Ballet Turnout | How I Got Flat Turnout | Journey to Vaganova

[@anneashley5110]

That level of commitment at 13 was star quality. You deserve your success.

[@PettyBlue1]

This is so uplifting to hear! I’m listening to this video while returning home from a ballet lesson. I used to think that I couldn’t turn out at all, and that it was anatomically impossible for me. Recently I’ve worked on it a lot, and I can passively do 180”. My teacher keeps saying I got more turnout than her, so why don’t I use it. Currently it takes so much effort to hold turned out positions, as well as at least 30 minutes of warming up. I’m guilty of pronating a lot and gripping the floor. But now I know there is hope, that it’s possible to get there and do it effortlessly - someday

[@alicedeathbelle]

You’re such an inspiration. I’m literally sitting here with my foot stretcher while watching

[@talllala]

Not even a ballerina and your explanation of the physical processes in turning out and working on the goal is fascinating.

[@littlebumgorf]

there is something so encouraging, calming, and empowering about your advice and presence. You've inspired me to vocalize my goals!!

[@cbpapp]

All you need is faith the size of a mustard seed. We were all instructed to pull up as another comment mentioned and in classical ballet, ensuring we were pressing our little toes into the floor. In classical ballet every exercise at the barre is a piece of a tour or a jump / leap. I’m glad you perservered! As long as you are connected and tuned into your whole body all turns out well. Good for YOU! Ballet was my first love. Sadly, because of my love in studying and instructing for 20 years, there is deterioration in my hip joints. I’m 65 and will always love ballet and still do pliés, battement tendus and port de bras. Vaganova and Classical Ballet are each very structured for a purpose. Every single movement has a purpose, like the small breath in the chest and brief hand movement before the beginning of every barre exercise and also used in port de bras. It’s all in the details that make ballet so breathtakingly beautiful. Much love to all ballet lovers everywhere!🙏🏻🥰

[@averycutecat1852]

Please have a video for ballet in the water! I at one time point was doing various port de bras in the pool and really enjoyed it. I also find doing things like pushing off the wall in the swimming pool is a lot like the pushing off wall exercise for jumping in ballet and is fun to do.

[@PettyBlue1]

Yes, second that! I’m really intrigued, since I had never heard of ballet in water before

[@Yeknodathon]

Yes, I was intrigued by this and it makes sense - working with water is using resistance so work is increased? Ballet goes to the pool, swimming caps on!

[@Blue70712]

Yes, I am rehabing from an injury and doing barre in the water!

[@janelwilliams9144]

I LOVE doing ballet steps and especially port de bras in the pool....feels amazing! I'm glad I'm not the only one lol 🩰🩰

[@MrKjelder1]

Greetings from South Africa. Thank you, Isabella, for sharing your personal experience and knowledge gained from your incredible journey through dance, with us. My husband is a Biomechanics Specialist who works with professional Sportsman and Dancers here, and, assessing and creating programmes for injury prevention, mobility and strength specifically tailored for that individuals activity is his forte. I bring this up, as a way of emphasising what you say in your videos and vlogs, how important it is to have a proper assessment done by a Physio or Specialist to contribute towards one's training in order to achieve one's full potential. The information that you provide is absolute Gold. Lots of Love.

[@normamimosa5991]

I think the key is to improve the muscle turnout, which is pretty well what you are saying. Another universal ballet instruction without explanation (in the West anyway) is "pull up."

[@lgarvey11]

Oh! A series on diving into universal ballet instructions that normally go without explanation would be great! ("don't lift with your quads" is one I found particularly unhelpful!)

[@AllieHutchins]

It's literally not a pull, the muscles don't pull they PUSH

[@stellafiebig173]

OH MY GOSH YES!!!! I had a teacher, who was always telling me to pull up! never specified what she meant and will just yell at me about it. It was so confusing. I think I finally figured out what you meant but it’s stressed me out because I felt like I couldn’t give her what she wanted. Teachers need to learn how to explain things correctly

[@lionsmaine1238]

@@AllieHutchins muscles can only pull though. Muscle contraction will always be a pull because when you contract a muscle it shortens. It's just that some muscles act as flexors and others extensors.

[@karinandreavasquezgutierre6461]

lovely to see this new teachers full of love for their student and nurturing±

[@CarinRuff]

I would *love* to know more about your in-pool methods if you can find a way to demonstrate what you did.

[@Chiskndhcuehwkk]

Oh yesterday I was just giving out about this saying that I didn't have enough turnout, I'm really really grateful for this video 🙏 ❤ ❤ And I am young and I definitely have a burning desire for ballet like you😊

[@gigimora366]

Check ballet conrad. This method will give you turnout in no time. Its all about understanding the placement you need in ballet to coordinate the right way for improving the turnout. Desire is first, knowledge is second, work is third. Result will be flat turnout. They told me my hips werent able to turnout more. Im a ballet teacher and only after 30 I was able to improve my turnout to almost flat turnout through that knowledge. It was all muscles really cause im still not flexible enough for turnout in the common ( wrong) understanding of turnout. Try it and im sure you will be very satisfied with the results!

[@simplyericaamaro]

What a great video! Of course, for some people to consider ballet as a career is not realistic, but as a teacher I would never say it's impossible. We constantly get examples of people who overcame physical obstacles and became amazing dancers, despite teachers telling them it was pointless. Like Darcey Bussell. Looking at you, I would never guess that you struggled with turn-out as a young girl! ❤

[@qazaalak745]

It's all about consistency and working hard. 💪 great video, as always.

[@anneashley5110]

Yes you are brilliantly connected with muscles. And I say this after working with nerves and muscles for 40 years.

[@tracyhuamani3063]

Your videos and you are absolutely amazing. I'm very greatful with you, this video has open my mind to a new possibility I thought it was lost, 'cause i've been told so, the same as you. The fact is that I'm 21 years old and my body, because of biological matters and added to my unconscious training (due to the lack of explanaition I needed to understand the way I should have executed the turnout as a kid), has developped the strengh in the wrong muscles to do the turnout. Also, I'm started suffering from knee problems because, as my hips couldn't rotate more, I made all the rotation from my knees. But, now, I now I can do it, i can enjoy ballet again if I make this decision to work on this harder than I used to do, with less pain and more happiness. Actually, I want to be a ballet teacher also, but teaching a safe and conscious way for my students. That's what I dream and you are an inspiration to me 💖 Thank you again, keep doing what you do!

[@suzettecalleja3122]

You are a very good teacher because you went through all that. You can relate and talk them through it.😊❤🎉

[@Deinareia]

I think it's super important to see a PT to determine your hard limits. It's definitely less disheartening to not see results in range when you work super hard, when you know it's simply not possible (without a surgery to file down the edges of my hip joins, the PT said). Still disheartening to be the worst in passive range by a large margin in class, but at least I know there's nothing more I can do. (Of course, I can improve my strength in holding what little I have.)

[@AnonymousBallerina]

This is so encouraging for me, I’m still in the process of becoming a ballerina and I have also have a not great turnout like you did. This give me hope! Thank you!

[@ahvyahvyahvy]

❤❤❤ love all that you teach abt turn out, im a beginner and am quite physique trained but it is so hard for me. Your teaching make a lot of sense and is very helpful!

[@lollylula6399]

I love the thumbnail, that's just how I feel about my turn out 😅I really appreciated this video. I loved my dance classes and especially ballet when I was growing up but I had the same experience where you'd be given instructions but absolutely no explanation on how to do them. A big one for me was being told to 'tuck my bum in/under', I put so much effort into it but was gripping (?) which resulted in me developing my bum muscles in a way that only emphasised my curved back. Many years later in adult ballet my teacher explained to me and showed me about tilting my pelvis in a way to 'tuck the bum under'. This was a revelation, it took months of practicing in the mirror at home to be able to stand that way and then move, but it worked and helped my turn out too. I love that you're taking your knowledge and passion and helping other people teaching them what you've learned. Hopefully in the future all teachers will actually teach the how to's and underlying principles. And it would be amazing if schools actually gave the information from their assessments to the pupils/families so they are better informed. Why keep it secret? Some things from the past make so little sense now. I recently saw a KZbin video of Jesse Drent putting his horse in an aqua trainer. All the sides have panels you can see through. Maybe it would be a possibility for filming your underwater exercises?

[@AnneSoSFO]

I would highly suggest to never tuck one's bum.

[@Geoplanetjane]

How do you prevent pronation when developing proper turnout?

[@catherinealexander8821]

Love your suggestion for pool exercise. Two ballet exercises to try on the pool -slow develope ( sorry no accent avail ) decant, 2nd and derrière in waist to sternum high water. Try to bring your toe above the surface and pay attention to where your weight is on the supporting leg. Also sauté and battu from 5th position in series 4, 6, 8. Feel your inner thighs and whole leg.

[@sasha0connor]

You've just inspired me and gave hope that one day I'll be better in my turnout. I do have faith and desire🙏

[@charitybaker5264]

Wow! I’ve never heard of ballet in water! Please, make a video about it or maybe a workout. That sounds so cool, I’m really trying to get stronger and that is so interesting!

[@grizabella7808]

Thank you - this was so helpful! I'm an adult ballet dancer - constantly struggling with turnout issues! I have started to do ballet floor barre weekly (all I can manage) but in the class that I have afterwards, it makes a huge difference. Looking to improve faster though :)

[@balletwithisabella]

Amazing work! You’ve got this ❤️💪

[@grizabella7808]

@@balletwithisabella Thank you :-)

[@larissawilson51]

wow! what a personal story. thanks. brings back all the tears and horror! wish you were there then!

[@kindofballet]

This is a great message you’re promoting with this video 😊 thank you!

[@outsidemej]

I adore your passion for ballet. You are a unicorn. You made my Monday something to look forward to and keep helping my students. Brilliant week to you and everybody here🫶🏼🙌🏼

[@anneashley5110]

You would be a great doctor for patients with limited movement due to injury etc.

[@brendastevens9077]

Thank you for sharing your story. My struggle has been balance. However your classes have helped me so much.😊❤

[@Yeknodathon]

Thanks, that was so interesting! I'm starting to experience that ballet is so much multi-dimensional - it demands everything. So, the trap for me would be turnout is this or that when it seems to be a whole bunch of things. Posture, core, pelvic alignment, what to activate and what to relax and on and on.. and spirals. Ballet seems to be a whole bunch of elevated spiralling and coiling as if we were something sprouting from a seed to seek light or reaching down to find water and nutrient. I resonated with the pronation comments - going through some of that :) so having to unlearn some habits and find better ways to spiral!

[@janelwilliams9144]

Exactly! I love the way you explained that,thank u!! 🩰

[@tiffcat1100]

@@janelwilliams9144 Same!

[@angelbrynner]

Thank you so much for this. I just had my 1st in person in 20yrs beginning ballet class after pregaming online...& now I'm having all these actual technical questions arise as I go. This is exactly where I was pondering this morning.

[@AllieHutchins]

Pool ballet is love, pool ballet is life 😅 ❤

[@alex_danceskpop]

ahhhh, this was so helpful and since I'm working really hard on my turnout lately so this was so fascinating!

[@valley_sock_zero]

In terms of showing the water ballet, most phones can go in a waterproof case. Some are even made to record synchronised water sports, hope this helps. thank you for making this as someone who is starting ballet late with imperfect turnouts as of yet this gives me hope for improvement as someone I look up to. Thank you for making such helpful and inspiring content you genuinely touched my life in a profound way ❤

[@Lapidu18]

Same experience..at 11 a teacher that was not able to teach me how to work the tournout,and Just repeating i didnt have.only at 20 i found a real teacher, an ex ballerina (basic required to teach something, u have to know It like professional) explained finally me how to work to improve It..and i became so Better After studied with this Person..with Faith in me and with a lot of Wish to recover the time Lost.. thanks for the True teachers (of dance and Life)

[@SuzieQQqqqqq]

What did you do to improve your turnout?

[@jolanmariavarga3830]

Thanks for this video. I have similar struggles with extensions especially a la second. At this point I'm quite hopeless honestly and I think it will never be above 90. I know I should be more consistent though but it's hard when you don't see results no matter what exercises you do. I don't want to give up, I really want to believe one day my legs can be up there. I'm really considering to subscribe to your online studio as my last chance because at this point I feel I tried so many things and nothing helped

[@lindas5964]

One of my biggest struggles is engaging and connecting the inside ball of the foot (behind the big toe) to the floor. Have a terrible habit of standing on the “blade” of the outside edge of my foot. Affects everything g but obviously balance in everything.

[@soupedelimaces]

wish i saw that video at least ten years ago lol ! now mid 20s I'd need to relearn the whole turnout thing. I might !!!

[@lgarvey11]

"Desire + Faith" ♥

[@sharonreeve7509]

I have desire and faith that my knee will get better! It is so hard to believe this.

[@Thepiebaldchart]

Your connection skill is your proprioception connection.

[@cynthialoup]

I watched the video when it was just released and I'm rewatching it now. It gives me such amazing hope to improve my endehors but i think i do need pictures from before and after to fully believe 😮

[@sabinesa08]

😊 fascia therapy. "Stretching" is fascia adhesions removal. A fascia damage is resulting in adhesions, eg by a hit, a fall, simple bruises, scar tissue from a cut, sports injury, inflammations, infections, but also tattoos and injections. Major factors are also mental or physical stress, trauma, nutrient deficiencies (magnesia, VitD3, vit C, vitamins B complex, sulfur, etc), to little or bad sleep, food disorders, allergies, etc. Muscles adhesions are hindering an optimal blood circulation and lymph flow. Muscles work in chains. If you have adhesions in a muscle chain and you release those adhesions, you have your full range. Think of it like a diving suit. If it is too small at an arm, you cannot move properly at the arm area but also in the opposite side, the leg. The roll or a ball does not get you to the core of the problem. I advise Boeger fasica therapy. A bit painfull, but most effective. 😊

[@Mancalashawty]

You are amazing

[@thewild5]

Loved this so much! ❤

[@mathildewesendonck7225]

Great video Isabella, thank you!! Please please do a video about your flexibility journey 😁🙏🏻😘

[@Thatclimbingirl]

Sadly I have Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS) so my hips are so unstable that they will partially dislocate when I turn out. I can never do ballet due to this.

[@jessicasager72]

How you speak about going back to basics when you injured your spine really resonated with me. I'm 54 now but was classically trained in my teens in vaganova. There were work arounds such as hip flexor which were exposed as that sort of propping or bracing that you understand and call out. When found out i I got stenosis about 10 years ago from lumbar disc effacements and had to battle back with physio it was literally ground up rethinking and retraining. I was grateful to have the benefit of prior training but also, it really explains what was missing in my youth that sort of promoted underlying weaknesses and adaptations that impacted my injured spine. All this to say I wish I knew when? But having you now for the last 6 months is taking me to the next level of recovery and ability, and I know I will achieve the ability to take classes again. Young people, heed her words. Hip arthritis is a real thing that you do not want to experience from improper technique. If it hurts now, address it. Especially if it is sharp and brief to where you are like oh that's just part being me using this body. I don't need to worry about it bc it goes away immediately.

[@Thatclimbingirl]

@@jessicasager72 It’s a genetic disorder so I can’t really do anything to address the issue. Chronic pain is part of it. I’ve seen a physiotherapist who told me to never do ballet.

[@mathildewesendonck7225]

Hello, I‘m a doctor. I‘m sorry about your condition, but I think if you are careful you can do a little ballet just for fun. If I were you I would go to an orthopedic doctor and another physio for a second opinion. It’s just really import that you work on muscle strength to stabilize your joints. Do you have a good physiotherapist? He or she could help you with that and show you exercises that you can do every day. 😊Don’t force anything. I know some people with EDS who do ballet and other sports, it’s possible! Good luck 😘

[@PettyBlue1]

@@mathildewesendonck7225 As a physiotherapist I second this opinion. Us physiotherapists are human, we all have our own opinions, but sadly a lot of therapists have prejudiced ideas of what ballet is, even without ever having been to a class. Negative opinions are often rooted in ideas around intentional ligament stretching (aka hyperextension), forced joint positions and body shaming/starving. In my experience ballet improves proprioception (awareness of body position) a great deal, and the actual focus is on strength and precise control of movements. While passive joint stability cannot be improved, all physiotherapists advocate working on active stability to keep body healthy and ache-free

[@sarasills762]

Have kyphoscolosis Ehles danlos and still made a professional company ballet dancer .

[@IrisBarnesBalletDiaries]

Thanks for this video!!! Im curious, if im flat in frog does that mean i have flat turnout range?

[@mathildewesendonck7225]

You have to make sure that you use only your hips for turnout, not your ankles and never your knees.

[@balletwithisabella]

@@mathildewesendonck7225the turnout is predominantly in the hipster but you have to use the whole leg. Hips, inner thighs, knees, calves and feet. It’s not just in the hips either though yes for sure you can’t just use the feet or knees without muscular support.

[@jodiel.7843]

what exercises and stretches can I do each day to really improve my range of turnout? I’m pretty determined ❤thank you

[@oliviatreip2613]

would you be able to show some hip stretches for turnout?

[@balletwithisabella]

Try my class on my website - hip mobilty and stretch. Turnout stretches. And my turnout course ❤

[@sibylleacatos]

Question about signing up ( sorry not about the video) but how much is it in $ per month if we sign up for your course...it doesn't give this option 😮

[@lyndabethcave3835]

It's £30/50/75 per month depending on what level you select, I was curious and just looked it up.

[@sibylleacatos]

@@lyndabethcave3835 thank you .

[@balletwithisabella]

There's a 14 day free trial - click anywhere "start your trial" and you will see the options on the site

[@spriinngflowerrs]

I’ve subscribed to the platform but I can’t find the video that talk about improve turnout. Can I have your assistance please?

[@alkionekaranasiou2825]

my hips hurt so much after streching when doing for example a middle split. I was out for a long time for a different injury and i didnt do any streching. My MRI was perfect at my hips. I also strech after the lesson so i dont know why i am in pain afterwards. do you know how to fix this?

[@ajc4762]

My favorite part was “Turnout or go home” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@balletwithisabella]

🤣🤣❤️

[@brocktighe3557]

I've had similar problems. except i was born duck footed. so as soon as i pronated my ankle i had "flat turnout". my school likes to mimic vagonava but non of the teachers actually trained there. so we were just told to use the sartorious and never use anything less then 180. it hurt, i had no stability and couldn't dance. got an overuse ankle injury. so then i had to swap back into "english turnout" and i could actually dance. Now through filming myself I'm finally figuring out how to actually turnout safely

[@youiladoneva4072]

Can someone please, tell me Isabella' s family name?

[@sebumpostmortem]

We all know the bills we' ll have to pay for having pushed the en dehors. If you kindly accept my advice that comes magically from the future, find a pelvic floor physio (if possible, specialized in dancers and RG' s). He/she' ll be your life saver if the rotation spreads to the puborectalis muscle area. Take care, please. My best best best wishes🧛🏻‍♀️🖤

[@toddnakrosis4415]

FYI, there is no technique in this

[@isabelaandzico]

I was actually put in ballet school because I was climbing the walls, the furniture, the trees (literally! Even coconut trees!) and I was not only built like a monkey 🙈 and spider 🕷️ hybrid with long legs and arms but I was also acting like them. I’d contort my body to freak out my parents especially turning out my legs until my feet touched backwards. That was it! I’m so grateful they realized I needed to channel my energy and body and sent me to proper ballet academy in Moscow where I fell in love with ballet, had a coach who had interest in mentoring me and realize my dream of becoming a professional ballerina. 🇵🇹🇧🇷🇷🇺🇺🇦🩰🫶🏻 13:26