Turnout

Turnout is the outward rotation of a dancer’s legs from the hip, allowing the feet and knees to face outward. It shapes classical ballet’s positions and movement.

Hip external rotation: Rotation of the thigh outward at the hip joint. This joint motion produces much of the outward leg rotation used in turnout.
Ballet position: A prescribed arrangement of the feet and body used as a foundation for ballet movement. Turnout is expressed through the arrangement of the feet in the classical positions.
Plié: A ballet movement in which the knees bend while the feet remain in a prescribed position. A plié reveals whether turnout is controlled as the knees bend.
Classical ballet: A codified form of theatrical dance characterized by formal technique, vocabulary, and movement conventions. Turnout is a defining physical convention of its movement vocabulary.
Hip joint: The ball-and-socket joint connecting the femur to the pelvis. Its structure and range of motion influence how much turnout a dancer can achieve.
First position: A ballet stance with the heels together and the feet turned outward. It makes the basic outward orientation of turnout visible.
Battement tendu: A ballet exercise that slides one foot along the floor to a pointed extension. Dancers maintain turnout as the working leg extends from the supporting leg.
Pierre Beauchamp: A seventeenth-century French dancer and choreographer associated with codifying the five ballet positions. The positions linked to his name formalized turnout as a visible feature of ballet technique.
Gluteus maximus: A large buttock muscle that extends and externally rotates the hip. It contributes to the muscular control that sustains turnout.
Second position: A ballet stance with the feet separated and turned outward. It tests whether turnout can be maintained with the legs apart.

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