Major Problems

TWO PROBLEMS:

1. I have trouble keeping both of my legs straight in fifth position without compromising the closeness/ tightness of the feet. I also can’t seem to keep both legs straight while a close from any direction into fifth. My teacher says to pull up in the hips but I’m not quite sure what she means/how to do it.

2. I have trouble keeping my weight off of my heels and onto the balls of my feet because I rely too much in the barre.

February 28, 2007 | In Questions |

6 Comments »

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

  1. I’m going to follow this for a while because I recognize the problem. :-)

    I’m a beginner myself, so I can’t give you much advice on this, but I do remember being told that you shouldn’t force your 5th (or any other) position.

    Waiting for input from the others here.

    As for 2: are you sure it’s not the other way around? You have trouble balancing and therefore you need the barre more?
    Anyway, I think there’s only one cure for that, being “practice practice practice”.
    What helps me if I have a problem balancing is checking my correct posture - I always find something I started to neglect.
    With me mostly, I tend not to “stay on all my toes, letting my feet roll in”, or I don’t push hard enough on the floor, so I can’t use the “push back”. Or I forgot to think about the “string on top of my head that pulls me up”.

    Comment by Kaat — March 1, 2007 #

  2. Closing into fifth: try thinking of using your inner thigh muscles of BOTH legs as you close. Don’t forget about using the strength of your standing leg to close against. Sometimes people only thinking about the leg that’s working and forget that the standing leg has to do AT LEAST half the work. Your turnout in the feet starts with turnout in the hips. Work on your turnout from above — “close” the gluteal muscles — and try to think of opening your pelvic bones (I know that can’t actually happen but it is a useful image). Also think of lifting the pelvic bones in front (the two bones that stick out in front on the very top of your legs). That will help get your weight up and forward and maybe make room for your legs to close tighter. When closing in fifth think of pulling your toes back and leaving your heels forward as long as you can. It will take time but don’t give up on working on it!

    Comment by Zoe — March 1, 2007 #

  3. Sorry forgot about part two of your question. Check that the top part of your body is pulled up and slightly forward, that your shoulders are not behind your hips. Correct upper body stance is a bit like you have just taken a deep breath in, and pulled your shoulders back, and your shoulder blades down. Keep trying to take your hand off the barre and see where your weight is. If it slips into your heels, bring it back forward, as if you were about to releve.

    Comment by Zoe — March 1, 2007 #

  4. thanks for the tips i have a similar problem

    Comment by geane — March 10, 2007 #

  5. It sounds like you may hyyperextended legs. If so, your feet will not be together when your legs are in 1st position, but the backs of your knees will touch. Some schools teach you to pull up, with your heels touching, and you train all the way through to professional, with legs in a straight plumb line. You can get strong that way if you train 6-10 classes a week with a teacher who has that in her/his experience. It can be tricky. If you don’t do it that way, then you will never have your heels together, and 5th position is awkward. Also, if your supporting leg is hyperextended, your weight will always be back on your heel. If you can learn to have your knee over your ankle joint instead of behind where your heel is, your weight will be more over the instep, more forward.

    Comment by Dianne M. Buxton — March 17, 2007 #

  6. When I started, I remember having trouble with some of the positions. You might have trouble keeping your knees straight because of your turnout. It’s important not to force yourself, because you can hurt yourself. Try doing the butterfly or frog stretch. I dont have natural turnout myself, so i have to work for it, but im almost perfect! lol And about relying on the bar, my teacher told me (this may seem a little nuts but it works haha) to pretend that the barre it a sweaty man and whenever you have to balance, you dont want to touch “him” so take your hand off as soon as possible haha. She said too that the barre is always going to be there, it wont move, dont dont grasp it like its going to crawl away from you. The floor is underneath you so if you fall….good! that means you’re trying. =]

    Comment by Emilie — April 9, 2007 #

Leave a comment

 South Dakota Home Builders

RSS Feeds: Entries and comments