Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 8/1/2007

Question
Is it possible to increase your turnout after the age of 11? I read in some ballet exercise book that after the age of 11 it is nearly impossible to strech these turnout muscles. I tried to look it up online but I could not find anything that specifically indicated that after age 11 you're stuck with the turnout you have. I used to be very infelexible and stiff from cross country training earlier in my life. Then, I started dance. My body has changed so much in such a short time by dance, yoga, and pilates training that sometimes I cannot even recognize it. Things I thought I was just physically limited to I find myself doing at ease. My hips are still one of the tightest places of my body. It still hurts to do some hip stretches during yoga. However, now I can do the splits. I am 17 yrs old. Is it too late to stretch my turnout even just a little? Should I keep on stretching or abandon all hope?!

Answer
Hi S.Kim. You can still stretch your turnout muscles - in fact an eighty-year old could so safely with the proper instruction.

It's more important to hold the turnout that you do have....if you watch dance movies carefully you will see that the most brilliantly artistic dancers in the world are not necessarily born with a lot of turnout - and it doesn't matter! That is the good news.

Here's some technical info: your lateral rotator muscles are your prime turnout muscles, specifically: Piriformis;Obturator Internus;Obturator Externus;Quadratus Femoris; Gemellus Superior; Gemellus Inferior. These muscles lie underneath your gluts. When they contract your thigh rotates. If your leg is behind you, the gluts and hamstring muscles also help to hold the rotation.

The balance and tone of any muscle comes from its ability to work, and its ability to relax when not working. So having lateral rotators that clench to rotate, and don't relax in between exercises, do not have the strength they could have. Turning in during class, in between exercises, is a good habit. Yoga is excellent for stretching - don't give it up!
Get an illustrated dictionary or anatomy book from the library and take a look at all these muscles. I think this helps with feeling them working and then relaxing.

For example, when you tendu devant, if your hips remain in placement and your thigh is moving freely on its own, you should be able to rotate to your full natural turnout, and your challenge is to always hold it. You may have to practice this with your gluts released, to isolate the rotator muscles. Gluts don't increase your turnout.

If you sit on the floor, legs straight out in front of you, relax your gluts on the floor. Then just engage your rotator muscles and turn your thighs out without your gluts working. This will help you isolate the rotators. If you can raise the legs, one by one, an inch or two off the floor, and hold this turnout, you'll feel the rotators holding against the flexion action. If your hip comes up too, then you are not isolating the leg from the hip completely. Afterwards, shake out your legs and relax your rotator muscles completely. Then stretch.

Standing in first position, you want to open the legs by contracting the rotator muscles, but not clenching the gluts at this point. It's good to be able to tighten and hold the gluts when you need to, but not at this moment. Whatever position you end up in, that is your turnout. Same for fifth, with the extra challenge of having one leg slightly behind your pelvis and the other in front. This requires more strength.

While many teachers would not allow this, I would encourage them to have many students working in third position for much longer than they usually feel is "normal". It's not that far to fifth position once the muscles are strengthened. Advanced students and professionals do different things to compensate for not having that perfect fifth position. If they have good teachers, they learn to do this minimally and without injury. But they are doing it very deliberately.

Some people's thighs are in a different position in their hip sockets, that allows for more turnout. This is the way they are born. So don't look at anyone else and compare. Also some people have tibial torsion, which means their leg from the knee down is rotated outward. It can lead to other problems, but will give their feet a turned out look, while their knees and thighs may not be able to achieve the same turnout.

Another exercise to strengthen the turnout is as follows: lie down on the floor on your back, feet in first position, flexed as though you were standing. Pressing the back of the legs into the floor can help you feel the rotators. Move the legs, feet still flexed, about half an inch outward toward second position. Keep pressing the back of the legs into the floor, and don't let your back arch. You may only be able to go an inch , - but you'll feel those turnout muscles! Do that ten times every day and you will be much stronger standing up and doing the regular class movements. You won't regret investing time in this exercise. Be sure to relax the rotators afterwards.

It really is about the turnout you can hold, as opposed to the look. I was watching the bio movie on Suzanne Farrell recently. She is so NOT turned out. But that doesn't matter when she is dancing. What matters is she had professional training and was very strong.

Every prima ballerina has different attributes physically. Many are not born with that wonderful turnout. It just doesn't matter. Am I repetitive? I'll say it a hundred times!

You are doing all the right things. I love it when dancers take advantage of Pilates and Yoga too. Because many dancers' worst problem is relaxing, which leads to a deterioration of muscle tone.

If you're not convinced, go to thebodyseries.com and buy a book "Tune Up Your Turnout" by Deborah Vogel. You couldn't get a better or more detailed study on anatomy and function of turnout.

And rent a few ballet movies and watch the stars. They are not all turned out - but they are in control and, on the whole, dancing safely. Remember, theater is the art of illusion!


All the best, Dianne

A brief follow up - I've recommended to almost everyone to read my articles and blog entries at http://www.theballetstore.com You have to create a user name to log in to see all the blog entries - your privacy is safe! I really apologize that I didn't tell you this - I'm not a technical person!