Turnout from below the knee socket

Turn out does occur below the knee socket even though the conservative (safe) approach is to tell students to only turn out from the hip socket. Realistically, every high level student at a major school and major company is going to use ankle and knee rotation to some degree. The question is how to do this safely and it is important to discuss this with the students rather than pretend it should never occur. The vast majority of high level students and dancers will do this one way or another so they need to know how to do it safely.

The key to safety is whether this rotation comes from the muscles, or external forces from floor friction while holding the barre. If it's the latter, there is a good chance of knee or ankle injury. This picture and video shows the rotation coming strictly from the muscle.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/86883044@N00/6179972815/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa_mz82XjAc

Another risk is during the plié where excessive pressure could be placed on the front inside of the knee. To avoid this danger, the dancer must increase their hip socket turnout while dropping to plié. This is possible as the femur (thighs) move out from directly below the hip socket, and hip socket rotation naturally increases. This allows the dancer to keep the knee directly in line and over the foot. When the dancer straightens up from the plié, the hip socket turnout decreases and the only way to maintain maximum turnout is below the knees. This can be dangerous if this extra turnout isn't held by the muscles.

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Sports

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• 20110924
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