Q: I don’t have the turnout I wish I had. I’m somewhat knock-kneed and I’m wondering if this is affecting my rotation. A: Being knock-kneed does not determine the amount of turnout you have at the hip, but it will influence how easily you can stand in fifth and third positions. Both positions are a […]
Q: My students have varying degrees of turnout, but it’s clear to me they aren’t always using what they have. Any suggestions on how to help them? A: Great question! Let’s address this with an exercise in standing. Start in first position and lift the left foot off the ground (still rotated), with your toes […]
Q: I have a friend who was diagnosed with a labral tear. She said it’s becoming more common among dancers. Is there a way to prevent this? A: Labral tears are being diagnosed more often because our ability to see inside the hip capsule with arthrograms and MRIs is getting better. That being said, I […]
Turnout is one of the defining characteristics of classical ballet and the foundation of your technique, but the deceptively simple concept of external rotation can be hard to execute. For those born with hip joints that don’t naturally make a tight fifth position, it’s tempting to take shortcuts in the quest for more rotation, but […]
Turnout—the outward rotation of the hips that dancers are constantly striving to improve. Yet few actually have the 180-degree outward rotation that is so idealized. In her 40-plus years of working as a movement analyst, Deborah Vogel has only come across a handful of dancers who have it. “That’s structural,” she says. “They have a […]
Irene Dowd’s third-year students at The Juilliard School sound more like they’re in medical school than a dance class, citing complex kinesiology terms and muscle names, like multifidus and iliocostalis. But instead of memorizing the vocabulary with index cards and textbooks, the students in Dowd’s anatomy/kinesiology class come ready to move. “Motor-learning specialists have found […]
Whether a dancer has too much or too little, turnout can be one of the most frustrating aspects of technique. Students often feel they must achieve 180-degree rotation to become successful in the field. In reality, the average person only has 45 degrees of external rotation in each leg, meaning their first position should be […]
There’s no such thing as too much inspiration, right? Right! Here are some inspiring posts to keep your motivation for the year ahead high, flexible and balanced, or whatever your New Year’s goals may be. Dance photographer @jordanmatter’s post is a good reminder to bend over backwards in 2020 (but only if you’re feelin’ it). […]
How does having wide hips affect my turnout? The width of your hips doesn’t influence how much turnout you have at the joint. Turnout is determined by your hip joint structure and the muscle balance around the joint. That being said, having wider hips can influence turnout in fourth and fifth positions because of how […]
Like many dancers, I was taught to hold my hips square when standing in fourth and fifth positions. However, in a recent professional development course, I was told the following: “The hips cannot anatomically be square in fourth or fifth. The dancer must not try to hold them square—it is neither possible nor desirable. For […]