Développé

[Guest su-lian]

I have a problem with my développés à la seconde. I can't lift my leg higher than about 90°(a tiny bit more), but if I do the pied dans la main (nearly 180°, just a little bit less) and then let go of my leg, I can keep it up at about 140-150°. Why is this? How can I improve my développés? Also, but I suppose this is normal because of the human anatomy, my legs are more turned out at 140-150° than at 90°, even though I have improved a bit on my turn out in seconde. It's still frustrating though!

Thanks for any help.

Su-lian.

[Victoria Leigh]

su-lian, I think we can all get our leg higher when using an external force which pulls it up there! Doing a développé, where you have nothing to pull the leg up, is much harder than if you use your hand or if your teacher lifts it up higher. Even if you are quite flexible, it takes a long time to develop the strength to get the leg to 140 or 150º, in a rotated position, and standing in correct alignment. But, that's one of the main reason ballet is so difficult and that it takes so long to train a dancer ;)

 

When practicing your développés try using the exhale right at the moment of extension. Inhale on the retiré, lift the thigh, and exhale as you extend the leg. It's not magic, but it can help you, especially in making the hamstrings do more of the work and not gripping the quads.

[Guest Nadezhda]

If you don't keep your hips really square in pied dans la main or if you twist them to the side, this may help you get your leg higher, but it won't really help you with your developpes, since with the later it's really impossible to get your leg up to a decent height without having at least a neat alignment.

 

I hope that helps.

[Guest su-lian]

Thank you both for your help. I don't think it's a problem of alignment though, so it's probably a problem of strength, but then why is it that I can do a développé "en quatrième devant" at about 130-140° but not in seconde? Which are the hamstrings and which are the quads (I'm not used to those sort of terms in english, sorry)?

Su-lian.

[Guest Nadezhda]

Very basically, quads are the large muscles at the front of your leg and hamstrings are smaller muscles at the back of your leg. If you stood in sixth position and then bent over the legs with your body, then you would be stretching hamstrings. Any additional info is welcome, since I'm not yet an expert in human anatomy.

[Victoria Leigh]

Su-lian, if you have it on the front developpé, with the correct hip placement and rotation, then you should have it at the side too. Generally front is harder than side. You may be moving your hip forward in your front extension, which would allow it to go higher but not be in proper placement and rotation.

[Guest su-lian]

Thank you once again for this. I don't think I move my hip forward when I do a développé in front, but I'll check. I'll just have to start working even more on the développés seconde anyway!

Su-lian.

[Guest su-lian]

Sorry to dig that one up again! I know there's another thread on développé seconde at the moment, but I thought I wouldn't interfere with it and find this one again.

I've been thinking about it...and still can't really find what's wrong. We've already said it wasn't a problem of flexibility or alignment. So now, there's only strength left, isn't there? I said earlier that if I let go of my leg during "pied dans la main", I managed to keep it up at about 140°, but not while doing a développé. Now, there are two types of développé that we do: the slow ones we do at the barre and the fast ones on pointe that we do in some variations (like in Tchaikovsky pas de deux, but not that quick, probably, but you see what I mean, don't you?). While doing the first ones, I probably get to 100° if I struggle a lot (and then I get told off because my shoulders go up, but that's something else, my shoulders go up when I find something difficult, not only in ballet), but I can hold them there (shoulders up:mad: ), and while doing the second ones, I can get to 140° (or maybe a bit more, but I'm not sure), but I can't really hold them that long. So I can't really understand, because if I can lift them there (without external help) during the fast développés, it means the problem is not lifting the legs, but if I can hold it once the leg is up (after pied dans la main), then the problem is not keeping it up. Is there something wrong in this reasoning, or am I probably doing something else wrong (which is probably the case:( ), or am I just weird?

Sorry if it just sounds the same as previously, but I thought it was different and that I might as well try to check it out. By the way, I think my measuring of my développé in front was wrong, it's probably only about 110°, maybe 120°, so that would explain more.

[Guest su-lian]

Sorry, I just realised both threads have exactly the same title. Would it be possible to change mine (I wouldn't like to interfere with the other one) to something like développé seconde or whatever (I don't mind). Thank you!