The Science Behind Multiple Pirouettes: Why Holding a Rigid Body Isn't Working

Have you ever wondered why some dancers can effortlessly spin through multiple pirouettes while others struggle to get past a double? The answer might surprise you—and it challenges one of the most common pieces of advice given in dance studios everywhere.

As a physical therapist specializing in dance, I frequently work with dancers frustrated by their pirouette limitations. They've been told to "find your balance and hold it," yet they consistently fall out of turns after two or three rotations. Research in dance biomechanics reveals why this traditional teaching method may actually be working against dancers—and what we should be teaching instead.

The Physics Problem with "Rigid Body" Pirouettes

A study by physicists Dr. Melanie Lott, MS, PhD and Dr. Kenneth Laws, PhD examined exactly what happens when dancers attempt to hold their bodies rigidly during pirouettes¹. Their findings are eye-opening: to perform more than a triple pirouette while holding the body completely rigid, a dancer must begin less than one degree from perfect vertical balance.

Let me put that in perspective for you. The authors point out that for a typical 5'2" dancer, being "one degree off" means her head has moved just one-tenth of an inch from perfect alignment. For a 6'3" dancer, it's about one-eighth of an inch. That's an impossibly small margin of error—smaller than the natural sway we experience just standing still.

What the Research Revealed

The initial study analyzed nine intermediate to advanced ballet dancers (average age 16) performing pirouettes. Using video analysis and mathematical modeling, the researchers discovered:

Dancers lost stability and had to "hop" on their supporting foot when they reached an average topple angle of 9.3 degrees from vertical
The average spin rate was 1.7 revolutions per second
Most dancers started their pirouettes 1-4 degrees off perfect vertical
Two-thirds of the dancers toppled as rapidly as (or faster than) predicted using mathematical modeling for completely rigid bodies

This last point is crucial: most dancers are already performing like rigid bodies, which explains why they're hitting that frustrating wall at double or triple pirouettes.

The Game-Changing Follow-Up Study

Seven years later, Dr. Lott conducted a follow-up study that revealed the secret to successful multi-turn pirouettes². This research examined 11 skilled female dancers and made a remarkable discovery: the dancers who completed more revolutions were not starting more balanced—they were actively moving their base of support during the turn.

The study found a strong positive correlation (r = .873, p < 0.001) between the number of revolutions completed and how much the supporting foot moved during each revolution. In other words, the dancers performing 4, 5, or more turns were subtly sliding their supporting foot to maintain balance, while those limited to 2-3 turns kept their foot more stationary.

The "Sliding Foot" Strategy: A Biomechanical Breakthrough

Here's what makes this discovery so significant: during a pirouette, the foot is already rotating against the floor and can be used as a means to adjust for any topple that begins to happen.

The successful multi-turn dancers in the study showed:

Base of support movement averaging 7.3% of their height per revolution
Strategic decreases in vertical ground reaction force (sometimes dropping to as low as 8% of body weight) that made foot sliding easier to adjust for toppling
Multiple subtle adjustments throughout longer pirouettes rather than one perfect starting position

The Balance Correction Dilemma

Here's where it gets interesting from a movement perspective. In static balance poses—like holding retiré—we teach dancers to stay "strong but slightly relaxed" so they can make subtle corrections. We know that holding completely rigid in a static pose leads to toppling at the slightest perturbation.

Yet somehow, when it comes to pirouettes, the traditional teaching flips this principle. We tell dancers to lock everything in place and hope they start perfectly balanced.

A Better Approach: Dynamic Balance Strategies

The research suggests we should be teaching pirouettes more like we teach static balance—with the ability to make micro-adjustments throughout the turn. This aligns perfectly with what we know about motor control and proprioception.

Three primary mechanisms are available for balance correction during rotation:

Accelerating the center of mass back over the supporting foot (using friction with the floor)
Moving the supporting foot back under the center of mass (the "sliding" strategy)
Strategic "lifting" that temporarily reduces ground reaction force, making foot adjustments easier

During pirouettes, the supporting foot is already in contact with the floor and rotating, making the second and third mechanisms more accessible than in static poses. The key is teaching dancers to make these adjustments subtly enough that they're imperceptible to observers.

Clinical Implications for Dance Training

From a rehabilitation and injury prevention standpoint, this research supports several important shifts in how we approach pirouette training:

1. Reframe "Perfect Technique"

The idea that a "perfect" pirouette involves no foot movement is biomechanically unrealistic for multi-turn attempts. Instead, we should teach controlled, subtle base of support adjustments as an advanced skill.

2. Proprioceptive Training Over Rigid Positioning

Instead of drilling "hold it still," focus on developing the dancer's ability to sense and correct small imbalances quickly. This includes exercises that challenge proprioception while rotating and teach dancers to feel when and how to make subtle adjustments.

3. Reduce Trial-and-Error Frustration

Understanding the physics helps explain why endless repetition of "rigid body" attempts often leads to overuse injuries without improvement. Dancers aren't failing due to lack of effort—they're fighting against biomechanical reality.

4. Individual Assessment Considerations

The research notes that dancers have significantly faster balance response times than non-dancers (about 0.1 seconds), and that some rely more heavily on visual versus proprioceptive cues. This suggests pirouette training should be individualized based on each dancer's sensory preferences and response patterns.

5. Age and Development Factors

The studies mention that visual input becomes especially important after growth spurts, when proprioceptive accuracy may be temporarily compromised. This has clear implications for how we work with adolescent dancers during periods of rapid growth.

The Bottom Line

The dancers who can consistently perform multiple pirouettes aren't necessarily starting more perfectly balanced—they're making subtle, skilled adjustments throughout their turns, including strategic movement of their supporting foot. This research gives us scientific backing for what many experienced dancers intuitively know: successful turning is about responsive adaptation, not rigid perfection.

As we continue to bridge the gap between traditional dance pedagogy and modern movement science, studies like these help us teach more effectively and reduce the frustration and potential injury that comes from fighting against our body's natural biomechanics.

The next time you're working on pirouettes, remember: your body is designed to balance dynamically. Trust it to do what it does best—adapt, adjust, and find stability through movement, not in spite of it. And yes, that might include letting your supporting foot make subtle adjustments to keep you spinning beautifully.

These studies did not look at pirouettes on pointe...that would be another interesting thing to consider and see what adjustments are made when doing multiple pirouettes on pointe.

References:

Lott, M.B. & Laws, K.L. (2012). The Physics of Toppling and Regaining Balance during a Pirouette. Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, 16(4), 167-174.
Lott, M.B. (2019). Translating the Base of Support: A Mechanism for Balance Maintenance During Rotations in Dance. Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, 23(1), 17-25.