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Friday, November 25, 2016

Fun Friday Five Factors



Fun Friday Five Factors

Now that Thanksgiving is over and everyone is well satiated, it’s a good time to contemplate turnout.
Turn-out is one of the most debated, hated, loved, and talked about subjects in ballet. To push from the feet or not, to use tibial torsion or not, or to give up entirely, shrug and say “I don’t have turnout”. Well.

Let’s approach this from a more analytical, anatomical perspective. There are Five Factors that affect turnout. Here they are:

1.       The angle of the neck of the femur (thigh bone). An increase in this angle causes less turnout, a decrease allows greater turnout.
2.       Orientation of the acetabulum, defined as: “the cup-shaped cavity on the lateral surface of the hip bone in which the head of the femur articulates”.  (It helps to imagine the hip socket itself). One that faces more directly to the side allows greater turnout from the hip.
3.       The shape of the neck of the femur. A longer, more concave neck allows a greater range of motion in the hip, thus a greater potential for turnout.
4.       Elasticity of the Y ligament (the iliofemoral ligament). There is controversy about whether any attempts should be made to increase flexibility here, because this ligament stabilizes the hip. Yet another area of debate!
5.       Flexibility of the muscles surrounding the hip.

For a detailed look at exercises designed for ballet dancers, see the Link of the Day.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Ballet Secret #3x:  
There are five factors that affect turn-out.

                Link of the Day:

Quote of the Day:
“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.”
Ronald E. Osborn

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