23/06/2026
Want to look more turned out in ballet class?
You may think from first appearances, that turning out is all about our feet turning out, but if you are actually taking ballet classes, I’m sure your teacher will have explained that turnout actually involves the whole leg turning out and that this comes from the hip socket and the toes pointing outwards is merely the natural result of turning the thighs out.
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So to help you with this, first of all sort your hips out, if they’re tipping forwards, it’s harder to engage the turn out muscles at the top of the leg, so easiest way to sort this is to think of pulling the belly button in towards the lower spine, this helps keep the hips level and allows you to switch on those little piriformis muscles underneath the glues, they’re the ones that actively rotate the femur in the hip socket. You can also use your inner thigh muscles by thinking of pulling the heels forwards to give a helping hand.
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Once turned out, these muscles do need to stay switched on. If they relax, you’ll end up relying on friction and your feet to hold on to the turn out which is not the best technique and will allow your upper legs to go back to their usual parallel position and as a result, twisting your knees and maybe ankles.
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Turning out from your upper leg will allow your legs much more movement, especially when travelling sideways or lifting your leg to the side, and will create a lovely turned out look in every plié and petit jeté.
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And the great news is you don’t have to have 180º turn out to still look good. This is actually quite rare and even 90º turn out, well held in the hip sockets, will make your dancing look so much more classical and improve the ease of so many movements in ballet.
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Do let me know how you get on in the comments below.
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And if you want to dance with me, simply pop BridgeBallet.club in your browser and you’ll get taken to my membership site where I can help you improve so many other areas of your ballet training.
