rear extension

[Guest *Victoria*]

Hi,

 

I have had problems with my rear extension. I can't lift my leg very high behind me and i wondering if there are any way to improve it.

 

Love victoria.

[Mel Johnson]

A lot of people have trouble with rear extensions because they are trying to hold themselves perfectly upright, and keep the hips perfectly square to the front when they take a quatrième derrière position, and that won't work. You've got a back bumper in the way, and there is just no way to get extension higher in the rear without MOVING the rear out of the way! In order to do this, you must lift the hip of the "working" leg (they both work, but you know what I mean!) just slightly in order to allow the thigh to rise to its potential. At the same time, the upper body pulls up and forward - not a lean, but on a sort of diagonal in order to allow full travel in the leg, and to provide a counterbalance, otherwise, back you go, and [CRASH!]

[Guest RachelD]

I had this problem too. I tried to lift my leg from underneath not by using my back to get my leg up. I had to tilt my back forward like Mel Johnson said. My teacher told me that some people can lift their leg better by using their back more and her leg not as much but other people will do better by lifting their leg more and not using their back so much. You just have to find which one works better for you.

[Guest Tia5678]

Like Rachel, my class-mate said, you can't really concentrate on your leg getting up and staying upright at the same time. First you should work on getting your leg as high as you can, then work on the little stuff like hips squared, and back upright. You'll get it in no time, good luck!

[Victoria Leigh]

No, it's really not a matter of what works for you. Nor do you keep the hips "squared". What works is the right line, achieved by the right movement and placement. The body does not lean or tilt forward. It MOVES slightly forward and upward, in order to allow the leg to lift without the derrière being in the way. Read Mr. Johnson's post again. One cannot remain totally upright, nor maintain totally square hips and achieve a rotated positon in an arabesque or attitude at 90º or above. I prefer to think of the hip opening slightly, as opposed to lifting, however, it will definitely not remain square if you expect to get your leg up in a rotated position.