Eric Conrad

I don't know how I'm only just now coming across this, with all the YouTube ballet watching I do*, but wow! I'm actually in the middle of knitting (a cowl for Dexter), but I had to hop on here and make a quick post, for I am watching Eric Conrad's YouTube video, Ballet Conrad #52: Port de Bras Back. Casually watching the beginning, I felt kind of bad for the female in the video, LOL. He was allowing for NO mistakes- tough, but definitely something I can respect.

I fast-forwarded to around the 12:00 mark, where he has the same female doing a port de bras back. He reminds her to come from the upper ribs, not the lower back. I was sitting in bed and decided to give it a shot- and my whole upper back popped like it never has before! It felt great.

Obviously, popping one's back is not a goal of anything, but so far, I LIKE his take on things. I'm only a few minutes in, and I have heard that he totally believes (from my understanding) everything from turnout to arabesques to splits and so on has little to do with flexibility, but with strength. I like that a lot.

If you do a search for "Ballet Conrad", some other interesting titles come up: The Frog is the Antithesis of Turnout, Very Detailed Placement Demonstration: Tendu, Vaganova Academy's New Turn-Out Method, and 20th Century Stars Wouldn't Be Accepted by Today's Vaganova Academy.

I think I've got some interesting videos to watch and listen to! Hope you get something useful from them! Now back to my knitting/watching YouTube!

Edit: I've glanced at a few links with Conrad's name in it, and it seems his teachings may be a bit controversial. I like reading such things, but I make sure to not get totally caught up in the hype, and to take a modest approach to learning.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Ballet...

Here's a good reminder article for technique and foundation: "The Seven Deadly Sins".

I'm currently most guilty of rolling in, misaligning the spine, and using unnecessary tension. The article brings up a good point about the rolling in:

To get a 180-degree first position, dancers will sometimes let their arches roll forward. But turnout is not about forcing your feet open; it’s about opening up in the hips. “Turning out is an activity, not a position,” says Irene Dowd, who teaches anatomy at the Juilliard School. “If we stop sustaining that movement, our feet will passively roll in.”

This is a good point for me, because I do catch myself rolling in, and when I do, I always think it's because I'm trying to push past my limits of how far my turnout actually is. But this suggests that I'm not necessarily doing that; instead, I am failing to maintain the turnout that I am capable of through my hips (which can be caused by overdoing turnout- i.e., not being able to hold it suggesting I'm not yet strong enough for that much turnout, but not necessarily).

I'd like to state that it's definitely easier to recognize when I'm rolling in with my new MDM shoes, which I am still loving (and yes, are still pretty "new" because I only wear them at class. I can tell when I pull them out which goes on left or right foot since they have molded so well. I will get another pair after these, I believe, and use these at home once they have worn out some, but it looks like it may be awhile). (And maybe it's really because I'm just nervous in class or we are moving a bit too fast, but it seems like I have more trouble balancing in class than at home, and I'm kinda wondering if it's the split soles, as I do feel a small difference there when I try both at home.)

Anyway, so I'm continuing to love ballet, especially the freedom it gives me from anything else going on in my life. I'm really starting to pick up what is going on in class, and have started safely practicing a few movements at home without worrying I'm messing them up (except the preparation- there are two main ones we do, or none at all, and I tend to forget which goes with which). I'm beginning to stretch and workout more on my off days. Everything is going great!

Something is going on in my life- totally nowhere near a done deal yet- but I may find myself in a situation where I can basically take as much ballet as I want, and have plenty of downtime to practice as much as I want. I would have to move two hours away, but I've already checked, and there is a ballet studio that offers adult classes ranging from beginner to advanced/pointe. I really love my teacher, and I have grown comfortable working with the kids who kinda look up to me, so the thought of totally changing that is a bit scary (especially working with mostly adults now that I've gotten used to this). But the benefits to my ballet will be many, and I can also most likely take private lessons as well! I'd probably start with one thirty-minute class a week. So that's on my mind lately- but again, very tentative right now, and not likely to happen for at least a few months, if ever.

To get a 180-degree first position, dancers will sometimes let their arches roll forward. But turnout is not about forcing your feet open; it’s about opening up in the hips. “Turning out is an activity, not a position,” says Irene Dowd, who teaches anatomy at the Juilliard School. “If we stop sustaining that movement, our feet will passively roll in.” - See more at: http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/January-2008/The-Seven-Deadly-Sins#sthash.lXIM2BQM.dpuf

To get a 180-degree first position, dancers will sometimes let their arches roll forward. But turnout is not about forcing your feet open; it’s about opening up in the hips. “Turning out is an activity, not a position,” says Irene Dowd, who teaches anatomy at the Juilliard School. “If we stop sustaining that movement, our feet will passively roll in.” - See more at: http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/January-2008/The-Seven-Deadly-Sins#sthash.lXIM2BQM.dpuf

To get a 180-degree first position, dancers will sometimes let their arches roll forward. But turnout is not about forcing your feet open; it’s about opening up in the hips. “Turning out is an activity, not a position,” says Irene Dowd, who teaches anatomy at the Juilliard School. “If we stop sustaining that movement, our feet will passively roll in.” - See more at: http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/January-2008/The-Seven-Deadly-Sins#sthash.lXIM2BQM.dpuf

More: Tibial Torsion, Anterior Pelvic Tilt

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor. I have no medical training. I do NOT recommend anyone to attempt anything I am about to discuss in this post. To do so could provide serious injury! Furthermore, should I post at a later time positive results from attempting the things described in this post, this still does not mean I recommend anyone trying anything here. I have personally done a lot of research on what I will be attempting (I have exceptional research abilities including the ability to decipher professional jargon and understand it), but since I have never been trained, I could totally be screwing up. "Screwing up" can result in serious injuries and the possibility that if something were to go wrong, I may not be able to dance anymore. I accept these risks personally, but again- I do NOT recommend ANYONE to attempt this on your own and without the help of a trained professional.

I've been reading more on tibial torsion and anterior pelvic tilt. This video is short and simple and says that the rotation of my foot outwards (tibial torsion) can be caused by an IT band that is too tight. That makes sense.

I've also been reading about kinesio taping. I mentioned that I tried it before on my knee, and it did indeed turn my knee out some. But I've been reading more and decided to order real kinesio tape, along with leukotape, which is mentioned often. I got four boxes of KT on eBay, precut at 2" x 10", with 20 per box. It was $25 and seemed like the best deal; most of what I want to try (so far) involves strips about that long. The LT was $10, and I didn't get nearly as much, but I can always get more.

I totally don't recommend doing this, but I'm taking the DIY approach here. No, I have no training in what I'm going to do, but it honestly doesn't look that difficult. The hardest part seems to be how much to stretch the tape, so I'll take it easy and hardly stretch it at all. As for where it goes, I've found two sources that pretty much tell me what I need to know.

This (pdf) discusses a study that was done on taping to fix anterior pelvic tilt (with positive results). The actual instructions for taping are on page 8, and while I haven't had to use terms like "medially" and "obliquely" in quite some time, I think I can figure it out. There is also a handy photo showing what it looks like on page 20.

As for the tibial torsion, I will use the video I used before along with this (pdf). The tibial torsion taping is explained starting on page 52. (This video shows how to make a "tab".) There are also a lot of different techniques given for different issues, but I'm only focused on these two.

So I think I have enough info to work with, although I will continue researching. (Note that the links I have posted are not the sum total of all I've read by any means.) I'm excited for my tape to come in, and- of course- will post updates on all of this once I have everything and get going!

Lifting Hips in Développé?

I've been struggling with not lifting my hips when doing développés. It seems like it CAN possibly be done, because it seems I am able to do it while on the floor, without gravity to bring me down. This article is interesting because it says that the hips are supposed to be lifted using the iliopsaos, not the quads. (It also has videos to go along with all of the seven exercises for leg extensions.)

I tried the "Thigh lift" last night and my iliopsaos was very elusive.

Then I came across this link while researching how to get my leg up higher. It's a video, inviting comments, of a ballet class DVD preview taught by Dmitri Roudnev (he's the one posting). He states it might be controversial, so of course I have to watch it:

The comments to his post bring up the fact that he teaches his students to lift the hips when performing extensions, instead of telling them to keep their hips straight like I've been hearing and reading. The first comment I see sums up the argument against what he is doing:

I just cannot fathom how it is beneficial; surely by teaching it in this way (referring to the developpe at 90) you are teaching the movement pattern of lifting the hip of the gesture/working leg to initiate the extension rather than developing strength and control in the legs, postural muscles and rotators etc?

 Here's Dmitri's explanation:

I believe the alignment should be the first priority in ballet training. Turn out is second priority. 

I believe for progressive training that 180 turn-out in all five positions are a must ( my school, the Bolshoi, believes the same, as well as many professionally oriented schools in the world ) At the same time, in order to keep the alignment correct, I believe the turn-out of the working leg should not be forced. 

The student in the video is a beginner ( 2 classes per week ). The video shows how much this beginner student is able to rotate the leg in a la second. It is a temporary look and it will change and improve as soon as she gets stronger.

So basically, he's saying it's okay to lift the hip as a beginner, that the beginner needs to develop the strength first, before working on keeping the hips lower and more turned out. To me, this makes sense (not just because I want it to!). For instance, I am working on my turnout, still. But just because I don't have perfect turnout doesn't mean I can't practice ballet. I work with the turnout I have, and also work on strengthening my hip rotators so I can increase my turnout. Likewise, he is saying nothing should be forced; build strength first and then the improvements in turnout, extension, will necessarily be improved so long as one is working on strengthening those areas.

I also came across this link, basically sayings screw all that, lift your hips for extension! And it posts quite a few photos of professional ballerinas doing leg extensions with their hips lifted. Such as these two:

Sylvie Guillem, former top-ranking dancer with Paris Opera Ballet, principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet in London

Students at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis school, ABT's pre-professional division

 I just found a bunch more here:

So, I'm going to stop stressing so much over my lifted hips when I'm doing leg extensions. Honestly, they're hard enough as it is without my beating myself up over it. (They're one of those things that if I were to get focused on, I'd slide down into not wanting to continue ballet.) So, yes, I recognize that my ilipsaos needs to be a helluva lot stronger. I can't even isolate it at the moment. And I do think continuing to do floor barre may help me learn to isolate the right muscles. But when it comes to following along with the videos I watch, eh, I'm just going to do the best I can and that's going to have to be that. I can't control it right now, so, like I said, I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

I do find it interesting all the different ways I'm learning that ballet instructors can teach things. I didn't understand how there could be all sorts of different techniques when I started. I'm starting to get it now though ;)

Later today, I am off to the mountains with my dog, my friend, and his two dogs! I'm bringing all my ballet gear (well, I can't take my barre unfortunately!) and plan to hike, relax, read, and of course, do ballet. That's my next four days summed up (I hope!)

Conditioning for Dance

Yay! Today's mail brought "Basic Ballet Movement Skills" with Finis Jhung and "Conditioning for Dance: Training for Peak Performance in All Dance Forms" by Eric Franklin.

I'm actually going out tonight and I need to get some ballet in, otherwise I would spend the whole evening reading through that book. It looks awesome. I think it's precisely what I need. The drawings in it are just fantastic, and even a single exercise I did that took about three seconds shows that he's got some great (and new to me) material in there.

I don't think it would be a spoiler to tell you the exercise, in my own words: 1) Stand on both feet and jump in the air. Yes, just jump. 2) Stand on both feet, clench your teeth together and jump. That's it, but can you see the difference it makes on your jump when you clench your teeth? If your jaw can affect a movement that seemingly comes from the waist and below, what other tension is in the body that can be affecting movements in ways you'd never dreamed of?

I can't wait to start working on it! It looks like I am going to need to get some longer Therabands, though. Most of the exercises seem to use the really long ones, like more than twice the body's height. Definitely on my list now.

I'll check out the new Jhung DVD tomorrow- time for barre!

My DIY Rotation Disks

So I ordered some items from eBay to make rotation disks for hip rotation. Unfortunately, the wooden circles I got are less sturdy than some cardboard I have, so I am going to have to rig them differently than I'd planned (and it's going to look way less pretty, but will still accomplish the same thing). I haven't screwed anything in place since I haven't quite decided how I want to do it, but I put it all together anyway and was able to work on hip rotation (doing it very carefully since nothing was properly mounted). And: wow! It was extremely helpful!

First of all, the good news: my right hip can rotate past 90 degrees! If I can get my left leg up to par, I will have amazing turnout. It takes quite the effort to turnout my right leg that far, but it will definitely go.

The bad news (which isn't so bad since it's far better to at least know this now): my poor left leg has been turning out FAR too much with my left knee. I kept trying, and the harder I pressed out, the worse my knee felt. It took quite a few tries, but eventually I was able to access those deep rotator muscles. I had to switch to my right leg a few times to sort of show my left leg how to get to those muscles. (I've been using them a little, but not enough at all.) Once I started getting them, it was really neat. I was able to feel all of these little muscles deep inside my leg that I've never really felt before. There was one small muscle in there that I was pretty much able to access just by itself. When I found it, the use of it was so small my leg was hardly moving at all, but that muscle was certainly getting a workout!

I also noticed how much I've been using my glutes. Well, it's not a ton but it's more than I should be using. On my right leg, I noticed there was some work from my calf muscle involved with my hip rotation. The calf muscle wasn't actually working, but it felt more like it moved a bit when I rotated externally. (Too bad ballet doesn't work with internal rotation or I'd be a master!)

One other thing that was interesting was that when I was rotating from my hip on my left leg, what could only be my iliacus (or maybe my psoas) was feeling a tug... on my right side. I understand the connection between the two slightly, but otherwise find it kinda odd, something going on that I don't quite grasp.

Anyway, I woke up this morning with definite achiness (the good kind) in both hip rotator areas (especially on my left side). Unfortunately, my poor left knee hurts from straining so much trying to get it right. I'm going to be extra careful with it, but it's so great to know now what I've been doing wrong, and how I can fix it!

I'll post some photos once I get my rotation disks put together. I may just sell them for really cheap- they're so expensive to get prebuilt! Mine may not look so great (and I won't be able to use on non-hard surfaces like carpet), but they're certainly going to get the job done. It would be nice to be able to help other ballet students who don't want to shell out $100 on a set... but I just don't know what they are actually going to look like right now (would it be embarrassing to sell such an ugly product, even if it works??) :)

Tonight II

This evening's ballet went so much better than it has for a few days (which seems like weeks)! I was just totally into it. I could tell I'm making definite improvements: in posture, flexibility, and technique. When you're going every day it's a bit harder to tell the differences, but I feel like I kinda bummed out the last 3, maybe 4, days and just hadn't been into it.

I started with the usual Lisa Maree warm up. As I mentioned, I learned the basics of doing glissades. (I did a few more after that post, and those went well.) Then I did Tamra Chace's Lesson 4 Barre and half of the center. (I did quite a few exercises multiple times.) With both of them, especially the latter, I was doing so much better with balancing while shifting my weight. That's really tough, and I've definitely been struggling with it. But tonight I was even able to do rond de jambes almost without losing my balance.

I just felt the placement of my body better. When I was on one leg, I was able to center myself better. I was frequently able to remind myself of the little details besides just doing the exercises, especially regarding my posture. And yet, I was also able to let go of the posture issue a little. I think that's one of the things that's been bumming me out- all the things I see wrong with my body. But tonight it was more of "yes, pull up in the spine, working on pulling the bottom of the ribs back, but just notice it, shift if needed, and let go." When I'm not so focused on everything that's wrong with me, I can actually notice the things that are right! I even felt "ballerina-like", especially doing derriere developpes en releve! I think that was the highlight.

This video caught my attention while I was browsing through videos: How to Do Développé à la Seconde. I briefly looked at their website and they seem to have quite a few videos like this that are ballet-oriented. The preview looks pretty good. I like seeing the muscles that are working, where they are and what they are doing. When I am able to visualize something in my head, I'm better able to do it when it makes sense what I'm doing.

Anyway, I worked a lot longer than I expected and it's almost my bedtime! So I'm going to cut this short. But I do want to say I am SO glad I had a good session tonight! It's very inspiring; I was getting worried I was just going to give up. But the obsession remains strong!

Tonight

My turnout seems to be better with the tape on my knee. I don't think I'm imagining it- when I turnout, my left knee is more over the toes than in front of it, and that wasn't the case before. My turnout in retiré is maybe a little better on the left- I still have a ways to go. But I'm definitely able to feel the rotation of my knee just from the tape, and I'm also able to use my muscles in that leg to rotate my knee further into a "straight" position. (It's not taped to the max it could be.)

The tape did get a little bothersome today- I had to pull it up a bit in some spots where the skin was just pulling too much. I took an NSAID to reduce any possible swelling. I was a little more careful on that leg today, especially up and down steps. I didn't want to use it fully in this new position. I am going to take a break either tonight or tomorrow night, and possibly put ice on it because I am worried about swelling. (I can't really tell if it's actually swelling or if I'm just imagining it because I know something's different.) There's a little aching on the knee, but it's not pain. I'm paying really close attention to it.

I was teaching myself glissades and getting the hang of it. A bit too much jumping for my knee tonight, though. Another time. I just wanted to try something new.

Classes, Taping My Knee

Not too much to write about right now. I've gotten into a bit of a rut, which scares me because usually when I get into a rut with something, I ditch it instead of moving through that, even though I know ruts don't last forever. I'm just kinda disheartened by the class. I feel like I may be doing things wrong, and I want some instruction. I think something like that would help encourage me. I also feel like I'm losing a little bit of the tone that I'd gained in my muscles due to not being as interested and thus not working as hard. I'm also discouraged because of my tibial torsion along with my swayback and the fact that I'm having trouble keeping those turnout muscles really engaged all the time I'm dancing. I feel like these are things someone can tell me how to fix, but I can't do on my own.

My mom happened to talk to a lady whose daughter goes to the ballet school where I tried a class. She said that the lady who normally teaches the adult class is on maternity leave, and there is a new (and pretty young) lady there taking her place for awhile. She said the new instructor probably just hasn't learned how to take control of the class yet. I can understand that. It'd be difficult to teach when everyone wanted to just hang out and chat, especially if you liked chatting as well. So, I may try another class and if that still doesn't go so well, I will try back in a month or so. Maybe by then the real instructor will have come back or maybe the new one will have gotten better at control. So that's a positive, at least: I just have to hold out awhile and the class that's right down the road from me will probably get a whole lot better.

My mom also asked me why I didn't just get some one-on-one lessons. I really can't afford a lot right now, but I think I am going to look into getting one or two one-hour private lessons, if they're not too expensive.

WOW! I was just looking up private lessons at the ballet schools around here and how did I miss this?? At the REALLY nice school that I'd prefer to go to anyway (it seems like the most prestigious in town) there's a fantastic-sounding paragraph I somehow missed. It says that adult students who can't take classes regularly can drop in on any of the elementary or advanced classes, for $15 or $20 respectively! I can get a class card, too, to pay in advance. (There's a $35 registration fee for any of that.) This sounds too good to be true- I thought I'd examined that website from top to bottom! This is great!! Maybe tomorrow's ballet will go better with this new knowledge!

The other real thing of note (besides that I scored a really cute leotard with matching shoulder gloves and a pair of black shorts with a little teal tutu I'm no so sure about- for $10 with shipping!) is: I'm about to try the taping method for my tibial torsion. I got several types of tape, and either tonight or tomorrow I am going to give it a shot. (Note: I did not get official kineseo tape, just some athletic tape.) Honestly, I feel like somehow my tibia got turned the wrong way and that the muscles now are just too weak to keep it in the right place. I can GET it into the right place, just using my muscles, but I can't KEEP it there. If this doesn't give me pain, especially the wrong kind of pain, I'll try keeping it on there for awhile. (I'll be taking photos of "before"... hopefully there's eventually enough improvement for "after" photos!)

Tibial torsion... taping?

I've been really focused on this tibial torsion, if you can't tell. What's interesting to me is that I can actually twist my knee around to the place it should be at. I was looking up more videos on it and came across this one. Judging by his uploads, he seems to be a massage therapist. No, I don't believe a random massage therapist on the internet is an expert on anatomy, but he is doing something that actually occurred to me to do: taping the knee and surrounding area to it's ideal position on someone with T.T. He says that T.T. occurs because the sartoris, gracilis, and semitendinosus (hamstring) muscles are weak, and not pulling the knee where it is supposed to be. (I've heard the hamstring mentioned regarding this a lot- no clue about the other muscles.)

Lately, when I've been stretching my left leg, I've been focusing on using my leg muscles to turn my tibia externally. I am able to do this; I don't need to use my hands, so this tells me it IS possible to get the knee back in place. It seems like, well, just what he's said and others have said- certain muscles are weak and certain muscles are too tight.

In the video, traylbodywork shows himself taping a patient's knee into the right position. I recently considered doing something like this myself, but wasn't sure if it was a good or at least decent idea, or a terrible one. But apparently, "Kineseo Taping" is a thing. I'm intrigued.

I was about to whip out some duct tape this evening, but I don't want to mess with my class tomorrow. This could be a very bad idea. It could mess up my knee even worse. But my intuition tells me there is something to it. After class tomorrow (or the next evening), I am going to be my own guinea pig. I'm going to try this taping business out. While continuing to focus on it the way I have been. I'm really convinced this is fixable. We're going to find out! (I am going to try to take some decent photos before I try this so I can have something for comparison in the future.)

Quick post... X-rays!

I had an appointment with my general doctor today. I told him I was starting ballet. Of course, he encouraged me to do absolutely anything but ballet because of the damage it can cause to one's body.

I mentioned to him that I was wondering if I could do anything about my anteverted hips, lumbar lordosis, and tibial torsion. He said no.

Now, my doctor is great. I really do enjoy having him as my doctor. This is only the second doctor I've ever had as an adult that was a regular doctor (instead of just stopping by the in-and-out clinic), and I'm pretty sure he's going to stay my doctor for many years to come.

Now. I know that doctors have had way more schooling than I have. I know that they have even way more medical experience than I have. But I do not trust a doctor who tells me nothing can be done about my posture, just as I don't trust one who tries to give me anything besides basic nutrition advice. Doctors just aren't trained as much as I believe they should be in prevention medicine. They are educated and trained in treatment of current ailments. And this is how they make their money: by treating problems. I'm not at all saying that even my doctor would love to help me prevent, say, a bad back. Or that any doctor whatsoever wants people to be sick. That would be the last reason a doctor would go into medicine, I would think.

The medical industry as a whole profits from people being sick, not well. How much money is spent on developing cures versus tweaking medications (very often making a medication last longer so once the original goes generic, here's a new and improved version!)? This is why nearly anything cheap, natural, easy to obtain, etc. is classified as "alternative" medicine: the medical industry doesn't want to sanction things that deters their profits. (With a few exceptions, like drinking so much water per day, not playing with matches, whatever. They can't profit if everyone is dead!)(No, that doesn't conflict with my statement on the lack of focus on cures. It is far more profitable to have someone sick but alive than either healthy or dead. Cancer, for instance, is a billions-of-dollars industry. If a cure were found, there would be a whole lot less money being made.)

Anyway, I will spare you the rest of that tirade ;) My point is that I highly doubt my doctor learned much, if anything at all, about posture. Actually- I have another example to give. I happened to have an appointment with another doctor yesterday, one who I would think would be fairly knowledgeable about back pain. I asked HIM about having correct posture. Specifically, I wanted him to kinda help me guide myself into correct posture. But what did he do? He pointed to some stick figures on the spinal column chart, and told me not to slouch at my desk and to always be very careful when picking up heavy objects, to do it the proper way.

As I said, I'm no doctor. But I am finding it incredibly difficult to believe that having poor posture now cannot impact me in the future, and likewise that having proper posture NOW can prevent future back pain. Neither doctor said this, but neither doctor seemed to know anything about posture at all.

To (finally) get around to what I really came on to post: my doctor DID want to make sure I didn't already have any injuries in my back, and thus he ordered x-rays of my spine AND hips! (See? He wants to know if there is something he can treat, not something he can prevent. I don't blame him for this; this is how he has been taught to view medical issues, to fix something after it has been broken.) The nurse warned me she couldn't interpret my x-rays, but I did manage to get her to let me look at the screen showing my hips, and it was SO COOL! I really wanted to just stare, to examine it (and critique it in regards to ballet!). I couldn't look long, but I am definitely going to try to find out if I can at least have a copy of my hips. (I had to lie on my back and spread my legs into frog position. She asked me if I could go any lower and I couldn't *sniffle*)

I guess this wasn't such a quick post after all! Anyway, I'm almost off work and am about to stop by the ballet place here that I want to take classes, and see if I can actually talk to someone! Toodle-loo!

The Clam & Pretty Gear!

I tried to do this recently, and had trouble with it. But I keep reading about it, so tonight I'm going to commit to... The Clam. It's supposed to be extremely good for those deep hip rotators, and making sure you're accessing them correctly.

AND I finally ordered this really cute leotard I've been eying on eBay for $15-16 with free shipping. (I forget who from, but they have more!) It looks like it might just be in already today!

I love the color AND the low-cut back! This will be my first one that isn't black and either the traditional tank or short sleeve. I do sweat a lot, so I'm wondering if that's going to look just awful, forcing me into only black. I also got some of these in case I start next week- I still haven't decided whether I can/should go braless or not...

And these were only $8. They're Leo's, which I don't know much about but a well-known ballet studio I saw recently requires Leo's, so they must be pretty decent. I will see! Oh, and legwarmers will be in soon, too. Only $1 plus a few dollars shipping, light blue.

Hyperlordosis/Swayback

Here is a great thread on lordosis/swayback. One user posts a link to this photo, which simply explains what's going on with a swayback:

I am convinced that the swayback is affecting the tibial torsion I'm experiencing, which is totally screwing up the turnout on my left leg. Basically, my ab muscles are weak (which allows my pelvis to drop down/back), my lower back muscles are tight (very true, one of my favorite places to have deep massage) which pulls my pelvis up in the rear.

My glutes are weak (I'm working on this one, but I definitely have something going on there- placed a tennis ball in the middle and sat with my other leg crossed over my upright knee- ow! but in a good way), and have been for awhile- any weight I've gained in the past ten years has usually gone towards that. I like to think I've had a cute butt, but it was more from the swayback than the muscle. (There wasn't hardly any muscle!)

And all of that affects my hip rotators, the other spot marked as "weak" up there. And of course that certainly affects turnout!

Here's another article suggesting that the way one sleeps can cause/increase swayback- specifically, by lying on one's stomach. And guess how I prefer to sleep? The article also points out that "From the side, we could simply say the body’s center of mass is being pushed forward. With that, it’s very common for the feet to be turned out and or the knees to be turned in. (This isn’t so much part of being a “swayback” as it is common postural / movement issues.)... A less obvious connection is at the feet. When sleeping on the stomach it’s very likely the feet are going to turn out."

All very true! I'm almost positive I prefer to sleep on my stomach, more specifically on my stomach with my left side jacked up some on a pillow being used body-pillow-style. Sleeping like that would be more likely to have my knee pointing downwards from gravity, with my ankle and foot pointed to the outside. And I'm pretty sure I also sleep on my stomach the regular way, which has me doing the above. I really liked that article- throughout it I was like "yes, that's me, yes, yes!"

I'm working on my posture today, and attempted to be careful how I slept last night. (I do remember waking up and saying to myself I'm too tired to get it right and went right back to sleep in my "comfy" position. Which is fine- I'm just now starting this.) I read another article (this one from the Gokhale Method website- I've come across this one a bit lately) saying basically to envision the ribcage like an egg (with swayback, the ribs/bottom of the egg points outward/front, and the top tilts back towards the back) put your fingers on your lower ribcage and focus on pulling the lower part towards the abs (instead of tilting the pelvis itself). That's what I'm trying. It hurts already.

I'm kinda concerned about this posture thing. For one, like I said, it hurts. Yes, it's supposed to but I really don't want to go through this pain only to not be doing it correctly and having to relearn it again. I'm considering a physical therapist or pilates or something...

FIXING tibial torsion?

Hmmm, I just came across this VERY interesting article on FIXING tibial torsion... and it only took her an hour! AND it has instructions! My first attempts at the first exercise feels... awkward... Definitely going to be exploring this more. This is really the first thing like it that I have seen.

Also:

...many dancers have tibial torsion.  This is a slight bowing out of the tibia (the shin bone), often with the kneecaps pointing slightly inward.  Frequently both they and their teachers are unaware of this anatomical structure. Tibial torsion is fairly common (in a recent screening of college dancers, it appeared in over half the students) and is usually genetic.  It does not stop you from being a dancer (and many dancers have it, as mentioned in the college screening above).  However, it IS important that the dancer (and teacher) be aware of it, as it affects foot and knee alignment patterns.  The common plié cue of “knee over 2^nd toe”, does not usually work well for a tibial torsion leg.  If the dancer does the plie with that cueing, they may supinate (roll out) their feet, and may develop unexplained knee pain.  Once they are aware of their leg structure, and align their feet / knees accordingly, the pain frequently resolves and the possibility of chance of eventual injury is decreased. (link, emphasis mine)

Posture lingerie

I just had to post this. I looked up "posture lingerie", and sure enough, it's a thing! I REALLY love the full bodysuits (both the ones with and without legs), but those are over $100. :( However, for basically the price of a bra, they have a camisole that works all the way from your shoulders to lower back. (I don't get any money or benefits from posting this- they've never heard of me, but just wanted to share.) I wonder how well it works??

Here's a good, short link on forcing turnout.

My notes on Anteverted Hips

Here is a picture showing anteverted hips:

Swayback usually results in the gluteal muscles being underused (atrophy). Hip extension in the prone position activates the hamstring muscles before the gluteal muscles. Should actively contract the gluteus at heel impact when walking. Predisposed to hamstring muscle strain. (Link, the hamstring info may refer to upper swayback instead of lower? I may have lordotic? Wiki says lordosis is common among dancers?) Update 11/16: Yes, I have "lumbar hyperlordosis": Lordosis is too much of a curve. My lordosis is in the lumbar/lower back region. Commonly known as "swayback". (There's another type of lordosis, seen in the first photo below, where the upper back can curve outwards too much. One can have lordosis of both the lower and upper back. Mine is only at the lower.)

Having hyperlordosis at one point in training does not mean that this will always be a problem, and care must be taken not to overcorrect and excessively reduce the lumbar curve. Strengthening the abs can help:

"Posteriorly, the spine forms a bony connection between the rib cage and pelvis. However, in the front, this connection is effected purely by the abdominal musculature. Because of this structure, the strength, resting length, and activation of the abdominal musculature are very critical in determining the distance between the rib cage and pelvis. That distance, in turn, affects the curvature of the lower spine and hence ideal alignment [/posture]."

In other words, when you strengthen your abs, the abs will draw up/tighten the torso, pulling the formerly outwards/backwards-tilted rear end in towards the abs and front of the body. The abs will draw up, pulling the front of the pelvis up with it.

"In addition [to the abs], lumbar lordosis may also involve low back and hip flexor (especially the iliopsoas) tightness as seen in 3.24A. If so, stretching the hip flexors and low back will also be necessary to improve the condition, and little improvement will be seen with just strengthening the [abs]." (Link)

 

Here is the link to the book the quotes and photos (excepting the very top one) above were taken from. I found all of this on a Google book search (something I'd forgotten a person can do!).

Reading all of this is very encouraging! I was getting rather disheartened today, thinking about how inadequate my bone structure seems to be. From all I read, it seemed like my back shape pretty much made it impossible for me to ever be good at ballet, so I should just go ahead and give up now. (And hey, a very small part of me was relieved: no more exercise! I can consider this another of my activities I've learned just enough about to convince me that I don't really want to continue doing it! All my life, that routine has repeated itself over and over and over again, and I've really not wanted it to happen again. I can feel myself already getting lazy... I can put off ballet now, I won't be any good.) NOPE! This is my New Self, and she is going to get off the damn computer, stop trying to find excuses, stop trying to convince herself she should just read about the hows all night, go put on my leotard, tights, and shoes, and get to practicing! (I'll continue as I have been, with less turnout than I was trying to go for, and being more aware of all of the things I have read. I'm not correcting much yet until I know more about to do it right. I don't want to jump right into different types of wrongness in my posture.)

Anteverted Hips

Since last night, I have learned that I basically have one of the, if not the, worst possible bone structures (excepting more extreme cases) possible for good turnout, the good turnout that pretty much ALL of ballet and even other forms of dance like lyrical and contemporary are based upon. I have anteverted hips. In fact, I am like the poster child for "person with anteverted hips".

I always thought it was cool that I could sit in a W shape with my knees and legs. While everyone else preferred "Indian-style" cross-legged, my body much more comfortably fell into the W shape, with my knees parallel to one another and my lower legs and feet turned outward, the heels of my feet touching my rear. I was always far less flexible than it seemed like those around me were. (To this day, my mom can still do a nearly perfect split, something I have never been able to do.) The W shape was the one flexibility thing I had down.

Turns out, I should have been working on that while my bones were still growing. I now have a swayback, caused from my anteverted hips. (The former is actually fixable. The bone structure of my hips, not so much.) Not only do have the first tell-tale sign, when my knees are perfectly straight, my feet point outwards. I will likely never achieve perfect turnout, nor even anything close (not safely, anyway). My posture's all out of whack as well, because of this.

I'll be doing a lot more research, both on anteverted hips and tibial torsion (likely because of the hips, my shin bones twist inwards as well). I know I can always work with what I have, and even go far in it, but it's just very disheartening to know that my technique is always essentially going to be substandard.