Sore Knees

[ccdancer4life]

Sometimes when I am doing plies my knees become sore. This only happens during grand plies and they never hurt enough to effect my dancing. Is this unusual? Could be the sign that I will have a seious injury?

[Mel Johnson]

Are you letting your knees track forward of your toes in the plié? That's not good, and indicates that you're not rotating the turned-out legs from the hip. Either increase the rotation or decrease the turnout so that your knees travel in the same direction that the toes point when they're on the floor. Letting the knees go forward is potentially dangerous.

[Victoria Leigh]

If you must do grand pliés, which actually one can live without quite well, then be VERY sure that you are busy going UP when you are bending, and push down with the feet to come up. Keep the body resisting upward against the downward movement, and NEVER settle at the bottom. Personally, I say that if they hurt your knees, don't do them, except maybe in second, which should not hurt. And definitely eliminate ANY grand pliés in 4th!!!

[ccdancer4life]

But aren't grand plies important. I always thought they used muscles that you aren't using in just demis.

[Victoria Leigh]

They are not important enough to wreck your knees doing them. I've known many dancers who have danced quite well for many years without them. I would not give up second position grand, but the others are really not that critical at all. And 4th, IMO, is totally unnecessary.

[ccdancer4life]

Thank you so much. I don't know if I will be able to stop doing them in class, but I will stop practicing them a home.

Edited May 21, 2008 by ccdancer4life