Turnout is the ability of a dancer to turn his or her feet and legs out from the hip joints into a 90-degree position. It is important when forming any position in ballet but especially first and fifth, as well as lifting the leg en l'air (in the air). Although this definition says 90 degrees, not everyone's body is made the same. Many dancers have a problem with turn out. Turn out is a combination of flexibility and strength originating from the hip, continuing through the knee, ankle and foot.
First, improving flexibility or the range of motion in the hip can increase turnout. Stretching should be done often and gently.
The first stretch is known as the frog. Start laying on your belly and bring your knees into a diamond shape. Feet should be touching and as close to the floor as possible. Hips should be flat on the floor, feet in the air if needed. You can have a partner gently push down on your feet if needed. If the feet are flat, like the image shows, you may open the feet to deepen the stretch. Make sure the weight is over the hips. Your side and thighs should create a 90-degree angle.
Second is the butterfly. This can be done sitting on your bum with your knees once again making a diamond shape. You can gently pressed down on your knees and/or stretch forward, aiming to get the belly button towards the floor. A friend can help you as well, gently pressing down for you. This can also be done laying on your back, similar to a frog. Knees can be bent into a diamond, or a demi plie. Very gently, a friend can press down on the thighs right above the knee.
The third pose, fire log, is great for releasing the gluteus muscle. Sit on your butt just as you were in the butterfly. With knees bent, cross one on top of the other and try to relax down. For some, they may feel this immediately. Others, may like to stretch forward to increase the stretch. Make sure to breathe and do both sides!
Strengthening should also be done often to assure injury does not occur. If a dancer or gymnast forces turn out they do not have, this can often lead to the foot pronating inward causing stress on the ankle and knee, This is what pronating looks like, it is not correct. When you plie your knee should be directly over your toes. Imagine jumping and landing with either the knee or ankle pronating inwards, wouldn't feel too good.
The dancer above is forcing turnout and rolling in towards her big toe. A correct first position should have all five toes flat on the ground and arches lifted, as shown below.
Rolling in can be avoided with proper stretching with a combination of strengthening. There are many muscles in the hip and quad that help initiate turn out. The muscles around the knee and ankle should also be stabilized and strengthened to avoid injury. However, in this article we will talk about the main muscles that initiate your turnout. The main muscles we use are called rotators and include the obturate internus, obturate externus, quadratus femoris, gemellus inferior, gemellus superior and the gluteus maximus. When using these muscles, we want to think about maintaining the pelvis and lower spine (not arching) and moving the femur within the hip socket. Remember to breathe — inhale on preparation and exhale on movement.
Start laying down in the frog position. With heels touching together, pelvis neutral so the back is not arched, take an inhale. While exhaling, contract the abdominals and squeeze the heels together. This creates a contraction in the rotators and the gluteus maximus. Hold for six seconds and then release, do this 10 to 12 times, Another variation of this would be to lay on the back, similar to the butterfly stretch. Place a small exercise ball under each knee. Without changing the pelvis or back, press down on the balls. Hold the contraction for six seconds and then repeat.
Another great thing for the inner thighs and gluteus are called clammys. Start laying on your side with knees bent beneath you. Lifting the knee of the top leg works the gluteus, do several repetitions here. Lift the knee and hold it there, as shown in picture B. From there, move the top leg's shin up and down, turning in the leg and then turning it back out, keeping the knee stable. Do several repetitions and then keep the top leg in the turned in position. From there, bring your knees together, keeping it turned in. You can also do many variations of this. Battements and developes are excellent to build muscle strength in this position as well.
Lastly, in turning out, you want to bring your inner thighs forward. These muscles can be strengthened several ways. Beat, beat, open can help strengthen the inner thighs. Start laying on your back with the legs up to the ceiling. Turning the feet out in a nice pointed fifth position, beat one foot in front of the other and then switch, similar to the image below. After that, open your legs into a straddle as far as you can go. If popping occurs, make a smaller straddle. Repeat to build muscle as needed.
Remember to do an equal amount stretching and strengthening! Too much of either can cause injury! Hope this helps and always remember turn out from your hip!
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