![]() ![]() Vaganova also describes how turnout out the leg allows much greater extension of the working leg skyward to the side: “In the normal position, the movements of the legs are limited by the build of the joint between the pelvis and the hip. Turnout facilitates everything you do in ballet, and batterie would be quite impossible without it: absent good turnout the heels get in the way of the beats.” ( The Ballet Companion** p.80) Try to do this without turning out and you’ll find that when your leg reaches waist height, your hips become uneven and your alignment is lost. Indeed, Gaynor Minden describes how, “Turnout is what enables a dancer to raise the leg elegantly to the side without displacing the hips or torso. To me, turnout is mainly a means to greater movement possibility, and therefore greater articulation and artistic possibilities. Therefore I shall explain the origin of turn-out in detail, borrowing some terms from anatomy.” ( Basic Principles of Classical Ballet** p.24) I shall do so below as well, citing Vaganova, Cecchetti Technique, and others as well as my own experience. People who know nothing about classical ballet tell all sorts of false and nonsensical things about turnout. ![]() More Ballet theory, focused on directions of rotation, en dedans and en dehorsįollowing her discussion of turning and rotation theory (which I also describe in my “Ravishing Rond de Jambe” and “Tourner” videos), Agrippina Vaganova explains that, “The conception of en dehors also defines the turned-out position of the leg accepted in classical ballet. I have seen far too many children and those new to ballet cranking their feet around, twisting their ankles and knees into a grotesquely turned-out and frankly dangerous shape incapable of generating any balletic movement, in an effort to mimic the perceived forms of ballet while grossly ignorant of the function of these forms, so it’s clear that misunderstanding of turnout is widespread. Technically and aesthetically, classical steps will not have the correct and desired look unless they are done with an adequate degree of rotation” (p.73-4) While certain steps can be accomplished with little turnout, more complex steps cannot. ![]() In Ballet Pedagogy**, Rory Foster underscores the essential nature of external rotation to classical ballet and the importance that ballet dancers develop their turnout to the degree they are able: “The movement vocabulary of classical ballet is designed to be performed utilizing the outward rotation of the legs, or turnout. Turnout displayed those handsome calf muscles to better advantage.” (p.80) Back in the days of court dancing, women wore huge, concealing skirts, but men showed their well-formed legs in elegant silk hose. ![]() Dancers have always believed that it looks better that way. Turnout enables the dancer to move easily from side to side, to jump, and to pose without ever turning away from the audience. In The Ballet Companion**, Eliza Gaynor Minden describes the history of external rotation thus: “Ballet dancers have been turned out since the time of ballet de cour, well before the days of ear-high developpes. As I am, in the words of one of my mentors, Betsy Fisher, not a “guru of dance,” I like to rely on a variety of primary and expert sources in my exploration and sharing of ballet. This is the video version of today’s blog, with theory for the first 11 minutes, and experiential exercises followingĪccording to dance historians, turnout has been a distinguishing quality of ballet dancing since it’s courtly origins. ![]()
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