Are you struggling to get your dancers to turn consistently? Are they falling, dropping heels and prepping incorrectly?
I found that most of my dancers thought a double or triple meant they needed to bring their shoulders as close to their ears and “spin” or do turns as fast as possible. Only to find themselves three feet to the right and on the floor.
I recently discovered three exercises that when done between turn sets increased my client’s turn success rate. They were staying high in relevé, staying in one place and turning like a top!
If you have the time, try some of my favorite turn warm ups before you stretch and then toss these three in between turn combos if you feel your dancers need extra help!
Ps. Before you jump into any exercises, I encourage you to have your dancers EXHALE on their rotation. This usually relaxes the upper body, drops the shoulders and allows the rotation to happen without resistance.
Tick Tock Arms work to press your dancer’s shoulders down their back leaving their upper body supported and locked in place. Swing arms slowly 20 times.
Lunge to Passé You can do this on the floor and challenge your dancers to come into relevé. This helps them stack their body over their hips before trying to take off and turn. The stability and ankle strength you see will blow your mind! 10 each side.
Figure 8 Legs allows your dancers to practice engaging their core and keeping their rib cage down while chaos ensues below. Just make sure you remind them to pull their belly and rib cage in.
10 dips to each side.
