Hyper-extended elbows??

[Josiex33]

I have really weird elbows - I guess they are hyperextended, and it makes problems for me in high fifth position, because it's hard for me to rotate them so that from the side, my elbow is in back of my forearm, and I am not covering my face. I feel like the only way that they are in the proper position is when I bend my arms so much that my hands are only a couple inches above my head. (i'm sorry if I didn't explain that well.) Do you have any advice? Thank you very much!

[Victoria Leigh]

Josie, I understand totally about hyperextended elbows. Mine were gross. You can never totally straighten them. In terms of 5th en haut, push back the inside of the upper arm, keeping the elbow bent, but still stretch up as far as you can. Make sure you are feeling the arms from the back muscles, just below the shoulder blades. Don't shorten the position, as that does not work at all. Think of rotating the arm outward.

[Josiex33]

Ahh! They're terrible aren't they? But thank you! I will work on that.

[balletbabe31]

I have horribly hyperextended elbows...when I was 6, we had to allonge from fifth en haut my teacher used to yell at me everyday not to straighten my arms while she told everyone else how they needed to straighten them. I remember being so confused that one day I came out crying. But of course now I understand what she meant...they are so ugly when they aren't used correctly.

[balletolivia12]

Ahh...the hyperextended elbows. I have the same problem, and have always had to adjust my fifth en haut too. And, of course, I have really long arms so my fifth en haut can either look horrid or beatiful. I aim for the latter. I have found that by turning my hands in and making sure I relax my shoulders I can achieve that beautiful fifth.