pirouette

dressage

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July 2, 2026

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A pirouette is a ballet turn performed in place on one leg, often executed in series. In ballet, women typically perform pirouettes on pointe (the ball of the foot), while men perform them on demi-pointe. The term "pirouette" comes from the French for "to whirl about".1

In dressage, a pirouette is a specific movement where a horse turns on its haunches in four or five strides at a collected canter. This advanced maneuver is part of haute école, or "high school" dressage training, aiming for the horse's utmost perfection in balance and precision. The canter itself is a three-beat gait that can be performed in a collected or extended form, with the collected canter being relevant to dressage.23

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dressage
…haute école movements include the pirouette, a turn on the haunches in four or five strides at a collected canter; the piaffe, a trot in place; the passage, a very collected, cadenced, high-stepping trot; the levade, in which the horse raises and draws in its forelegs, standing balanced on its…
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…haute école movements include the pirouette, a turn on the haunches in four or five strides at a collected canter; the piaffe, a trot in place; the passage, a very collected, cadenced, high-stepping trot; the levade, in which the horse raises and draws in its forelegs, standing balanced on its…
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horsemanship
Dressage
…airs, or movements, are the pirouettes, which are turns on the haunches at the walk and the canter; the piaffe, in which the horse trots without moving forward, backward, or sideways, the impulse being upward; the passage, high-stepping trot in which the impulse is more upward than forward; the levade,…
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…airs, or movements, are the pirouettes, which are turns on the haunches at the walk and the canter; the piaffe, in which the horse trots without moving forward, backward, or sideways, the impulse being upward; the passage, high-stepping trot in which the impulse is more upward than forward; the levade,…
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