32 fouettés en tournant

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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 d'action 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]}

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 Bessone danced the lead in 'The Haarlem Tulip' she did 14 fouettés. 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 repitition she nevertheless did 28 fouettés. To count them became the favourite occupation of the public."^{[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 now required of every Ballerina, and over the course of the 20th century 32 fouettés have been incorperated into the codas of many of the famous Grand Pas.

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.