We’ve all seen dancers execute multiple turns with apparent ease and wondered how they achieve such feats so effortlessly.
Of course the reality is that this skill is the result of years of training, excellent technique and practice, practice and more practice.
But what if there was a device that could help all dancers achieve the same outcome?
From time to time different training aids and products hit the market designed to give dancers an advantage. More recently a training aid called a Turn Board has been creating a buzz around the dance world and is now for sale on-line in Australia.
Dancers may have seen this particular turning aid featured in the dance movie First Position. The advertisers claim that the Turn Board helps dancers to “master” their pirouettes, improve confidence in turning and fine-tune their spotting, balance and posture.
But does an octuple turn on a Turn Board really translate into the same without the Board? A number of teachers and physiotherapists are not convinced.
A Turn Board is a slim rectangular board about 27cm in length. It works on the principle of reducing friction between the foot and the floor. This results in very little resistance from the floor, allowing the dancer to spin fast.
The feedback from students is mixed. Some claim that the board has helped them to improve their spotting and allowed them familiarise their bodies with the sensation of multiple turns. They also say it teaches the effect that small adjustments to body placement have on the momentum of a turn.
Sophie Mayo, a full time student at Academy Ballet in Sydney, says that the board has “helped me to feel more confident with my pirouettes and enjoy the turning feeling”.
The effectiveness of the Turn Board needs to be considered from the context of different dance styles. In classical ballet, a turn is performed with a releve to either demi or full point. The Turn Board, however, has to be used with a flat foot, and has the potential to create problems with technique.
Sinead Vidler, the director of Academy Ballet in Sydney (and Sophie’s teacher), has a number of students who have used the Turn Board and she has noticed its impact on their technique. “Increasingly I’m seeing students spinning on a low demi pointe rather than pulling up and turning on a high demi pointe as required,” she says.
Melanie Fuller is a physiotherapist with Pondera Physio and Pilates in Brisbane. She also points out the difference between turning on a flat foot to turning on a demi or full point. When using the board, “the foot is not in the same position and the weight distribution is different than for pirouettes in ballet, so I question the specificity of training and how that would cross over to help a pirouette.”
The physicality of a turn, with an adjusted centre of gravity when on flat to demi or full point, is very different with and without the board. For beginners who are just learning the technique it is likely that the Turn Board would complicate matters. It could make learning pirouettes harder or encourage bad habits.
Vidler has observed that using the board “often turns into a bit of a game” for students, and technique is forgotten. Additionally, she has noticed that it is very difficult for students to maintain a turned out position while using the board. She says, “I don’t have any students, even older and stronger students, who can really sustain turn out of their supporting leg” while on the board.
For other classical ballet teachers, use of the Turn Board is definitely off limits. Janine McGrath, the director of Brisbane City Youth Ballet and Classical Coaching Australia who trains elite female ballet students, says she would not use the Turning Boards in her classes.
She says there is too much focus now on tricks and poorly placed turns. “I don’t see the point in female dancers doing any more than a perfect triple pirouette, beautifully placed and totally in control”.
Do the same concerns about the boards transfer to their use in jazz, tap or contemporary? It stands to reason that when you remove the issue of turn out and demi or full pointe that this training aid seems much more suitable. Yet there is still debate whether they are any help.
Jackie Scott, the director of Jason Coleman’s Ministry of Dance, teaches across the genres of contemporary, hip hop and ballet. She does not recommend the use of a Turn Board in any of her classes, believing that they “encourage unrealistic expectations and promote poor technique”.
Scott believes that dancers’ use of their core is very different with and without the device: “Completely different muscles are used and engaged so when it comes to a turn without the board, it is completely different”. She does not believe that a “gadget” that cannot replicate the technique required “is a good idea in any way”.
In conclusion, while there are some advantages to using this device, turning with the board is very different to turning without one. It is no magical, miracle turning solution and does not replace sheer effort, hard work, practice and a strong technique.
Rotating Disks are Different
Turn Boards are different to Rotating Disks (pictured), which are circular disks about 27cm in diameter. These disks are often used as an aid to help students to enhance and control their turn out. Rotating disks should be used under supervision as a therapeutic tool, advises physiotherapist Jill Allen.
The disks can be used as a pair, and are useful in assisting dancers to engage their external rotators in their hips rather than gluteal muscles: “A lot of young dancers use the floor to force more turn out, some of which comes from the knees and feet, which can strain knee ligaments and cause the feet to pronate.”
Spin doctor
For those who wish to give the Turn Board a trial, there are a number of issues to be aware of:
- Gently does it – these boards spin very fast and very little power is required, which can be a little scary. Start using the Turn Board while at the barre, with control, to avoid a fall or injury.
- Start with the raised foot in coupe position or close to the floor rather than retire or any other higher position.
- Balance the use of the board with releve and turn out exercises.
- Watch out for a sore neck. Physiotherapist Melanie Fuller warns of neck injuries resulting from spotting, “given that multiple turns are attainable on this device”.
- Learn foundation pirouette technique first.
- If using a Turn Board at home – watch out for the hardwood floors – they’re unforgiving!
This article was first published in the August-September issue of Dance Australia magazine.