Picture the knee joint as a crowded intersection in a busy city, with people and cars moving through it: up and down, from side to side. When this junction is flowing smoothly, traffic is a breeze and it is easy to get to where you need to be. But when there is an accident or […]
Q: Despite stretching, my knees stay at least a foot off the ground when I sit or lie down in butterfly. When I gently push my knees down, I feel a sharp pain deep in the hip joint. What can I do? A: There are wide variations in hip-joint shapes and facings. The socket can […]
Q: I’ve just seen the most extreme case of hyperextension I’ve encountered in 30 years of teaching. When the dancer stands in second position, her knees are only a few inches apart. How can I help her have a beautiful line without hurting herself? A: Hyperextended lines are revered and desired, yet research shows that […]
Q: My daughter was recently told that her hyperextended knees are causing her hips to sway out, which is inhibiting her ability to get over on the box of her pointe shoes. She had a significant growth spurt in the past year, could this be part of the problem? Can things be corrected, and what […]
One of my dancers has knee pain that is baffling me. She dances 5–6 hours a week and has had the pain for a few months. She says it doesn’t hurt until she starts dancing, and certain strenuous movements make it worse. She says the pain is at the bottom of her kneecap and mentioned […]
I dislocated my right kneecap, and it popped right back into place while I was doing a lunge stretch at the barre. When I went down, my right kneecap went out and then somehow ended up back in line. Also, when I turn, sometimes I feel a little weirdness in my knee. Is it possible […]