subject: Ballet Dancing and How To Improve Your Turnout [print this page] Ballet Dancing and How To Improve Your Turnout
Improving on your existing turnout is a constant battle for ballet dancers all over the world. Everyone is asking how they can achieve this safely and effectively.Working on turnout is not an overnight thing. Turnout is something that needs to be worked on with years of ballet training. If you are taught to use the correct muscles, then your turnout will improve over time with careful technique and strengthening of the muscles.Beware of trying to force your turnout. Just because the girl in front of you has 180 degree turnout, doesn't mean you must try and out do her. By forcing the feet outwards, you are only going to cause long term damage to your knees, ankles, hips and spine.When you are working on your turnout, take your thoughts away from your feet and work from your hips. To check that you are not turning out your feet too much, stand in first position and do a demi plie. Your knees should comfortably go outwards over your toes. Adjust your feet until this is the case, and this will be the correct amount of turnout for you. Make sure that your entire foot is on the floor when standing with turnout. If your feet are rolling forward, that is also a sign of turning out way too much.Besides working on your turnout through your technique and by squeezing the tail down to get the legs to turn out more, there are some exercises and stretches that you can do to improve on your turn out.To strengthen the abductors, which are the muscles on the outside of your hips/top of leg, and the muscles that you use to faciliate the turning out of the legs, you can try lying on your side with your legs bent at ninety degrees in front of you. Tie a thera band around your legs and lift your top leg up and down until you feel the muscles burning. Repeat on the other side. You can also do this exercise sitting tall with your knees bent in front of you and the band tied around your knees. Now you separate your knees and bring them back together again slowly until you feel the burn.Sitting facing the wall with the legs splayed out to the side in a split position is also good. Try and get as close to the wall as you can, and thus open the legs as wide as you can. You can also try lying with your butt against the wall and your legs opened out on the wall. The longer you hold this position, the more gravity will pull your legs down to the floor. Just be warned that it is not easy to get out of this position in a hurry.Sitting in a frog position with your feet together and aiming to get your knees down is also good, but try and get an extra stretch in your hips by aiming your belly button down to the floor in front of you. In this position, you can also strengthen the adductors by pressing your knees up against the palms of your hands and then releasing and trying to get the knees even closer to the floor.Remember, turnout takes time and patience and should never be forced. Respect and look after your body now, and you should enjoy a pain free old age.
