Tips for Spinning
Prepare properly
- Make sure you are fully hydrated, have eaten, and are not too warm. Lack of water, low blood sugar and over-heating can all make you feel dizzier.
- If spinning makes you feel sick you could always try nausea remedies! Peppermint tea and ginger are home remedies supposed to suppress nausea and may help.
In a spin
- Keep your spin steady in speed and don’t bounce up and down.
- Try to stay on the spot, or remain aware of roughly where you are in the dance space.
- Those with ballet training often use a technique called "spotting", where the head stays still until the last second and then whips round more quickly than the rest of the body to reduce the feeling of spinning
- But beware - get spotting wrong and it will make you feel more dizzy, not less dizzy
- A more Middle Eastern technique is to do as the mevlani, or Whirling Dervishes, do – accept the spinning sensation, relax and let yourself go with the spin. Look into the middle distance and let your eyes glaze over rather than focus on what is going past you
- if you have difficulty with this, try fixing your focus on something that is turning with you, such as your hand or veil.
- But also try to remain aware of where the audience is so that when you stop you end up facing the right way!
- Don’t try barrel turns till you are feeling confident with normal spinning as these make you feel even dizzier! It is almost impossible to not be dizzy with a barrel turn, you just have to try and get used to the sensation and not let it disorient you so you can dance anyway!
Stopping
- When you stop spinning, allow a few seconds to dance on the spot before you try to move. You will always feel a slight lag where your body has stopped moving but your inner ear is still going! But with time you will get used to this sensation and be able to dance through it.
- You could also try a short spin in the opposite direction as you finish, as this will bring your inner ear back to a non-spinning state more quickly.
Working spins into your dancing
- Don’t choreograph or improvise long spinning sections until you can spin for long periods confidently, and can remain aware of where you are and where your audience is. You risk injuring yourself and your audience if you cannot control your spins. If in doubt, keep it short!
And remember:
- Practice – like everything else it gets easier with time! But make sure you have plenty of room!