Hip and Gluteal Muscles. Turn out your legs. 1. When you execute a retiré or an attitude to the front, the sartorius muscle in your inner thigh helps with turnout. One of these are to lie on your side, with your back against a wall (this helps them keep proper hip alignment). Dancers learn to use these muscles by regularly practicing proper form, and in turn develop strong hip and gluteal muscles. Even when they are not on stage, you can tell trained ballet dancers by their turnout, the lateral rotation of the legs that causes their toes to point outward. You're on the right track, Kelsey. Turnout—a combination of rotational flexibility and the strength to properly hold that rotation—is the foundation of ballet. In contrast, the muscles that are more important for turnout, the deep lateral rotators, are small and are Photo by media4artists/Theo Kossenas, Courtesy The Washington School of Ballet. 2. Slowly move the leg in small circles in a clockwise motion, while keeping both hips even with the floor. Slowly raise one leg up, keeping the toe pointed towards the ceiling, with the heel down. These small muscles are located underneath the gluteus maximus. If you contract the gluteus maximus to help your turnout, you will not be able to move your leg easily to the front. Unfortunately, dancers tend to force their turnout without using the right muscles. Exercises to Strengthen Turn Out Muscles for Ballet Dancers. In addition to the six deep rotators, other muscles can help with turnout. Lay flat on the ground, stomach to the floor and draw the legs up in a turned out position with the soles of the feet touching. Ballet dancers strive for “perfect” turnout, with their feet pointing directly to the side. A ballerina dancer’s turnout is the key to all parts of movement in dancing. In dance, ballet especially, the turnout muscles also known as the hip external rotators are recruited for most functional movements. Turnout starts from the hips; proper form allows a dancer to avoid injury. “I think the term 'turnout' is very misleading because it creates an image of the feet at a 180-degree angle," says Panetta, who teaches ballet for contemporary dancers at Gibney Dance Center in New York City. Muscles of the Hip that Create Turnout The most obvious muscles of the hip are located in the buttocks. This rotation allows for greater extension of the leg, especially when raising it to the side and rear. Follow me for more anatomical summaries! Recognise the relationship between core stability and turnout range and control. So, during all your ballet classes, you want to feel each movement initiating from the glutes as this is the place that will sustain your turn out. Keep your feet together throughout this exercise 5. Be careful not to let the lower back come up off the floor. In ballet, turnout (also turn-out) is rotation of the leg at the hips which causes the feet (and knees) to turn outward, away from the front of the body. To do this, sit upright with legs in an open straddle position. Watch & let me know what you think dancers! Many of whom, are children needing to learn how to develop their turnout, as well as proper posture. Watch The Anatomical Muscle Animation of Penche Unfortunately, not many dancers are naturally born with this … Switch legs and repeat. 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