a la seconde troubles

[DropOfSun]

whenever i lift my leg in a la seconde my hip awkwardly juts out and it's hard for me to tuck it under, i never can. the only time it looks halfway decent is when it's in the middle of a rond de jambe. what can i do to get it looking good all the time?

[Anjuli_Bai]

You are probably using your hip to lift your leg - let your knee lift your leg.  Do the lift to the front and then rond de jambe to second but only as far to second as the hip stays down - don't go any further.  Very few of us are able to get a perfect second.  You have to find out where your best second is and work from there.  Try it low first - and then gradually work up to your best technical height.

[Jan McNulty]

Hello DropOfSun and welcome to the Forum.

 

Anjuli has started the ball rolling with some practical advice and I am sure other members will chip in.

 

Please let us know how you are getting on.

[drdance]

As you say its good in rond de jambe, practice it low. You're probably lifting it too high for the correct placement at the moment so you might using the outer part of the thigh and glutes as they are naturally stronger. Try keeping the leg low and working for correct placement, and gradually increase the height until you can do it with the right placement.

 

Also - don't forget that our a la seconde is slightly in front of us. Take the lifted leg forwards a bit and really work to turn it out. The combination of focussing on turnout and placing should help too. Gradually in time you can work to push it backwards a bit. Also don't forget to really rotate your standing leg too!

 

There are some great suggestions for strengthening in the other thread on developpes to second. 

 

Another trick to try is do it lying on your back. It's obvious if you hike your hip up as you'll roll over!

[Stitch]

All good advice so far.  Many ballet positions use muscle groups that are not commonly used in everyday life.  Second position is a perfect example of that.  You must learn to synergistically employ the correct muscle groups in order to gain height while keeping your hip down.  A good second position comes from learning as much as it comes from  strengthening.  Seek out teachers who can help you find the right muscles to engage, and keep it low while you are learning.

[Thecatsmother]

Another good one is to lie on your side on the floor making sure you are in a engaging your core and turnout plus in a straight line from head to toe. Put legs in fifth with upper leg in front whilst continuing to hold turnout and core. Do one retire closing at the back and and one back to fifth front. If you do this slowly you should really feel it work core and turnout muscles, Then start a developpe but do in three parts. Up to retire then lift knee as high as possible after retire and extend to developpe a la second slowly whilst keeping core engaged and not compromising turn out in either leg. I should add you leave one arm on floor for your head to rest on and the other goes on floor in front of you to prevent you falling forward. Then slowly lower developpe leg with control back to fifth front.