How to Learn Turns in Advanced Ballet

Ballet dancers are craftspeople of a difficult art form. Movements, like the turn, are graceful and impressive. It takes years of training to perfect the graceful movements all great ballet dancers possess. Whether you dance ballet as a hobby or are an aspiring professional, you can learn to perform chaine turns in advanced ballet like the experts if you keep practicing the steps below.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Find a good location to dance. The surface needs to be flat. Wood is a good choice since it allows your feet to slide.

2. Complete warm-up ballet exercises before you begin practicing turns in advanced ballet.

3. Practice a spot exercise to get the proper form for a chaine turn. Begin by looking at one spot on the wall. Then turn your body until you can't keep your head there anymore, and then turn your back to find that one spot again. Keep doing that until you get faster and more comfortable with the turn.

4. Think of yourself as standing in your own personal box. This imaginary box has high straight sides which you use to help with your poses and movements.

5. Take small little steps on your toes while keeping your feet in first position. Do this from one end of the room to the other to prepare yourself to do the chaine turn. Return to the spot you started.

6. Stay in the first position releve pose and make perfectly equal half turns from one end of the room to the other.

7. Open and close your arms while you're making the half turns.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear proper ballet attire when you do turns in advanced ballet. Proper attire makes it easier and more comfortable to move around.
• Be sure to have water handy to keep yourself properly hydrated.
• Don't be frustrated if genetics haven't endowed you with a dancer's body. Not everyone has the body type to be a great professional ballet dancer. You can still benefit from the physical and mental benefits gained by practicing ballet and perfecting the turn in advanced ballet.