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Question: Ballet fourth position trouble!!?
Hey, i find it very difficult to plié in fourth! When im standing in fourth with my legs straight it feels ok, because i move my feet and turn out till the position doesnt feel forced!. But when i plié it feels extremely forced and un comfortable can anyone suggest anything that i may be doing wrong!? My dance teacher doesnt comment on if it looks wrong, just for me doing a demi-plié its horrible!

Doing a full plié makes me feel like my back leg/foot is out of line when my dance teacher doesnt comment when she watches!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Hi, great question!.?

Ballet is a very unnatural movement of the body!. Many positions go against what the body was built for!. Of all the positions, fourth position is one of the most awkward!. There are a few things, however, to make it less uncomfortable:

1!. Don't force your turnout!. Make sure your knees have little or no stress on them by rotating from the inner thighs, hips, and lower glutus (herein referred to as the po-po ?!.) The lower part of the po-po, the very lowest muscles, are very much unused by most dancers!. Usually when teachers say anything about the po-po, it's a habit to clench the upper strong muscles, but the lowest, most unused muscles are very useful for turnout!. However, don't use the upper ones or you'll become overbuilt and have a large backside!.

2!. Don't sit in your plié!. Do your best to drop the wings and keep the posture consistent from the moment you elongé to begin the plié to the moment you come up!. In other words, if there was a brick wall covering the bottom half of your body, and you did a plié, I shouldn't know you were doing anything other than head and arm movement and you moving up and down!.

3!. Don't roll in on your foot!. This is cohesive with forced turnout!. When you force yourself to turn out uncomfortably, usually dancers roll over toward the front foot!. Not only is this extremely bad for the ankles and pretty much every bone from the hip down, it will make your pliés in fourth very very uncomfortable!. So remember, don't force turnout and keep all five toes on the ground!.

4!. Pull up!. However clichéd this analogy is, pretend like there is a string running from the pelvis through your back and neck, and out through the top of your head and pulling you upwards!. This will help your balance and release the strain from the legs, feet, knees, and hips!.

5!. Act elegant!. If you act elegant and think to yourself that you look fabulous, I guarantee everything will improve!. As an experienced dancer, your body knows what it needs to do to look pretty and feel natural!.

Good luck, hope I helped!.?Www@QuestionHome@Com

ask your teacher about it, ask her to help you and try having more weight on your back leg thats how i do it !.!.!.!.hope i helpedWww@QuestionHome@Com

I took ballet to!. It was hard for me but all I did was I quit and then took gymnastics and then went back and took ballet!. It helped alot!Www@QuestionHome@Com

a plie in fourth feels weird!! it is strange you work with it and get use to it tbh a lot of ballet is like that!!

lara <3Www@QuestionHome@Com

Ugh I really do hate fourth position plies!. I was not blessed with the ability to do deep plies!.!.anyway!. When you plie try to center yourself in-between your two feet!.Www@QuestionHome@Com