Technical Tuesday Balls and Hinges
Dancers learn (or should learn) that turn-out comes from the
hip because the hip is a ball-and-socket joint (the shoulder is, too). This
type of joint is also called a “spheroidal joint”, and it allows for rotational
movement and provides greater freedom of movement than any other joint. This is
in contrast to a hinge joint that allows only a back and forth movement (like a
door hinge).
These two joints and their capabilities are important for
dancers to understand. When turn-out is forced from the bottom up (from the
feet) instead of from the top down (from the hips), the hinge joint of the knee
is forced to rotate or twist. Forcing the knee joint to do this is a common
cause of injury in ballet dancers.
Hinge joints include the ankle and elbow as well as the
knee. One definition of a hinge joint is: “Hinge
joints are formed between two or more bones where the bones can only move along
one axis to flex or extend.” http://www.innerbody.com/image_skel07/skel31.html
Study the pictures above and it will be clear why dancers
must concentrate their turn-out efforts on the ball-and-socket joint of the hip
– and not force the knee to do something it isn’t designed to do.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Anatomical Secret #24e:
“Hinge joints move
differently than ball-and-socket joints.”
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