More tendus...

[L' Allegro]

I feel like when I close my foot in back when doing tendus to the side to 5th, that i'm slightly sickling. I'm turning out all I can. At least, I THINK I am. What's going wrong?

[Mel Johnson]

It's unusual for a sickle to show when the foot is flexed as it is in a closed fifth position. Are you sure that you don't mean rolling?

[balletboyrhys]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i think she means that she's sickling before she closes into fifth when doing tendus a la seconde.

[Victoria Leigh]

Which, IF she is definitely hyperextended, means that she brings it in and then has to push the heel forward, which would not happen if she could lift out of the standing leg enough to bring the leg in straight, even if there is a TINY space between the heel of the working foot and the toe of the standing foot. This problem happens a) to very hyperextended people who have not yet learned to control it; and b ) to people who sit in their supporting leg even if they are not hyperextended.

[L' Allegro]

What would sitting in my supporting leg feel like? That never occured to me, and whenever I look in the mirror it looks like everything is aligned correctly. And I'm not that hyperextended- just a little. Not that noticable. Could it have to do with turnout? I don't have much turnout.

[Victoria Leigh]

Yes, it could have to do with rotation, however, it probably also has to do with placement. You need to use the muscles at the top of the supporting thigh and the buttocks, and feel like the body is lifted up out of those muscles, and the weight of the body is over the forward part of that foot, so that you are not back in your heel.