Developes to second...using wrong muscles!

[Guest thepinkfairy]

Whenever I do developes to second, I am gripping my opposite bum "cheek" ! I have tried but I don't know how to relax this muscle, and I also am in need of any exercises/tips to teach myself to isolate my bum muscles to my turnout muscles. And also when I do developes to second is my supporting side supposed to that pulled up that its straight?

[Mel Johnson]

Welcome, pinkfairy, to the Young Dancers' Forums here at Ballet Talk for Dancers on Ballet Alert! Online!

 

"Gripping" with muscles is never good, whether it's on the supporting or working side. You should feel lifted out of the supporting hip when doing developpé in any direction. Also, you must maintain placement and alignment insofar as it's possible. The shoulders have to be over the hips, the hips over the knees, the knees over the toes and so on. Obviously, when you're working, the working leg is going to be out of those lines, but still, things have to remain level. Often, students will drop a shoulder on the working side and crumple at the midriff in an effort to "power-lift" the leg, particularly in seconde. That's bad. In arabesques, of course, the body has to incline forward and upward, and the working hip open slightly in order to make some room for the gluteals. In quatrieme devant and seconde, obviously, you don't have to make room for them, so the hips remain squared off. You don't need isolation nearly as much as you need co-ordination of all your resources so that you remain in control.

[Victoria Leigh]

Pinkfairy, the gluteal muscles must work for the all the rotators to work. You can't leave your "bum" relaxed on the standing leg and expect to have any strength and balance, maintain rotation, and be placed well, in a developpé or extension anywhere! However, as Mr. Johnson said, you do not "grip" them. You must learn to "use" them, so that they are strong, but not grip them, which would cause tucking under. The standing leg is your "foundation", just like with a building. You have to put the rest of the "building" on top of it, which means the weight of the body is over the standing leg, therefore it must be very strong or the building crumbles.

[Guest thepinkfairy]

OK Thanks heaps! I think I know what Miss Leigh means with not gripping the bum muscle but still using it. I will try improving with your tips. Thanks!

[Guest thepinkfairy]

When I do developes to seconde I realised that my bum muscle looked like it wasnt gripped because I could use the muscles to actually grip it, but it didn't change the shape, it was just more harder. Is this ok?

[Mel Johnson]

Gripping the glutes like that isn't good. It eventually produces the phenomenon called "balloon bottom" from overdeveloping those muscles. This is not to be mistaken for "baboon butt", which is caused by using toilet seats made from sumac wood.

[Victoria Leigh]

The muscle should be hard when in use, pinkfairy. I think you may be confusing gripping with "using". If you leave the muscle loose, there is no support there. But if you "grip", you are over using it, to the point where it pushes under and then you are sitting in your leg.

[Guest thepinkfairy]

Thanks... Ok so now I know my bum is allowed to be tense when working, just to be careful not to grip it...correct me if i'm wrong!

[Mel Johnson]

That's correct; I did a developpé a la seconde today and then "gripped" my glutes. My hips tipped WAY forward and out of alignment, so use = good, grip = bad!