Some ballet pieces require the dancers to do basic turn sequences in both directions (double/triple pirouettes and double tours for men, for example). Then the combination is reversed to the other side and all steps are reversed to CCW. After the teacher demonstrates a combination (usually with a CW orientation), students perform it several times. In ballet class, dancers execute combinations on both sides in an effort to avoid being one-sided. This is in contrast to gymnastics where a gymnast that turns in one direction never turns in the other direction. It is important to note that ballet dancers must be able to turn in both directions. Also, many CW men perform assemblé en tournant CCW. Some dancers, Baryshnikov the primary example, turned CW for pirouettes while performing coupe grande jete menage (split jumps in a circle) in the CCW direction. However, there was more diversity among the men relative to the women. I selected a similar list for male dancers at major companies over time and focused on a major turn sequence such as à la seconde turns (see the YouTube clip below at 9:00 as an example) only Fernando Bujones, Angel Corella, Leonid Sarafanov, Daniil Simkin, and Vladimir Vasiliev turned CCW. ( UPDATE: I provide an updated list of men and women CCW turners in my interview of The Royal Ballet’s Francesca Hayward and ABT’s Cory Stearns). Here is the Bolshoi’s Svetlana Zakarova performing fouettés from Don Quixote: I could not find a single female dancer that favored CCW. I selected about 50 great ballerinas over the past 50 years at major ballet companies and looked at a major solo that contained a turn sequence (generally fouettés). Hammer throwers may spin in either direction, but all that I have viewed on YouTube spin CCW.Īll track events are run CCW around an oval track.Ībout 80% of the 2010 Winter Olympics finalists in aerial freestyle skiing twisted CCW. The directional preference of a discus thrower depends on the hand used to hold the discus right-handers will hold the discus in their right hand and spin CCW before releasing the discus. All twisted CCW.įield events that require turning include discus and hammer throw. On YouTube, I looked at about a dozen male and female platform and springboard divers in the semifinals and finals of the 2012 Olympics. bronze medalist in floor exercise), Paul Hamm (2004 all-around gold medalist), Bart Conner (1984 Olympic gold medalist) all turned CCW while Kurt Thomas (Thomas flair), Peter Vidmar and Tim Daggett (both 1984 Olympic gold medalists), turned CW. From earlier Olympics, Nikolai Andrianov (third highest Olympic medal winner with 15), Peter Kormann (1976 U.S. There was not much diversity among the 2012 Olympic event finalists for the men as over 90% turned CCW in the floor exercise, pommel horse, high bar, and vault event finals. In earlier Olympics, Nadia Comaneci, Shawn Johnson, and Mary Lou Retton turned CCW while Nastia Liukin and Carly Patterson twisted CW. Among notable gymnasts, all- around gold medalist Gabby Douglas twisted CCW while floor exercise gold medalist Aly Raisman, vault silver medalist McKayla Maroney, and Jordyn Weber twisted CW. I watched event finals in the 2012 London Olympics and recorded the direction the gymnast twisted. The YouTube clip lower in the post of Svetlana Zakarova illustrates the spotting technique.) Spotting is a technique used by dancers during turns to achieve a consistent orientation by focusing on a spot and refocusing on the same spot after a turn. (As an aside, ballet dancers “spot” during turns, a practice almost never used by figure skaters. Interestingly enough, most of the CW jumpers are left-handed.”Īlso, two-time Olympian Michael Weiss estimates that 85% of figure skaters turn CCW. While it’s perfectly legal to jump either way, more skaters feel comfortable with the CCW direction. Figure Skating judge and former skater who runs an informative website dedicated to skating: “If you watch many skaters, you’ll notice that most figure skaters (about 90% in fact) jump and spin in a counterclockwise direction. This observation was confirmed by Don Korte, a U.S. After having a good time watching a lot of YouTube video, here is a summary: However, I looked at other sports in which an athlete twists in one direction and found that gymnasts, aerial skiers, divers, and track and field athletes favor the CCW direction. As a former dancer and avid ballet watcher, I thought that turning CW is natural it was those strange figure skaters that were off base. This contrasts to ballet in which dancers greatly favor the clockwise (CW) direction in turns and jumps. While watching skating several years ago, I noticed that almost all skaters turned in a counter-clockwise (CCW) direction. Above photo: The Winter Olympics are approaching and figure skating will be a main attraction.
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