Keep it Safe: Grand Plies
This is one post in a series, on ways to avoid injury while pursuing your ballet-based fitness goals. This class is focused on wellness. When it comes to the choice between "perfect" ballet technique and protecting yourself from injury, ALWAYS choose to protect yourself.
What is "perfect" is what is "perfect for you!"
Let's talk about GRAND PLIES...
THE IDEAL: Grand plies (full bending of the knees) are typically performed in 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th positions, during barre combinations. They help develop flexibility and strength in the hips, knees, ankles and feet. In an ideal grand plie, the dancer lowers all the way down into a deep knee bend, then rises back up in a smooth, controlled, continuous movement. Ideal grand plies look like this:
(Images from Front Range Classical Ballet Academy)
THE PROBLEM: Grand plie in 1st, 4th, and 5th positions put a lot of strain on the knees and hips. These grand plies require advanced technical proficiency and strength. For those taking fewer than three ballet classes per week, and especially for adult beginners, the risk of injury in performing grand plies in 1st, 4th and 5th positions is not worth the possible benefits.
Recent changes in thinking, in the ballet world, are questioning whether grand plies are safe, appropriate and anatomically functional.
HOW TO KEEP IT SAFE: To avoid injuries caused by grand plie in 1st, 4th, and 5th positions, we simply don't do them. There are plenty of other combinations at the barre that strengthen the same muscles as do these grand plies, without jeopardizing your joints.
If you believe you have sufficient strength, and want to push your 1st-, 4th- and 5th- position plies past the "demi" position, take it slowly and carefully. Start by doing shallow grand plies with your heels just barely off the floor. Only deepen the movement once you gain the strength to do so. For example, look at the modified grand plie that American Ballet Theater (ABT) Instructor, Susan Jaffe, performs in her plie series, starting at 8:32 in this video:
Grand plies in 2nd position are generally safe, because your base of support is broad, and because you do not bend as far down as in the other positions. When performing a grand plie in 2nd position, go down only as far as you can comfortably rise from, without straining or pulling on the barre. Keep your heels on the floor, direct your tailbone straight down, and don't allow your chest to tip forward. At the bottom of your 2nd position grand plie, your tailbone should not be lower than your knees.
The Front Range Classical Ballet Academy has a great post on The Ups and Downs of Demi and Grand Plies, that provides more detailed analysis and information on the correct and incorrect ways to perform demi and grand plies.
Safe dancing, everyone!