32 Fouettes' en tournant*
32 Fouettes' en tournant (fr. 32 "turning fouettes') is a movement in classical ballet.
Dancer performing Fouette' en tournant (scroll down to see Gillian Murphy of American Ballet Theatre as Odile/the Black Swan doing the infamous "32 fouettes" from Swan Lake.)
Movement
A fouette' rond de jambe en tournant is an action where the dancer stands momentarily on flat foot with the supporting knee bent as the other "working" leg is whipped around to the side, creating an 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. It is a very difficult step to do and many ballerinas can only do 32 on one side, normally the right.
History
32 fouettes' were first introduced into the coda of the Grand Pas d'action of the ballet Cinderella (choreographed by Lev Ivanov, Enrico Checchetti, and Marius Petipa to the music of Baron Boris Vietinghoff-Scheel) by Pierina Legnani, Prima Ballerina Assoluta of the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg. 1
Pierina Legnani in the title role of the Petipa/Ivanov/Checchetti/Vietinghoff-Scheel Cinderella St. Petersburg 1893.
American Ballet Theatre's Gillian Murphy as Swan Lake's Odile/the Black Swan along with
Angel Corella performing the legendary 32 fouettes. To run video, click on the arrow.
Enjoy!
The first Russian ballerina to perform 32 fouettes' was Prima Ballerina Assoluta Mathilde Kschessinskaya.
The ballet historian Konstantin Skalkovsky, who was the dance critic for the St. Petersburg Gazette, attended the premiere of Cinderella. He reported that "...in the last act Legnani positively outdid herself. When Emma Bessome danced the lead in "The Haarlem Tulip" she did 14 fouettes. In her variation Legnani performed 32 of them without stopping, and without travelling one inch! The public delightedly applauded the Ballerina and compelled her to repeat this variation as well. On the repetition she neverless did 28 fouettes. To count them became a favourite occupation of the public."2
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). Today fouette' turns are now required of every Ballerina and over the course of the 20th century, 32 fouettes' have been incorporated into the coda of many of the famous Grand Pas.
* From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org)
1. ^Wiley, Roland John (1997). The Life of Ballets of Lev Ivanov (in English). New York City:
Oxford University Press, 165.ISBN
2. ^Wiley, Roland John (1997). The Life of Ballets of Lev Ivanov (in English). New York City:
Oxford University Press, 164.ISBN
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