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32 fouettés en tournant (fr. 32 "turning fouettés") is a set of identical ballet movements, most often performed at the end of a ballerina's solo variation.

[edit] Movement

A fouetté en tournant is an action where the dancer stand momentarily on flat foot with the supporting knee bent as the other "working" leg is whipped around to the side, creating the impetus to spin one turn. The working leg is then pulled in to touch the supporting knee as the dancer rises up en pointe on the supporting foot. The ability to consecutively perform 32 of these turns is considered a bravura step by the ballerina, emphasizing her strength, stamina, and technique.

[edit] History

32 fouettés were first introduced into the coda of the Grand Pas, or final duet between the two principal dancers, of the ballet Cinderella (choreographed by Lev Ivanov, Enrico Cecchetti, and Marius Petipa to the music of Baron Boris Fitinhof-Schell) by Pierina Legnani, Prima Ballerina Assoluta of the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg.^{[citation needed]} According to contemporary press accounts, after Legnani had performed the move the audience requested an encore, and the ballerina performed 28 more, barely moving from the place she started.^{[citation needed]}

Legnani repeated this feat again in many other works during her career with the Imperial Ballet (today the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet), which lasted from 1893 until 1901. She performed them most notably as Odile in the coda of what is today known as the Black Swan Pas de Deux from Swan Lake (1895), and in the Pas de Deux from Petipa's 1899 revival of Le Corsaire. Today fouetté turns are included in the Grand Pas codas of almost every major ballet.

Legnani's ability to perform this movement is attributed to the fact that Italian ballerinas like her were trained to "spot" their turns -- that is, to snap the head around and remain focused on a single object while turning. This technique prevented dizziness from occurring in spinning dancers. Mathilde Kschessinska was the second ballerina to master 32 fouettés en tournant; it is believed that she picked up the practice of spotting from Legnani.

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