Single Turns & Leap Prep: Beginner Jazz Lesson Plan #3

Important Note: This lesson builds on week #1 and week #2 of my beginner jazz curriculum which break down battements and pirouette preps. Without those skills, learning leaps and/or single turns will be not only difficult, but will lead to technical errors and gaps of information. Don’t rush things; If your class is not ready to move on from pirouette preps after 1-2 weeks, stay there and keep pushing balance and strong posses before proceeding to a half or single turn.

Welcome to the third week of my beginner jazz dance curriculum! At this point we have the foundations to move forward with two of the most important skills in jazz: pirouettes and leaps.

Teaching Pirouettes

Pirouettes are a fundamental skill in jazz technique; All turns, including second turns, leg holds, etc., are built on having strong pirouette technique. There is a crucial order to teaching them correctly and building this technique.

In my beginner jazz classes, I will start with posses and pirouette preps in August, and by December/January the goal is to be working on single turns so that I can incorporate the skill into the recital routine.

Here is the order of how I introduce and teach jazz pirouettes over the course of several weeks:

1. Posses at the Barre
   • Explain technique of a posse:
     • Pointed toe connected to knee
     • Straight supporting leg (like a “tree trunk”)
     • Strong arms in first (holding a beach ball)
   • Practice Right and Left Side
   • Once the dancers show they can do a posse with a straight supporting leg, they can move on to posses on releve.
2. Pirouette Prep (En Flat)
   • In center or at the barre, explain the mechanics of the pirouette prep”
     • Tendu to second
     • Plie in parallel fourth
     • Push up to posse (en flat)
3. Pirouette Prep (En Releve)
   • Review mechanics of pirouette prep, this time doing it on releve.
4. Half Turns
   • Explain the concept of spotting: You “whipping” your head around to bring you back to your destination.
   • For a half turn, you want to spot for something in the back of the room. Identify a large speaker, wall decal, clock, or other large item in the back of the room the dancers can reference as they spot.
   • Practice turning half turns on the right side.
   • Ensure dancers are doing a full tendu, plie prep in between each half turn!
5. Single Turns
   • Practice the right side for at least 1 week before introducing left side to avoid turning the wrong way.
6. Single Turn to Consecutive Move: straddle split, tuck jump, straddle jump, sissone, etc.

Important notes and things to watch:

• Drill Arms & Use Letters: I have my students repeat the pirouette prep arms moving from the “T,” to “L,” to “O.” I will even go around and lightly try to push their arms down to show that they need to be holding their arms from their back throughout.
• Clean Prep > Messy Single: When it comes to recital time, if your students aren’t consistently nailing their singles with proper technique, consider changing it to a balance with high releves. On stage, technique matters more than difficulty with poor execution.
• Use Items in the Room for Spotting: When I am teaching spotting, I will point out a large item on the back wall that the students can see in the mirror (for example, a clock, speaker, or wall decal). Then I say “Look for the clock!” to help guide their spotting.

Teaching Leap Preparations

1. Tuck Jump & Pencil Jump
   • Simple introduction to jumps.
   • Tuck jumps help teach power and height. Start on the floor and have dancers jump up high with straight arms, tucking their legs.
   • Pencil jumps help teach length. Starting on the floor in a tuck, jump straight up with arms high and straight legs, pointed toes.
2. Sissones (From 5th)
   • I teach my jazz sissones from a ballet 5th position because I think it looks cleaner and leads to better turnout in their leap! But do what you want 🙂
   • Explain, demonstrate and practice 5th position on the right side (heel to toe).
   • Repeat arms only: Circle to high “V”
   • Demonstrate & practice plie in 5th to sissone, landing on the floor.
   • Once you’re comfortable, work on the left side.
3. Straddle Leap
   • Similar to the tuck jump, with the same power and height.
   • Start on the floor in tuck position, practice brushing both legs into a straddle, and landing back down in tuck position.
   • Keep arms in a “T” or second position & don’t drop your chest!
4. Run-Run-Leap
   • Fair warning: the beginning of this process can be pretty rough. You can to introduce the overall mechanics of jumping from one foot to the other, since the other leaps involved jumping from both feet at the same time.
   • To start, I literally lift my right leg in the air, and demonstrate jumping and landing onto that leg. I have the class repeat that several times.
   • Once they understand leaving/landing with one foot at a time, we focus on adding height to the leap so they are jumping “up” instead of “out”
   • Across the floor: set up 3-4 dots, have them take 2 steps and leap over the dot, with arms in high “V”
   • I am focused on mechanics first, then technique once they have the fundamentals down.
5. Chasse-Step-Leap (Final Boss!)
   • Make sure they have solid chasses across the floor, on both right and left sides!
   • Break down the skill altogether in center.
     • I have found the hardest part of this is getting them to only do one (1) chasse, not 15 million. I start with explaining what one chasse is, and have them practice that move on its own.
   • Only do right side for first week to avoid confusion.

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