Measuring turnout in ballet and modern dancers

McNulty, Penelope BHMS (Hons), PhD, Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Turnout, generally defined as 90° external rotation of each leg at the hip joint, is the basis for every ballet position and movement. However there is evidence that rotation only at the hip joint is rare and that turnout also occurs at the knee, ankle and foot. Turnout is usually assessed by measurements of external rotation of the hips. Three hypotheses were tested: that turnout cannot be described simply as external rotation of the hips; that the techniques used to measure turnout commonly encountered by dancers are not related to the amount of turnout used in a simple ballet movement; that turnout is related to dance style. Angular displacement of the hip was measured in four passive positions of turnout/external rotation and one active movement in 23 elite level dance students (15 ballet and eight modern). Four passive positions were based on those encountered in a clinical or dance studio setting, the active movement was a simple ballet step (grand plié). The active assessment of turnout was correlated to only one passive position (r=0.72, p<0.001), that most commonly encountered in studio based assessments. Differences were noted between turnout on the right and left legs for both ballet and modern dancers in four of the five positions. No differences were found between the ballet and modern dancers for any parameter. These data suggest that turnout cannot be described simply as external rotation of the hip. Turnout must therefore involve a combination of hip positions including external rotation, abduction and flexion in addition to a contribution from more distal leg joints. Clinical assessments of hip external rotation do not measure functional dance turnout. However function turnout can be assessed by one simple passive position. Turnout is not related to dance style.