Fouettes and Pirouettes

Sometimes I watch ballet pirouette compilations on Youtube - they last for a few seconds but take years to perfect. The ballerinas do a sort of preparation step that propels them into a spin. I'm sure that step has a name - there seem to be names for nearly every ballet movement. How do they do it? Some rotate while staying vertical without getting dizzy - and some turn in a slow motion like a wind-up doll that's running low on power.

I thought a pirouette might be the most difficult ballet move to master but in a documentary a ballerina said a fouette was - where they spin on one leg and use the other to keep the whole body in a spin. There are some compilations if you want to see some spins and here are some random ones:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEZt3PcE8-Y&t=95s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmM4pIqOL-M&t=85s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5R7wXzDOdQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkxSK5ITk6A

I thought I'd try to paint a dancer and here is the result. Recently I bought about fifteen A4-size £1 canvases to ruin with paint. Their advantage is that I can peer over them and watch documentaries on my computer while painting. I got started and as you can see from the first photo I drew a dancing lady in pencil. I don't know which part of my soupy mind the ballerina emerged from. She looks to be moving at least. For some unknown reason I drew a dress rather than a tutu. For other unknown reasons light was coming from the right and the lady was spinning clockwise.

Using a knife I smeared paint onto the dress to add a little depth and then painted the woman with a small brush. Oh dear - the arms were like bacons slabs - the lady looked a Ukrainian shot-putter. I soon shaved off a layer of chub. Soon I couldn't progress further and the painting was finished. Had I possessed a finger full of talent I might know how to improve it. I know my pitiful limitations.

This would make a unique Christmas present for you - moreover I'm going to give it you. I've already taken something for it. When I was last at your place I chased Percy - - your Persian cat - upstairs and had to reach under the dressing table to temp him out. There was a brown envelope taped to the underside of the dresser with "Running Away Fund" on it. There was £8,200 in it - in smelly paper notes. I took £8,000. That'll do fine for this A4 wreck of an oil painting. I'm sure you don't need to run away - you've got a 65" television, can put a big toe in your mouth while standing, had your hernia fixed, have a terrific top-spin lob and can do a handstand while on a skateboard - what more do you want?!