feet and turnout

[Guest kella]

Hi there

 

My teacher says to our class "use your natural turnout" in class. I would like to know if we should push our turnout a little more than what we naturally have? Would that help to improve it?

 

Also, when pointing ones feet while at the barre etc, should you point your foot as far/hard as you can ?(keeping proper alignment of course) Is that how one strengthens the feet?

 

I just want to have this clarified and the other day my teacher stood in front of me and told me to really point my feet exclaiming how much nicer it looked.

 

Thanks

 

kella

[Mel Johnson]

At this stage of the game, take don't try to force anything, but work on increasing your "natural" turnout and point of the foot just a bit farther than is "natural"! Pointing the foot as hard as you can might lead to muscle spasms and cramps. Just do a little more each time, and over time, the aspect, whether turnout or foor articulation will improve safely.

[Redbookish]

Kella, I don't have very good feet (strong on flat, but not much 'pretty' arch or instep) so I have to think all the time about keeping them pointed. What I've found helps me is to think about stretching along an imaginary line from my shin, through the centre of my foot, over my instep and beyond my toes, as if my toes are reaching beyond my body. This stops me scrunching the toes to make 'pretty' point.

 

I got this tip when I worked with a contemporary dance colleague teaching dance & movement for actors. We were watching the solo dance piece of a student who had conventionally 'beautiful' feet - high arch & instep - but his comment was that she was focussed too much on making a pretty point of her toes, that she had forgotten about the line of her leg from her hip to beyond her toes. The over-emphasis of the effort of pointing (and scrunching) her toes compromised her line. So I tell myself to really stretch my feet at the end of my legs, rather than point them. Same in tendu - work through the floor and stretch to point tendu. Elongate! as one teacher would always side-coach us.

 

Sounds odd, I know, but that's what helps me work my less-than-pretty feet. And when I'm really working hard that way, I sometimes get the comment 'Good use of the floor' - I really like that one, because I have to work so hard for it!

[Victoria Leigh]

Good stuff there, Redbookish The foot is an extension of the leg, and the energy to point the foot must come from the center of the body, actually, and extend throughout the leg and beyond the foot!

 

kella, think of of pointing the whole leg, making sure that the shape of the leg is correct and rotated, creating the line of either a front, side or back extension or tendu.