How to Do a Pirouette

These pictures will help you to understand the correct positions and proper technique required to complete a successful ballet pirouette.

Terms to know:

plie- to bend the knees

tendu- to stretch your leg and foot out form one position to another

ron de jambe- a semi-circular motion where one leg moves in a straight line away from the body

passe - a position or action where one leg comes to the opposite leg's knee creating a triangle shape

Positions to know:

1st Position (the 1st picture above)

4th Position (the 2nd picture above)

To start, stand in first position with rounded arms. Next, tendu either leg out to the side (above I am using my right leg). You can see that my foot is pointed and straight side extending from my hip. In your tendu, open your rounded arms to the side, still maintaining a curved position.

From your tendu, ron de jambe your prefered leg around to the back into a 4th position. Then, set your foot down to the floor and plie the front leg. Make sure you keep weight in both legs, but the majority on the front leg in plie. When in 4th position, curve your opposite arm as leg in front towards you.

Finally, using your plie, push up onto your front leg and bring your back leg into passe. Use the momentum from your arms coming back into the curved shape to rotate your entire body around. Land in the same 4th position with plie to finish your pirouette.