Hyperextended Knees

[irishdncr]

The other day my dance teacher told me to consider buying pointe shoes within the next month. (This made me really happy because earlier she gave me the impression that I wouldn't get on pointe until september.) However she said that she wouldn't allow me allow me to start point unless i strengthened my knees (which are hyperextended). I currently do an exercise that my instructor gave me but I was wondering if anyone knew of any exercises for hyperextended knees.

[Mel Johnson]

Let's work from the known to the unknown.

 

What exercise did your teacher give you to do? There are a lot of them that could help, and it would be good to know what you're doing already.

 

And welcome to Ballet Talk for Dancers!

[Xandra]

I always thought my hyper extended knees were good for a dancer.

[Mel Johnson]

They're good for some things, but for others, they're hazards. They do usually come equipped with the quality of making developpés easier, but they do make knee injuries more likely, if the legs are not used correctly.

[toedancer]

How does hyper-extension make developpés easier?

[Mel Johnson]

That's a good question. I wish I had a good answer for it. All I know is that hyper-extended dancers are very often able to do developpés more easily than say, bow-legged dancers, who are better at jumps.

[americanlostinUK]

hmm, i wish i had that quality. i've got the hyperextended knees but my developees are still pretty bad

[Mel Johnson]

Wish I had you in my class. Extension (getting the leg up there) is something I can train in. In hyperextended dancers, experience has taught me what to do to help, and it comes more easily for them. Perhaps the flexibility of the joints is involved, dunno!

[DancingDoodles]

I have hyperextended knees and they look great when I'm on pointe, but I have trouble getting my legs together in first and getting good turnout in fifth. I think my hips are already stretched out enough because all the other positions I can do with pretty good turnout. Do you have any exercises that might help me? Any suggestions would be great...

[Mel Johnson]

Work in first position with your legs appearing straight, but a small gap between the heels. The same goes for fifth position, except in this case, you make the fifth a very short fourth, with the legs again appearing straight, rather than locked back. The strengthening comes from working this way while pulling up through the legs.

[balletismylife07]

I have hyper extended kness and am bow-legged. I'm not sure what to think about that, but neither one has gotten SERIOUSLY in my way in the past, though straight kness in 5th are a constant struggle. Are there things to watch out for when I'm dancing so that I do not injure my knees/legs?

[ami1436]

knock knock....

 

There was a thread about arque and a bit of hyperextension on the Adult Ballet Students section recently:

 

http://dancers.invisionzone.com/index.php?...topic=25294&hl=

 

I seem to benefit more from the arque and less from the hyperextension (although again, the hyperextension is not that great).

 

Ease in developpes? Never for me! (Methinks I need to get myself to Mr. Johnson's class someday! )