MumToTu Posted June 23, 2015 Author Share Posted June 23, 2015 (edited) Hi Eowyn, your daughters sound very talented and hardworking. I think you maybe right about the 2 not being related, I alway assumed mistakenly that her excellent turnout in splits would equate to good turnout in ballet, sigh, but obviously not. Her plies, my ballet terminology is not great, I think are okay, it mostly noticeable in her Demi plies in 2nd position, that her turnout didn't look very well turned out, but was probably at a limit for where she is now. Just pondering it and wondering if it's something dancers can get much improvement on, I don't know how she is in the frog gy position, I'll ask her later, she can butterfly flat, so fingers crossed this will help in her audition. We will add it to her gentle stretches, thank you it may help. On the positive side, I don't think she's in any danger of ever injuring herself by over turning out lol :-) Edited June 23, 2015 by Snowflake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legseleven Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Snowflake, perhaps if you're able to ask her usual teacher and her associates' teacher for their thoughts and regarding the best way to help your DD, they may have suggestions re a good dance physio/gyrotonics teacher as well as suggestions of exercises your DD can do for herself. They will know the best way to assist her individually as they know how her body works. She is young and clearly has good natural flexibility, so I would be surprised if this is something that can't be corrected. Do let us know how she gets on. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MumToTu Posted June 23, 2015 Author Share Posted June 23, 2015 (edited) Thank you, I've been dying too after dds last lesson, but I could see it was especially busy time for her teacher. I can see why parents aren't usually allowed to watch, as I expect it does make them so much more curious about every little aspect their child's progress, especially me who has an keen interest in vaguely similar areas anyway, ie my keenest hobbies are yoga and Pilates. I will definitely be asking them for their help, and for their advice in finding the right dance physio for her over the summer. I will keep you posted and thank you all for your replies x Edited June 23, 2015 by Snowflake 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moomin Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Does she mean there's no grand plies until grade 4 maybe? We have also had plié since primary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MumToTu Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 Yes, Moomin, that is correct Grand Plies is what she in fact did say, thank you for clarifying that. And we have been having much confusion in our house also as to what a frog stretch is, dd doesn't seem to have any idea, we've googled it, but can't work out at at angle the legs should be out from the hip. We do feel like such a novice Ballet family sometimes.... Dd has her Grade 3 exam today she is very excited. She is feeling very excited. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harwel Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Frog stretch: get DD to lay on back, knees bent, feet flat in floor. Allow the knees to fall to the sides, keeping soles of the feet together. Flat position is when knees go right to the floor with no arch in the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Any idea what it is called then when you lie on front, raised on elbows, with same leg position? During stretching in class a lot adopt this position and my dd will often lie like this to watch TV or read. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harwel Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Froggy laying on your front??????? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Or like most of these things - very uncomfortable! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billyelliott Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Reverse frog ?! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aballetlife Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I've heard frog stretch but lying on your stomach called butterfly before 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MumToTu Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 (edited) Thank you all for enlightening us, just out of interest dd performed the "reverse frog" tonight and her feet were 3 inches off the floor, feet pressed heel to toe flat against each other, and bum totally flat on floor. If she raised her bum at all her feet would go down, but her bum stuck out and her back was not flat. If she did it elbows raised, she could get more or less flat, doing it with her upper body raised seem to give her so much more range. As she is naturally flexible, dd tends to thing she can get away without stretching, as she thinks it is not exciting. She has been given homework stretching I am sure to help her I am going to make sure she completes it all properly from now until her auditions. I may add, in reverse frog with legs straight out to side, bum totally flat, ie box splits no problem at all, sits there reading. It seems to be the bent knee position that restricts her range. On a positive note, she had a lovely exam today, it couldn't have gone better, her face was glowing when she came out, she enjoyed it so much. Edited June 25, 2015 by Snowflake 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 I think I've only seen reverse frog with raised upper body - will pay more attention in future. Body flat to floor to roll through on box splits ie. with straight legs. I would just get her to work on exercises given by teacher once warmed up. If she thinks it isn't exciting maybe point out to her that stretching is a routine part of ballet lessons at vocational school and the girls tend to be very flexible to start with! At dd school it comes after barre before they move onto centre work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahw Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Snowflake my dd has seen someone recently who may be suitable - has been fab for my dd. I will need to look out her Manchester tel number as she has separate tel no for each location. I'll PM you tomorrow. It may be worth clearing with your dance teacher first? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Be very careful what stretches you are getting your children to do at home, unless you have been shown by a really good teacher. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MumToTu Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 Don't worry Tulip, I totally agree there, the last thing she would want is an injury. I don't think there is any danger of dd practising the frog again on her own. She did go into from box very carefully and is a very cautious stretcher anyway. Glad to hear it is supposed to be done elbow up as she seem flat in that position and had her feet flat against each other from toe to heel. She has lots of gentle stretches she has been given by her teacher she has been given but I suspect has been skipping. I will point out to her they will be doing them in class at vocational school, but I expect she would be happy doing them in a class environment. To many distractions at home her pets, siblings, school work, friends etc, I think my supervision is needed. Anyway, at least i am little clearer in that it's most likely a strength issue for her, as she really could do with improving turned out look while dancing, before her auditions. She looks lovely and so improved in everything else I might add, she seems to holding her neck up so it looks really long and elegant, which she wasn't doing last year, and her feet looked beautiful. Thank you Sarah W that would be fab, we appreciate that so much. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squeaky Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 I must add everything else looked lovely in her class, especially her feet and arabesques, she definitely has the "banana" feet at least. Are they a huge plus? Hopefully they will distract from the lack of turnout Banana feet... I have them and they look wonderful! Beautiful leg lines oh and to die for in pointes! My feet are seriously arched - sat on floor with legs in front I barely have to stretch my feet to get my toes to touch the floor. However they are not a huge plus (in my experience) - you have to work hard on ankle and foot strength (especially for up en pointe or in any rise), it can cause additional stress on the knees and be prone to injury. Your 'centre' can be 'off'. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MumToTu Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 Banana feet, this makes me giggle sorry but dds really do make a banana shape, her feet have a very high instep on top plus a high curved arch, just like a banana lol. It's looks lovely in her leaps, it's very easy for her to make a beautiful extended line. I can image they could be hard to work with on pointe, not that dd is at that stage yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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