Ashley Tuttle Teaches Italian Fouettés

“It’s not really as hard as it looks,” Tuttle says of the turn, which, unlike a regular fouetté, involves brushing forward before the hips turn and the working leg arrives into attitude derrière. “Ballet is hard, but if you break it down, I think most people can figure out the coordination of it.” 

Plus, once you master them, Italian fouettés are a real crowd-pleaser. It’s a standout step in many classical ballets, like Don Quixote, where the Queen of the Dryads ends with a series of them in her Act II variation—often to enthusiastic applause.           

“I used to watch people get nervous about it, and then I actually ended up doing that variation, too,” Tuttle says of performing the Queen of the Dryad’s famous turns. “I found that if you just find a rhythm, that really helps anchor you.” 

One of the hardest aspects of teaching Italian fouettés, Tuttle says, is getting students to switch the position of the head during the turn. Ideally, the head should begin looking up at the allongé hand, and end looking straight ahead. 

“Most everyone just looks in the mirror straight ahead, and I think that’s a really hard thing to get people to change because it becomes a habit,” Tuttle says. “But if you have the trust to look at your hand, it helps the coordination.”

Italian fouettés are best reserved for intermediate and advanced classes, but teachers will know a student is ready to tackle them once they’ve demonstrated the strength and ability to hold their center, in addition to having a good understanding of spotting.    

“It’s hard when your front doesn’t stay your front the whole time,” Tuttle says. “So I think you need to notice how students are doing with chaîné turns, piqué turns—any kind of turn.” 

Step by Step

Step 1: The Legwork
Start with a tendu croisé devant. Step on the front foot into a coupé plié, then bring the working leg through développé into relevé écarté. Next, brush the working leg through first position plié as the standing leg promenades until hips face the back corner. Finally, relevé and bring the working leg front while facing the back corner, side while facing the back wall, and into attitude derrière when facing front again. The standing leg continues to rotate and stays turned out by pushing the heel of the supporting leg forward. “That little bit of promenade feeling is really important to help us anchor the step,” Tuttle says.   

Step 2: The Arms
Arms begin in fourth position in the tendu croisé devant. (In her demonstration, Tuttle has the downstage arm up in fourth position, but having the upstage arm up is also correct.) Bring the arms through first position in the coupé plié, and into fifth position allongé in the relevé écarté. Then, move the arms through first position as hips face the back corner, fifth position when facing the back wall, and up and over to fourth position when facing front again. Make sure arms stay supported throughout.

Step 3: The Head
The head should look up at the hand in the fifth position allongé, then towards the back corner where your hips are facing, and finally spot the front (the audience). This doesn’t just look pretty; it also makes the turn more efficient. “Our head weighs a lot, right? So depending on where you put your head, it can affect your balance,” Tuttle says. “If you don’t look up at your hand, then when you do the fouetté part, it’s a little discombobulated.” 

Step 4: The Rhythm
Put the sequence together with arm, leg, and head movements. A detail that sometimes gets omitted while teaching Italian fouettés, Tuttle says, is the rhythm of the step. It’s generally danced in a 1-2-3, 1-2-3 rhythm (i.e., a waltz), and the step can get “disjointed” if that rhythm isn’t observed. The développé into relevé écarté should take up the first full 1-2-3 counts. The rotation of the working leg front, side, and back should be on the second 1-2-3, with the leg going front on the 1-count, side on the 2-count, and back on the 3-count.  

Watch the full-length video tutorial below.