Over development of thigh and buttock muscles.

[Tulip]

My daughter believes in her words that her thighs are too muscley, and that they are preventing her from closing into her fifth position without bending one of her knees, you ballet experts will know what she is on about. Her teacher has told her that there is nothing wrong with her thighs, but my daughter is insisting that her thighs are too muscley and she hates them with a vegence. She already knows about stretches and does them all the time at school, she says that she would like to lose some of the muscle, but I don't believe that is possible, any advice would be gratefully recieved.

[Fiz]

Oh dear, Tulip. I suspect she maybe one of many girls who hate certain parts of their body and insist there is something wrong, even when told there isn't. Your only consolation is that she will grow out of it.

[dancemad]

Hi Tulip.

Like Fiz says maybe this is just a teenage dislike! :/

However could she be using the wrong muscles for adage etc?? Often when teenagers go through growth spurts and loose a little strength, they will use other (incorrect) muscles to compensate.

Muscle mass can certainly be lost. It only takes two weeks for a muscle to go into atrophy and after that it will start to break down. Even over the summer rest your daughter would see a difference.

Hope she feels better about things soon

[Tulip]

You could be right dancemad, a good break would do her the world of good. She is still insisting that her thighs are the reason why she is struggling to close in fifth, without wriggling. She is lifting her body and all the things that you are meant to do, but she thinks that no one is understanding what she means. Her muscles are long and defined, but because of all the hard work that she puts in her thigh muscles have developed. Roll on the summer holidays, where I will make sure that she does rest, whether she will like it or not.

[spooky]

Have sent you a pm - on the end of our previous conversation.

[Anna C]

Tulip, she couldn't be having a growth spurt, could she? My dd has had a massive growth spurt this year and each time she's grown, it's been slightly uneven so for a while one of her legs has been longer than the other. This has made it difficult to close into 5th at times without wanting to bend one of her legs.

 

The dance physio says it's temporary and will pass, but it's a tricky time. I'm just wondering if that could be part of the problem?

 

WRT muscles, again, it might be worth getting a dance physio to check that she's not overusing her quads or underusing other muscles. If all is fine, then it sounds as if she's just feeling insecure about her body - sadly ridiculously common! But as much as we as parents can try to reassure our children, often it only sinks in when they get reassurance from someone unrelated to them. :-)

[Tulip]

Actually Spanner, I will ask her to go and see her physio at school (if she will go that is), as we are paying for that service. She just drives me crackers when she is going on and on about her thighs, I feel like telling her that she should be glad that she has got a pair of legs, but somehow I don't think that would go down well ha ha. I have replied to your p.m Spooky thanks. Do other ballet mums daughters go through this stage. I think my daughter is wanting some one professional to say to her yes your thighs are too muscley so do this. But the fact is ballet dancers have got muscles and she needs to have them to do what she does.

[Anna C]

Definitely. My very slim dd thinks she has "fat thighs". :-/

 

 

[Tulip]

They drive you crackers don't they Spanner, I just don't want mine thinking she has to lose any weight as she too is only slight.

[Anna C]

Definitely get her checked by the school physio then, firstly for reassurance that she's using the leg muscles equally, and secondly to see if the problem is just being caused by something temporary. :-)

[primrose]

Tulip, your dd is very tiny indeed, with very slim thighs. I am sure its just a phase she is going through. They all want to be what they percieve as being perfect, but there will always be stumbling blocks along the way.

[Anjuli_Bai]

Does she have hyper extended knees? This would impact her ability to close in 5th position.

[Tulip]

Just slight sway backs Anjuli.

[Anjuli_Bai]

That could be enough to cause difficulty in closing into fifth.

[Fiz]

Girls are maddening like this! Neither of my ex DDs think they are pretty and they are gorgeous, both of them! (Not just a fond Mamma talking!)

[robin64]

If you can get the opportunity see if your DDs can do an inclusive dance workshop, course or summer school. It did my DD the world of good to dance with young people with disabilities and it puts things like my DDs big feet and long toe that she moaned about into perspective. She had a great time and learned lots about the pleasure people get from dance. In our area it is the county dance team that run these sessions. She has done a few of these over the year and it is always fab to go and watch when they show the work.