When reading through different online articles, I found this one that I thought relevant for our students. 'Rolling ankles' are always a challenge, and this explanation seems helpful.
The Triangle of the Foot
September 19,
2014 by Kim Hungerford Teaching Articles
“Don’t roll your
feet! Keep your arches lifted!”
I’ve received the
correction myself, but I’ve not been able to find a good way to explain it
to my younger, beginner/intermediate students. Ruth Brinkerhoff’s “Pointe 1: An Introduction to Pointe Work”
reveals a really good way to explain it.
Imagine that each of your feet have three points, as in a triangle.
Our feet have three
weight bearing points called the Triangle of the Foot
When explaining
this concept to my 11-year old student last night, it was like a light bulb
went off! She grasped the concept right away and told me that she has been told
by others in the past that she has low arches. I encouraged her
to train her muscles to lift those arches by distributing even weight
on both the inside and outside of the foot (the top two of the
three points shown in the illustration).
Most of the
students I’ve explained this to have been able to capture the idea. From my
older, more experienced students, down to my 6 year olds, it’s something they
can start to learn and apply. They especially love it if you sit down on the
floor, take off your shoes and point to the three parts of the foot.
Brinkerhoff
describes it like this in her Pointe 1 book:
Weight bearing for
ballet is considered correct when divided evenly over three main weight bearing
points on the plantar (sole) surface of each foot: one third is on the heel,
two thirds are on the ball of the foot.*
It is best to
correct this error while working at the barre since a student will notice it
while working solely on footwork and technique. A student who has fallen into
the bad habit of allowing his or her feet to roll forward will take some
reminding before they get the hang of it, so keep [focused on it].
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