Increasing Turnout
Dancing Smart Newsletter
July 1, 2005
Announcements:
Doesn't it seem like the summer is going by quickly? I can hardly believe that July is here! Before we jump into our question of the week let me announce if anyone is having problems ordering products from thebodyseries.com, please email me directly at DeborahVogel@thebodyseries.com. I'd be happy to assist and also want to know when and if the website is being contrary.
Secondly, I have a question for the studio owners on this list. If you interested in increasing revenues for your studio through purchasing my new book, Tune Up Your Turnout, at a discount and selling it at retail please contact me. I would love to spread the word and help as many dancers as possible understand the ins and outs of turnout!
Onto the question of the week from Maia.
Question of the Week
I am recently increasing the amount of ballet classes I am taking (I have decreased the amount of Modern classes), because I am focusing on improving my Ballet technique. I have noticed my connection with my rotation and feet is really lacking. Is it the crossover from parallel to turnout? I would really like to strengthen my pointe and turnout quickly. (I am already using theraband, doing tendus, relev³s, using the Chinerina foot stretcher 2x to 3x daily) Do you have any additional insight that can help me? Maia
Deb's Answer
Each dance style has it's own requirements and demands. I'm sure that increasing the amount of ballet classes will bring more focus to your turnout although it may take a few months to truly see a change. Remember, it takes time to change the flexibility or strength of a muscle.
It sounds like you are focusing your efforts on strengthening the turnout muscles. This is a good place to start. I might encourage you practice your tendus without holding onto the barre. For example, tendu in any direction, lift the leg a few inches off the ground, turn the leg in, then turn it out, and return to first position. The reasoning behind periodically doing a barre without the barre is that it is easier to monitor the standing leg and how well it is stabilizing your turnout. Too often even a light touch upon the barre allows you to seemingly stay aligned while what is really happening is that you've got a small torque going between the standing leg and the pelvis.
Monitoring the standing leg and its turnout is the key to using your turnout efficiently. Without the barre to support you it is easy to feel when you begin to roll in on the standing foot as the gesture leg turns out more than it is anatomically prepared to do.
When I taught pre-ballet or beginning ballet classes to young dancers, we didn't use the barre for a very long time. I wanted to make sure that they understood how to stand on their legs and balance and transfer weight from one foot to the other, without the crutch of the barre. It may sound that I am anti-barre. I'm not. It's more that I am for exploring many ways to stabilize your turnout. Some of my favorite ways to do this are described on pages 92-95 of Tune Up Your Turnout. Start standing in first position, then lift one foot to coup³. You will be monitoring the standing leg as you move the gesture leg from the side pass³ to parallel and back to pass³. The tendency is to allow the pelvis to move slightly with the gesture leg, don't let it. Keep your pelvis facing front the whole time. Notice that as you return the gesture leg to the side, if you take it farther than what you either have in the hip that the weight on the standing leg will roll in, you may feel a twist at the knee, and your pelvis will shift its facing towards your gesture leg.
What I want you to also check, Maia, is the flexibility of your hip flexors, specifically the iliopsoas muscles. It is very common to find that tightness in the iliopsoas muscles makes it harder to utilize your turnout in the standing position. The reason is a tight iliopsoas will keep you from standing easily in an upright position. A dancer with a tight iliopsoas will have a tendency to stand with a slight swayback or forward pitch to the pelvis, which they correct by using the gluteal and hamstring muscles to tuck the pelvis under, making it look right.
A third place you might look is to evaluate the balance between flexibility and strength of the turnout muscles. If you are always working to turning out without doing some turning in or stretching to those muscles, they will get tight. Tight muscles don't have optimal muscle tone and will fatigue faster.
These are just a few suggestions for you to try. I hope they inspire some new thoughts and patterns of moving! Until next week,
On with the dance!
Deborah