Kenzie Ziegler TurnBoard® (Official TurnBoard)

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PORTABILITY MEETS PROFESSIONALISM: Your pirouette board is ready to hit the road when you are. With a design that's as portable as it is professional, TTolbi is the ultimate turnboards for dancers and skaters who live to spin and love to move. In ballet, turns are usually done on demi or full point and so the foot is in a different position and thus the weight distribution is different. Sometimes dancers who use turn boards frequently might have trouble pulling all the way up on releve or demi point when they do a pirouette without the board and might have a more difficult time with body placement and finding their center of balance. The physicality of a turn, with an adjusted centre of gravity when on flat to demi or full point, is very different with and without the board. For beginners who are just learning the technique it is likely that the Turn Board would complicate matters. It could make learning pirouettes harder or encourage bad habits. This slim, rectangular board you place under one foot is used by some as a training tool to help dancers, gymnasts and figure skaters learn to turn. While some say it can improve spotting, rhythm and getting the body used to multiple turns, others feel that it can encourage bad technique habits as some turn boards force the user to turn on a flat foot.

It’s a good idea to warm up before you use the board, paying particular attention to exercising your core so that the muscles are ready to support your weight and keep you balanced as you are turning. You will also need to stretch your calves, ready for bearing your weight during the turn. Includes pump enabling you to let air out of the cushion and decreasing its stability, creating a greater workout challenge!

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The effectiveness of the Turn Board needs to be considered from the context of different dance styles. In classical ballet, a turn is performed with a releve to either demi or full point. The Turn Board, however, has to be used with a flat foot, and has the potential to create problems with technique. Sinead Vidler, the director of Academy Ballet in Sydney (and Sophie’s teacher), has a number of students who have used the Turn Board and she has noticed its impact on their technique. “Increasingly I’m seeing students spinning on a low demi pointe rather than pulling up and turning on a high demi pointe as required,” she says. If you and your teacher determine that a turnboard would be helpful for you, here are the top 3 options that we feel are the best turning boards (or turn discs) for your money. #1 My Turn Disc Portable Turning Board Using a turn board is reasonably straightforward, but you do want to make sure you are being careful and using it effectively. SPIN WITH SUPREME CONFIDENCE: No more fear of slippery mishaps with our dance turning board. The high-density recycled foam grips like a charm, offering turning boards for dancers that double as a figure skating spinner for those off-ice practice sessions.

While the vision from First Position is certainly spectacular, are there any dangers in using this training aid? What happens when dancers step off the Turn Board and try a pirouette without one? Does an octuple turn on the board really translate to a multiple turn without the board? A number of teachers and physiotherapists are not convinced. They will allow you to train your core so that your abdominal muscles keep you stable whilst turning. However, dancers who have good turn technique established already but who are working on multiple turns (like 4 or more) might find it helpful to use a turn board with less friction to develop precise rhythm and spotting. If you are a bunhead who is unsure as to whether or not you should be using a turning board, you should start by asking your teacher. They will be the most qualified to tell you if this tool is something that can help you. However, some people argue that dance turn boards are problematic because they let dancers practice in a flat footed position. This isn’t how you will perform the moves in an actual dance, which means you may have to re-learn the techniques when you start trying to use them in a real context. Step onto the board with one foot, making sure the board is lengthways under your foot. You want your foot in the center.Melanie Fuller is a physiotherapist with Pondera Physio and Pilates in Brisbane. She also points out the difference between turning on a flat foot to turning on a demi or full point. When using the board, “the foot is not in the same position and the weight distribution is different than for pirouettes in ballet, so I question the specificity of training and how that would cross over to help a pirouette.”

STRENGTH AND STYLE IN EVERY SWIRL: Turn board for dancers or ice skating spinner aficionados, the TTolbi Ballet Turning Board is the sturdy stage for your training. With robust construction, our turnboard dance partner is a silent promise of durability and elegance. It’s worth noting that while dance turn boards and turning discs are very similar, there are a few significant differences. The most obvious is that dance turn boards are rectangular, and turn discs (as the name suggests) are circular. This is the easiest way to distinguish between the two. If your dancer already has a turning board and you would like to share your experience and which type of board you have, leave a comment below.Ask any group of bunheads about what they think of turning boards and you’ll have mixed answers. Whether or not to train using a turning board is somewhat controversial in the world of bunheads.