Ballet Exercises - Flexibility and Adagio

by G
(LA)

Ballet Exercises - Flexibility and Adagio

Hi I am adult ballet dancer.
My question is I can't get my let high when I do adagio.
No matter what I do. I can only get little higher than my hip (90
digrees ) and it really make me depres.
I use my inner muscles. My abb.put my knee high.
I really want my let to be higher than my shoulder..
I take ballet 5 times a week serious.
Is this something to do with flexibility?
Or can I get flexible much more?
Or I can't? I want know straight answer.
Or is this how the way my body is?
I was tight since what I was 6....
I hope this gives you enough information to answer my question.

G

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Reply by Odette
To:- Ballet Exercises - Flexibility and Adagio

Hello,

Thank you for contacting me it’s great to hear from you. Your flexibility can depend a lot on your natural body structure and how much you naturally have in your body. I have trained with dancers since I was 11 years old and many I saw little change in the flexibility, some were gifted with a huge range of flexibility whilst others were not. However, that’s not to say you can’t improve your flexibility. You absolutely can and it will take a lot of stretching, practice and time to see an improvement.

I understand you’ve been tight since you were 6 years old, so you’re body may not have as much range to reach extreme flexibility. However, for adagio I would practice deep range stretches like ‘shouldering the leg’ e.g. taking one leg in your hand and holding it to a stretch above 90 degrees. You can also place your leg on the ballet barre to stretch your hips and feel your legs above 90 degrees.

If you feel your hips are especially tight, then you need to make sure you stretch regularly to keep them loose. There are some superb hip stretches in Yoga which I would highly recommend to increase your flexibility.

There is only so much your body can do and I’m sure you have many strengths as a dancer which others do not, so keep practicing and take a look at some Yoga stretches on YouTube to loosen your hips. I hope this helps, keep in touch!
Best wishes,
Odette