Baby Bunions

Dancing Smart Newsletter
June 6, 2006

Announcements

Pointe Magazine has published an article by me in the current June/July issue called Turnout Builders. This is a two part series, and this was the first one. In it I test two young dancers' turnout and give them exercises to improve their usage. This week I returned to NY to retest their turnout and am very pleased to announce there was improvement!

Now onto the question of the week from Maureen….

Question of the Week

Deb's Answer

Kudos to you for having your students periodically taking barre barefoot! Another really good test of alignment is to have your students periodically take barre in the center (without the barre!)

Back to the topics of bunions. There are differing opinions whether bunions are hereditary or not. It is certainly true that women are more apt to develop bunions than men, and often they run in families. I am on the side of physicians that say bunions are caused by a biomechanical dysfunction of the foot – for example – you pronate because you have hyperextended knees. The hyperextended knees are hereditary, or extra flexible joints are influenced by your genetics, which can both play into the possibility of creating bunions. (In this particular scenario working to correct the hyperextension would be the focus, which will improve their foot usage)

The amount of dance they are taking probably isn't the reason for their beginning bunion formation, although I have seen many young dancers who have forced their turnout by overly rotating at the feet rather than at the hips, and feel quite strongly that it was this pattern of turning the feet out instead of their femurs that caused their bunions. I would stake my reputation on that fact. Many years ago I saw a young SAB dancer, age 11, whose feet were deformed and showing arthritic changes. It made such a deep impression on me, as this child was a budding ballerina whose potential was cut short by poor technique. She had created a beautiful 180 degree first position, and didn't have anywhere near that amount of turnout at her hips. Grrr.. it still makes me mad to think about it! (Another good reason to read the article in Pointe magazine, which focuses on the functional usage of your turnout)

The way to correct bunions is to correct how the weight is passing through the foot. They should always be standing with the weight equal between the pads of the big toe, little toe and heel. Watch these young dancers when they are just standing around, are they rolling in one or both of their feet? It may be useful to point out to their parents what you are noticing about their feet and suggest they take them to a podiatrist for further evaluation. Often orthotics are very useful at times like these and will help keep the foot from rolling in.

Flip flops should be banned (in my humble opinion) except when walking between the car and the beach or water. They make horrible walking shoes! Strengthening the intrinsic muscles of the foot is in order, by doing exercises such as fanning the toes and doming the foot that I have described before.

It may be a good idea to take pictures of our students' feet – at least the ones we want to keep a watch on. A picture is worth a thousand words, I know my college students upon seeing the pictures I take of them standing sideways in parallel and facing front, are amazed at what they see. The comment I hear most is "I didn't have any idea my posture looked like that!"

On another note, congratulations to all the students who are graduating from high school or college this year. It does take a village to raise a child – and the local dance teacher is a very important member of the village!

Warm regards,

Deborah

"Education is the key to injury prevention"

Copyright ©2003-2006 The Body Series. All Rights Reserved.

Deborah Vogel is a dancer, author, and master teacher who conducts workshops across the U.S. for both student and professional dancers. Her numerous articles on dance technique and injury prevention have appeared in Dance Spirit and Dance Teacher magazines. She is the Director of the Institute for Performance Studies and a faculty member at Oberlin College and the OC Conservatory of Music. During her years in NYC she co- founded the Center for Dance Medicine. Deborah makes her home in Oberlin, Ohio.