How To Improve Turns in Second: Our Top Tips To Help You Achieve Your Turning Dreams 

Turns in second are a rotational movement, where the dancer turns on their supporting leg while keeping their second leg extended at the side of the body in second position. 

This dance move has surged in popularity in recent years, quickly becoming a standout feature in routines across ballet, jazz and contemporary dance. Despite their popularity, dancers often misjudge the technique required to perform them well. Whether you’re a complete beginner mastering your first turn, or a seasoned dancer hoping to increase your number of rotations, we’ve accumulated our top tips to help you achieve these goals:

Perfect turns start with strong preparation

Preparation is commonly overlooked, with dancers often prioritising the turn itself, but without strong preparation, even the most advanced dancers would struggle to execute a good turn. 

You want to consider your preparation position to be the foundation of your turn. In your plié  , ensure your weight is placed over the supporting leg, your hips and shoulders square and your core is engaged. Imbalances at the start of your turn, only amplify as you rotate. 

Preparing your dance wardrobe can be just as important, allowing you to feel comfortable and confident when tackling this tricky move! Whether you prefer to turn in ballet shoes or turning shoes wearing well-fitting dancewear helps you feel prepared for every dance class. 

Engage your core

Once you have secured solid preparation, your core then becomes the anchor of the turn. 

Many dancers confuse engaging their core with sucking in their stomach, or worse, holding their breath! Instead, you want to draw your navel towards your spine, keeping your ribcage closed and think about activating your abdominal muscles. This creates stability and strength in your turn.

Building core strength is very important. Conditioning classes, pilates , barre or simply practising core exercises such as planks, can really take your technique to the next level!

Strengthen your supporting leg 

The supporting leg does the majority of the work when turning in second, providing stability and control. 

Wobbling, travelling and struggling to stay lifted while turning might mean your supporting leg lacks strength. Don’t panic, though. There are many exercises you can try to help build strength;

• Balances: try balancing on your supporting leg for 10-15 seconds
• Relevés: Then try balancing on your supporting leg on relevé for 10-15 seconds
• Lunges: add lunges into your strengthening exercises to build glute, quads and calf strength 

Maintain a strong second position

Maintaining a well-placed working leg throughout the turn ensures balance and creates the picture-perfect position that all dancers desire. 

A common mistake that dancers make is dropping the leg in second and losing turnout. To avoid this, you want to engage your inner thigh and glute muscles, thinking about turning out and lengthening through your working leg. 

Focus on spotting 

Spotting is a crucial element of turns in second, supporting a dancer's balance and direction throughout each rotation, not to mention reducing the dizziness that comes with achieving multiple turns. 

You want your eyes to focus on a fixed point ‘spot’ in front of you. As you rotate, your head should be the last thing to leave the front and the first thing to return, focusing on your ‘spot’ throughout. 

Once you have practiced these steps, you should be ready to start turning, remember practice makes perfect.

 We hope our top tips help you in your turning journey- happy turning!