You've forgot another critical factor "spotting". When the ballerina leaves her head and quickly whips back to the same position, it also helps with the momentum.

Ballet is a serious business

He didn't mention spotting and spotting is a huge part of doing any type of turn

Number 2 would never happen. The moment you drop your elbows or knee is the moment your teacher smacks you with a cane.

Everything is always made more interesting when an analysis of physics is added.

Why is everyone crying because they can only do 4? I can only do 0 and that's fine with me

Forewarning: I am a professional ballet dancer who teaches calculus. Neither of the options discussed as means of maintaining momentum are things that dancers do while doing these turns because they are not considered technically correct. 1. It is not considered a valid option to leave your leg out for longer to increase momentum. 2. It is also not an option to lower the leg to a position by the ankle to get more turns. The dancer must maintain a "passé" position with the foot at the knee. With the foot at the knee, pulling arms in to the chest does very little in increasing momentum. The two things that are actually done by dancers to get multiple pirouettes out of a string of fouettes are the following: 1. The gesturing leg and the opposing arm (*her* left in the video above) are coordinated so that they close very quickly at the same time, a rapid transition from an extended position to a streamlined one, increasing angular momentum. The harder that left arm pulls in, the more possible it is to do multiple pirouettes, but it must be done in tandem with the right leg. 2. This is combined with a lifting, rather than a dropping of the passé position (when the gesturing leg is at the knee in the turning position). By pulling the passe higher, the length of the body that deviates from a strictly vertical position has decreased, increasing the speed of the turn. I'm not sure where TED got either of the ideas for this video. If you watch any reputable dancer's performance, neither of the physical concepts presented in this video are used. TED - please employ the expertise of professional dancers next time. Thank you!

Fouetté secrets revealed =)))

I guess you could say she's- on pointe

as a dancer, this video is almost funny as I've never evaluated my turns like this

this fucking channel, I swear all the random things you either don't care about or are plain ignorant about, presented in such beautiful, fascinating way I fucking love TED-Ed

It's calling fouetté because you're whipping with your leg, not just because you're spinning ^^

And how does she prevent herself from getting dizzy and disoriented? By spotting: keeping her eyes focused on one single area of the audience as she turns, and then whipping her head around at the last possible moment to a forward position again - unlike what you see in this video. The body may turn at a fairly steady rate, but the head is rotating in a punctuated way, at twice the speed or more, but pausing in between each rotation. UPDATE: Please everyone stop commenting that this is called "spotting," I know, I was just trying to avoid getting technical with ballet jargon.

This video showed a fantastic explanation of a Foutté, but I believed you missed one important part. To not get dizzy, us dancers, do this thing called, 'Spotting'. You focus at one spot while you're turning, and once you are back to the audience you quickly whip your head going back to that spot. This makes it easier to turn as well as limiting the dizziness so we can easily continue our dance.

the real magic is them not getting dizzy.

As a ballerina the fact that she is not spotting is hurting me. He didn't even mention that once and without spotting this wouldn't work one bit...

Spotting is also one of the main reasons how you keep balance while turning

This is such a wonderful explanation of the fouetté - thank you Ted-Ed!

Watching this video made my feet hurt a little.

they didn't include plié , it's very important smh

One point is, the narration specifies that the 'working' or 'gesture' leg (the one not supporting the dancer) unfolds every time to the front and then whips out to the side, before returning to the passé retiré position in which the actual turning takes place. That is true of a French fouetté, but in a Russian one, the leg unfolds straight to the side and back in. This is useful when the tempo is particularly fast, and creates a more flashy, less lyrical effect. In recent years, this Russian fouetté style is far less often used, but it can be quite effective, and it's nice to have the different dynamics of the two different types of fouettés.

Combining 3 of my favorite things: Ballet, Physics and Animation. I love it!

He forgot about whipping their head around aswel

The pronunciation of fouetté 😂👌🏻 No but seriously loved this video. Gonna keep this in mind next time I go to class

Physics and the skill of the dancer. You forgot that part.

The one true origin of "Watch me WHIP. Watch me nae nae."

That really gives me a greater appreciation of the beautiful ballet moves. Please do more videos like this that look at the physics behind spectacular human dance/sports moves!

I thought this was very interesting and well explained. People need to calm down: it's not supposed to be a ballet lesson, it just explains physical dynamics. Also his pronunciation of fouetté was very good, and I'm French, so stop being stuck up about it.

Any ballerinas here? You are awesome!

I would like to do two saults de basque and go straight to fouettés including triples and more and finish it with another sault de basque and relevé to arabesque.

Not only the physics, but also the insane stresses on the human skeleton & tendons...

Basically this is teaching us how to do fouetté turns but without telling us to spot

turning on pointe means there's less friction as opposed to turning on flat. the issue isn't necessarily the ability to turn, but her ability to balance. also, I was surprised that there was no mention of spotting in this video. it's one of the most important aspects of a turn.

When spotting. Is. EVERYTHINGGGGGGG

I'm a dancer and I never thought about it this way. It was always just automatic for me.

the animation is so amazing in this video! it's simple, yet the movements are so alive

This video is great, although it leaves out two of ballet's most important turning fundamentals: the fondu and spotting. Both create stored momentum by "resisting" the existing momentum of the previous turn. Your graphic shows the dancer lowering the heel of her foot without bending the knee between each turn. This is incorrect - there must be a fondu (single-leg, bent knee) in a externally rotated position between each turn. The fondu "resists" the circular rotation of the fully extended leg. The dancer waits until the extended leg is in second position (directly to the side) to push into the floor with the standing foot to rise to pointe and turn. And in spotting, a dancer leaves the head in a forward-facing position while the body is rotating. At the last possible moment, the dancer whips the head around to the same forward-facing position to create an unwinding spiraling down the spine, releasing the momentum.

jeeze, ballet should be an olímpico sport!!

How can someone not like this? Beautiful presentation. The kids are going to love it too! Thank you!

I remember other kids in my ballet class practicing this. Once during a break we all counted as one of us tried to do all 32 (which she did succeed at); once you get the motion down, it's not very hard to maintain the motion, but learning how to keep your balance near perfect is really difficult,

You also forgot to spot witch helps them not get dizzy. Lol dancer tils

😐😐😐 although this is a good explanation, not one time did this episode named 'spotting' (the movement of the head, where you keep your head looking forward until you cant anymore and quickly turn it around to front again). This is the first step you learn doing any kind of pirouettes in dance. Also... Comparison between iceskating and pirouettes in dance is strange. As for iceskating there are totally different laws of physics involved and thus totally different movements to keep the spinning in tact.

The animations are GORGEOUS!!!

Also spotting and pliés. (Bending of the knee) or else this would be painful and impossible.

When people think ballet is easy me: you try doing turns on a limited surface while thinking about staying balanced and not killing your legs

this video lowkey helped me think of the mechanics of my turns

The animation and lesson are gorgeous!

Please keep doing videos about dance! I, myself, am a dancer and really love these videos! They are very informative and make me seem like the smartest dancer around!

please do more of these ,, do on backflip or back hand spring

Ballerinas are damn awesome

I dong think people truly understand how much precise skill ballet requires...everything they do is honestly a miracle!

I'm glad they talked about the Fouettes. The ballerina drawing is so cute!

Thanks this helped me improve my fouettés

He forgot about spotting

Favorite episode by far!

Incredible animation for this one!

Don't forget when Sophia Lucia was only 10 years old, she broke the world record for the most pirouettes by doing 54.

*watching this while whearing point shoes*

The drawing style is adorable

Physics and a LOT of hard work on the ballerina's part is what makes it possible!

Hands up if your understanding of Conservation of Angular Momentum came from an office swivel chair? =P

It's actually very rare to see exactly 32 fouettes pulled off, often mutiple pirouettes in passe are done instead (which, of course, is no less impressive!)

I would so love it if TED-Ed did this kind of thing for Opera and Theatre too.

i have no effin clue how someone could animate this THAT good, congrats

I'm a dancer and we do this all the time!!

I was a dedicated ballerina from age 3-12, when my slim but healthy body became too large for *en pointe.* While in Julie Van's Ballet Academy, this move was known as the *"ankle killer."* Almost all ballerinas have a dominant leg that must be used when repeating this particular move. Performing more than a dozen *fouettes* is very challenging and painful. *If you're a ballerina who can pull this off and likes it, you're absolutely amazing!.. and possibly super-human.*

This video was beautifully animated and effectively animated. Good Job, Ted-Ed.

I saw this ballet for the first time recently and to me the most awe-inspiring move was when one dancer bent over backwards nearly horizontal at the waist while en pointe. I was so sure she would fall but she pulled it off seemingly effortlessly. it was incredible

And this, children, is one of the reasons why we have leap seconds.

I love learning information. Even if I am never going to use it later.

This video is absolutely awesome.

2 of my favorite things: physics and ballet. This video entertained me greatly.

It really bothered me how the cartoon dancer wasn't over her block😂

"Foo-ette" lmao

PHYSICS AND BALLET MY TWO FAVORITE THING COMING TOGETHER I'M SO HAPPY

Thank u for such an good explanation... Animation se fast aur long period tk sab recognize rehta hai.

Ballet seems so challenging, it looks just as challenging as football, basketball or any other popular sports out there

he forgot to mention spotting smh

That is so awesome! Thanks for posting!

Loved this. As an engineering physiscist, I so appreciated the scientific understanding of the art form I have always loved.

"Showing off meh sexay legs to physics" xD

that dancer would be very dizzy cause she's not spotting

The entire video is very accurate and I believe will help many dancers just starting to learn turns and balancing on pointe and pointe in center & all of that. He did forget spotting and how it's a key point in turning, but I feel that you're reminded enough times in the studio. Well done on the video I really liked it.

This is a wonderful lesson!

My ballet teacher: " Guys, it is not magic! It's physics!"

he missed the most important part of fouettes on tournant... the perfect spot ❤❤❤

These animations are excellent

I love the animation!

This is for my homework LOL

"it's physics" also, like, ten years of practice

Simply love the visuals. Makes things so much easier to understand. Almost like eye-candy.

i love the animations!

But the problem isn't momentum or force its balance...

This may be the first time I've been interested in ballet

I've been waiting for this ever since Black Swan came out. It's my fave movie. And ballet.

Really like this animation!

they forgot to talk about the head movement

But what about the plie?? this is a recipe for tendonitis

The best ted video ever

I'm a ballet student with lots of passion for my dancing but also my academic studies so this video was the perfect video for me to understand how I do those turns everyday