2 3 Turn-out and Barber’s Shop Poles | Ballet Webb

Monday, September 23, 2013

Turn-out and Barber’s Shop Poles


Turn-out is a subject that could fill a book (or two).  Today I’m going to talk about the equal and opposite nature of turn-out.  That is, whenever the outward rotational movement of the legs from the hip sockets is engaged, that rotation should be equal.  In other words, each leg should rotate outward the same amount, or to the same degree.  As a corollary, this implies that a dancer’s turn-out is only as good as the rotational ability on the “weaker”, or less turned-out leg.  As mentioned yesterday, this rotation should never be forced from the feet, but should arise from the hip socket area, and only go to the maximum allowed by the dancer’s current physical (anatomical) capability.

To best achieve this goal, it is helpful to think of turn-out as being a constant, upwardly rotating sensation in the legs. This is non-stop, subtle, and continuous.  Over time, this “encouragement” from the muscles and ligaments in and around the hip sockets will increase the dancer’s turn-out.  Dancers can visualize their legs as two barber’s shop poles, their stripes constantly rotating upward, in opposite directions.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Secret #3b 
“Imagine your legs as two barber's shop poles rotating in opposite directions.”

 

 Link of the Day:


 

Quote of the Day:

“The spiral in a snail’s shell is the same mathematically as the spiral in the Milky Way galaxy, and it’s also the same mathematically as the spirals in our DNA.  It’s the same ratio that you’ll find in very basic music that transcends cultures all over the world.”

                                                                                                    - Joseph Gordon-Levitt

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