From the Dancer’s Perspective: Pirouette vs. Platter Turn

A while back in a contemporary technique class, a dancer asked how a person can spot in a platter turn.  It’s crucial to spot in a pirouette or a compass turn, but a platter turn has the dancer’s body laid out in a lateral position rather than upright.  So how DO you spot in a platter turn?  The answer is, you don’t!  But then, don’t you get dizzy?  Potentially, yes, but with practice, it becomes less of a problem.

To show what the difference is, from the dancer’s perspective, we strapped a point-of-view camera on PTDT dancer Michele Tobias’ forehead and set her doing pirouettes and platter turns.  See if you can see the difference between the two kinds of turns.

Watch more from our growing series “From the Dancer’s Perspective” here.