Spotting (dance technique)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spotting is a technique used in executing various turns in dancing: pirouettes, chaines, etc.

Spotting is keeping the gaze and the head fixed in a certain direction as long as possible while the body executes the turn and then whipping the head around to "spot" the original direction again. This action is repeated at each full turn.[1][2]

The major advantages of spotting are the following.

  • It prevents dizziness by providing a fixed focus for the eyes[1]
  • The fixed focus also helps to control the balance
  • It helps to control the direction of travel during the traveling turns.

The direction of spotting may be a direction with respect to the scene, an object, or a person. In the latter case the spotting point may move.[3]

At the same time, spotting is deliberately avoided in some types of turns. An example is adagio turns, whose aesthetic purpose is to display serenity and calmness, which would be disturbed by abrupt head moves of spotting. Turns in adagio style include turns in arabesque or attitude positions.[2]

In Labanotation, spotting is recorded as a face sign followed by the "spot hold" sign, which is a diamond shape (◊) with a dot in the center.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Kenneth Laws, Martha Swope (2002) "Physics and the Art of Dance: Understanding Movement", ISBN 0195144821, p. 67.
  2. ^ a b Robert Greskovic (2006) "Ballet 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving the Ballet", ISBN 0879103256, pp. 521, 527
  3. ^ a b Ann Hutchinson Guest (2004) "Labanotation: The System of Analyzing and Recording Movement",ISBN 0415965616 , p.399