The Turn Out The "plié - tendu" The balance The flexibility The "cambré" Ballet Shoes The floor

The "cambré" is common in ballet and is performed at the barre. The dancer becomes aware of good back posture. Hyperlordosis of the lumbar region is avoided through the extended contraction of the abdominal muscles and by using the glutaeus maximus muscles, dorsal extension is pushed to its limit. The dancer does not "break", he "stretches".
The "cambré" is often made easier by the joint use of the humeral and dorsal muscle insertions, when one or both arms are in the "en couronn
e" position. The "cambré" also paves the way for the "arabesque" exercise. The classical "arabesque" is an extension-external rotation -adduction of the thigh, knee straight. However, there is an anatomical limit to the lifting of the thigh which dancers push out to about 40°, using stretching exercises for ligaments and anterior hip muscles (rectus femoris, tensor fasciae latae, pectineus, gracilis). A rocking of the pelvis controlled by contraction of the abdominal, glutaeus maximus and quadratus lumborum muscles, allows the leg to be lifted beyond this limit. In the classical "arabesque", the dancer must put his torso in a vertical position by rocking his pelvis and using maximum hip extension: "lift your leg, pull in your ribs, lift up your chest, stretch your back". It must also "flatten the hip" by maintaining the contraction strain of the external hip rotators and, thus, avoid lateral rocking of the pelvis which pulls both the vertebral axis and the shoulders out of line.
Therefore, there is a specific change which causes an increase in trunk extensor strength and extension flexibility; this must be taken into account in the various spinal pathologies encountered, especially in re-education techniques.

Bibliography :

Maya Cale, Mark Albert, Alan Grodin, Lynda D Woodruff, Isokinetic Trunk Muscle Performance Characteristics of Classical Ballet Dancers. JOSPT. Vol. 15. Number 2. February 1992

Thiescé A., Le geste dansé et ses conséquences en rhumatologie Ed Laboratoire Ciba-Geigy 1996