A Correct First Position

Stand up and try this.

• Stand normally with your feet in parallel.
• Rotate your hips and knees to make a "V"shape with your heels as the peak.
• This is your natural first position, which is one of the most common and important positions in ballet.
• If you have bad knees sit down and imagine the next part. If not, stay standing and try to make a horizontal line with your feet, keeping you heels touching.
• If you are standing you should feel pressure on you knees and it should be difficult to straighten your legs and stand in this position.
• If this is easy, please take a ballet class right away, all of the dancers will be jealous.

What you just tried, if you followed the instructions above, was turning out to be in first position. In the ballet world a perfect 180 degree turn out is ideal. However, if you tried it you probably noticed it is hard and creates a large moment on your knees. Vary few dancers have a natural 180 degree turn out, so they force their knees to create that unnatural and painful position. First position is one of the six fundamental positions that ballet dancers employ to jump, turn, leap, stand, and balance. By training with a forced turnout the dancer changes the alignment of their knees and feet. If you stand in your natural first position and plie (bend your knees) your knees should be in alignment with you second toe. A forced turn out pushes your knees forward causing the arch of your foot to roll forward. When the arches are forced to function in a miss aligned position the foot becomes deformed. The most common deformity is a Hallux valgus, commonly known as a bunion.  To prevent these injuries researchers and the Physical therapist at my internship recommend strengthening the lateral rotators

 and Gluteus Maximus. The hips should derive 60% of a dancer's turn out and only 40% should be derived from the knees. Variations of the 60/40 ratio will eventually lead to injuries. A dancers body is their instrument, but not everyone has the same flexibilities and strengths. To protect a dancer's instrument they must work to achieve their goals and not force them. Forcing any instrument to work in a way it was not designed damages the instrument. So dance teachers and dancers be careful and be cautious of your bodies limits.