See Spot. See Spot, Turn. Turn, Spot, Turn.

A critical element in executing turning patterns well is the ability to spot, or limit the number of focal points a dancer chooses while turning.  A dancer can experience a feeling of vertigo, dizziness, and loss of balance if s/he allows her/his eyes to look in every possible direction while turning.  Spotting will keep the eyes focused on one or two targets, reducing the feeling of vertigo and dizziness.  In addition, spotting will help a dancer keep his/her balance and maintain better control over the speed of the turn itself.

In order to spot well, a dancer needs to control the difference in speed between the head and the body.  The body will be turning at whatever speed is necessary for the pattern to be completed properly.  Over the course of the turn(s,) the head will vary in speed.  First it will move slowly to maintain its connection to the focal point.  Then it will move quickly to regain the connection after the neck reaches its natural limit.

Spotting in stages:

1. The shoulders start turning either to the left or the right.
2. The dancer will keep his/her eyes focused on their spot (usually the dance partner or a focal point behind his/her partner) until the dancer can no longer keep the visual connection due to the neck reaching its natural limit of rotation.
3. The dancer will move his/her head around to the other side of the body to recover eye connection with their focal point as quickly as possible.  The eyes will then lock onto that focal point until the turn is completed or the neck again reaches its limit (as when executing multiple turns.)

Here are images of the process, respectively:

For a sense of the fluidity of the spotting process, below is a link to a video clip demonstrating the spotting exercise:

Spotting exercise clip.

A great method for practicing spotting is to face a mirror and move your body slowly around in a circle (as if in the middle of a clock face, slowly moving forward or back in time), using your reflection as your spot.

A more advanced method of spotting is to use two spots.  This process is very often used when performing successive traveling turns.    For this method, a dancer will use his/her partner (or anything else near the point of origin of the turn) and another point opposite the point of origin for the spots.

Be kind to your brain when practicing.  Turn in both directions in equal number, either in sets or alternating.  Even with good training, turning will take a toll on the fluids in your brain.