ah, pirouettes. They’re delicate little operations. Nothing beats the rush of finishing a set of solid multiples, but even the smallest mistake can keep you from nailing that triple. With many variables to think about—placement! timing! spotting!—it’s easy to feel frustrated when you’re […]