Prepare. In dance, preparation is the term used for the position you take immediately before the pirouette. You will never be able to do a pirouette if you do not have a strong preparation. Pirouettes can be performed from different positions, but the easiest is fourth position. Fourth position means having your left foot out in front, and the right foot next to and about three feet behind it. In ballet, your feet should be turned out (right toes facing the right side wall, and left toes facing the left side wall) when turning toward your right shoulder. In jazz dance, you should also prepare in fourth, but the feet should be facing forward. The right arm should be straight out in front of you, shoulder height, and the left, out to the side also shoulder height. You will be using the left arm to help you get around in the turn.
Hold your abdominal muscles in. This will help center your body and give you balance as you turn. In dance, being in control of your center or core is crucial, especially when performing a pirouette.
Plie. In dance, plie means "bend" and in this case it means your knees. Practice going from your preparation to releve (meaning raising up onto the ball of your left foot). In a pirouette, you need to push off the floor as you releve, bringing your right toe up to your left knee. Your right knee should be turned out toward the right wall in ballet (facing forward in jazz) to a position called passe. At the same time, bring your left fingertips in to meet your right fingertips, keeping your elbows up, as if you were holding a big ball in your arms. Practicing this way will build up the strength in your feet so that you can stay up in releve longer, and eventually do more than one pirouette.
Learn to spot. Spotting is looking forward with your head as long as possible in a turn and then whipping your head around after your body. Spotting will keep you from getting dizzy when performing pirouettes. Practice in front of a mirror. Look at your self as long as possible and then slowly turn your body. Keep looking at yourself as long as you can. Your head should only have to look away for a second, and then return to the front again after your body returns to face front..
Once you feel comfortable with spotting and can hold your balance in releve, you will finally be ready to actually do the turning, which is what makes a pirouette a pirouette. Repeat Steps 1 through 3 and then quickly turn toward your right shoulder instead of ending at the releve. Be sure to spot and stay in one place as you turn. Land the pirouette by bringing your right leg down to the floor from passe, returning to fourth position with your right leg straight, your left leg in plie and your arms to the same fourth position in which they began. If you want to pirouette to the left, repeat all of the steps but reversing the leg and arm positions.