In ballet, there are many do’s and don’ts that go into the technique. Many of them will help with injuries if done correctly, which is why most of them are quite crucial when doing each step. The do’s to ballet technique includes to turn out, which is one of the most important corrections to get. Though turn out is hard for many people to get, it gives you the ability to do each step more easily. Another one is to lift your hips and yourself in general. If you sink down into your hips, you will put more pressure on your joints. Besides that, engaging the inner thighs and holding your muscles is also very beneficial when done properly. By doing this, it will allow you to turn out better and will make other movements easier to do. It also helps with muscle memory. Specifically for pirouettes, or turns, you should push the knee in the passe back. This gives you more force when turning. Another one that is for pirouettes is to spot. Spotting in a turn is to look at one spot throughout the entire turn while whipping it around however many times you need to, always bringing it back to the same position as it was in before. Be careful not to tense the neck up because it does not help with spotting. Without spotting in the pirouette, you can get dizzy faster. For jumps, you should always roll through your metatarsals and lift the pelvis. Rolling through your metatarsals makes the landing easier on the joints since the landing won’t be as hard. Lifting the pelvis will help you get higher and make the jump appear more effortless because you will not crash down as hard. These are all do’s that can help you improve many things with your technique, so using them will be very effective.

There are many do’s, but there are just as many don’ts, many of which can cause injuries or other issues. One of the more essential don’ts of ballet and common correction is don’t roll over your arch. Rolling over your arch puts more pressure on the ankle and bunion of the big toe. Another thing to avoid doing is sitting in grand plie for a long time. When you stay in grand plie for an extended period of time it means you are sitting and not using any muscle, making the movement pointless. When learning a combination you should do the arms full out. If you mark your arms then there is no muscle memory, which in turn makes it harder to do the arms full out when it is time to do the combination or dance. You should avoid lifting your shoulders at any time. Lifting your shoulders loosens your back muscles which are crucial for most moves, especially pirouettes. Turning in the front foot before a turn is also not a good idea. Turning in the front foot before a turn shifts the hips back, causing you to be off-balance, and most of the time you will fall backward. Aside from the points made above, another correction to be aware of is to not bend your knees in basically everything. Bending the knee will most likely put more pressure on the supporting ankle. Most people have a problem with bending the knees when closing from tendu to fifth position. Instead of bending it when closing, you should lift up your hips so there is space for your knee to stay stretched. Don’t sickle the feet is another major correction to take seriously. Sickling the feet is an incorrect foot position and can cause an injury. While some of these may seem like easy habits to break, they are not. All corrections should be applied and taken seriously, especially since some habits can lead to a serious injury if not broken and corrected.


Publish Date: 01/12/2021