overturned out?

[opie]

Ive been really working on my turn out and more specific to my question on getting my heels forward in grande plies. I had two classes back to back yesterday and in the second class when I did grande plies in first and fifth my feet looked like they were about 165-170 maybe. My natural turnout is about 150-155 (although after class Ive noticed if I sit down and rotate my feet outward my turnout appears to have increased a little since before class). My question is whether having my feet rotated at 165-170 was bad for me, I felt like I was using my turnout muscles, I wasn't rolling in, my knees didn't hurt or anything and I held it while I did a cambre back. But, I had six years of bad training prior to this were I forced my turnout to 180, rolled in, and didn't really understand the concept of turnout at all. I haven't had any problems from that yet but I would hate to increase the chance my forcing my turnout now. Was this overturning out?

Edited February 24, 2008 by opie

[Mel Johnson]

My question is whether having my feet rotated at 170 was bad for me(?)

 

Not if your knees were also rotated to 170°. That's just as it should be. Proceed and progress!

[opie]

I'm pretty sure they were and I felt like I was using my turnout muscles. Can your capacity to turnout increase then? By stretching, using your turnout muscles correctly, etc? Because that gives me some hope as someone who isn't borne with 180 that maybe I can hold 170 all the time and not just when I'm coming up from a plie.

[Mel Johnson]

Sure-that's the way it works. Make the most of what you've got, and aim for the ideal. If you don't get quite there by a couple of degrees - eeeennnhhh! Let it slide, the teachers will say, as long as you are shooting for perfection. None of us will be perfect in every respect immediately, we just have to do as well as we can with what we have now and keep working!

[opie]

Thanks for the reply I'm working on it. I've only been taking ballet properly for two and a half years so my teachers are always reminding me that "Rome wasn't built in a day".

Edited February 24, 2008 by opie

[WaltzingThroughMyDreams]

Your post reminds me of something that's been frustrating me a bit lately. My hips are naturally pretty tight, so I need to spend a good amount of time before class really warming up my hip joints so that I can use my turnout to the best of my ability. No matter how much I warm up/stretch though, my turnout doesn't really reach its maximum until the end of class! So it seems that taking two technique classes back to back is the only way to start class with really good turnout, since I spend barre during the first class of the day trying to work up to my maximum turnout.

 

Just fyi, I'm not advocating taking two technique classes every day - just commenting that my turnout would be so much better if I did that.

[opie]

Actually, I sometimes feel the same way. I felt like I was really using my muscles and feeling my turnout much better in the second class. I felt much better placed. I also have tight hips...but until recently I have been a very tense dancer (which I am now working hard to fix, and has gotten much better) So I think that has contributed to my tightness. I do feel like I have to really sort of "rework" my turnout each class(1 class a day 6 days), but the worst is the break from Saturday's class to Monday's class. That class almost always feels like I'm reworking things. Not just turnout but everything else too.

Edited February 26, 2008 by opie

[WaltzingThroughMyDreams]

I do feel like I have to really sort of "rework" my turnout each class

 

You're right opie, you sound exactly like me! The word reworking is really the perfect word for it - now the challenge is just to "speed up" the reworking process a bit so that we can show off our turnout at barre!

[opie]

exactly