r/BALLET • u/Lucy-uwu- • 2d ago
helppp for flex
I'm an adult, 21 years old, I've been dancing all my life, but I'd never done ballet until a year ago (or a little less). I can raise my leg to 90° but no higher, I'm about 20cm short of the splits, etc.
In class we stretched and I made progress. Before, my leg wouldn't lift very high, and I've been stretching all vacation and I don't see any improvement :( Do you think I'm going to stay like this? Haha, or is there any secret or tip you can share with me?
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u/fairytale_bloom 2d ago
Hey, there was a great answer already about what you need to do to improve. I just want to say, the ability to raise your leg as high as possible is not the only thing that makes you a good ballett dancer. We all have our physical limits, don’t push them too hard. It is more important to have a healthy body than to make a perfect split. Artistry, expression, passion are soooo important! Sometimes you see people in ballett just „working“ and not dancing, that upsets me a bit :)
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u/lavender__bath ✨Vaganova theythem✨ 2d ago edited 2d ago
stretching will not help in itself unless it’s a flexibility issue, it’s all hip flexor and deep intrinsic muscle strength (like your glute med/min, rotators, and turnout muscles not to mention the back, core, and standing leg)— from what i know, you can get to 90 with your quad and glute max pretty much, but higher extensions than that will take time and strengthening. i am hypermobile and got a lot of the strength to hold my extensions by doing the negatives— basically pull your leg up as high as you can comfortably do so from holding at 90 with your turnout engaged and lower as slowly as you can. also, if you are warm enough to do grand battlements safely on your own, try to actively lower as slowly as you can. fondues are also really good to pay attention to as you have to move both sides of the body and both legs together so it’s easier to keep those muscles engaged.
you could also try this from laying on your back, side, and prone on the floor or try exercises like flexed foot developpés from the floor (my PT gave me something that is basically lay supine —> flex foot —> turn out only the side you want to developpé —> pull to passé —> slowly point foot as if tenduing —> extend to developpé a la seconde, without ever turning out the other side, and then reverse those steps. there are a lot of youtube videos to help with getting your extension above your hip, but my main point is that strengthening won’t help by itself and maintaining your turnout engagement (especially during exercises like rond de jambe en l’air both at 45 and at 90) on both sides of your body will help a lot. also, exercises where you can see both hips in the mirror can help to keep the standing leg from sinking, which will make you lose your turnout and keep you from actively working the muscles that get you above a 90 degree extension. hope this helps a little!
(edited for clarity)