Focus Class 2: Turnout & Alignment, guided by Ella Roper, is a complete and technically challenging session designed to help dancers build functional external rotation and refine postural alignment across all directions of movement.

Students will work within their own active range of motion to strengthen both the deep rotators and the pelvic stabilisers including the gluteus medius, glutes, and TFL. A strong understanding of how to activate and engage these muscles will help students precisely execute turnout-based movement while maintaining proper alignment.

A highlight of the class is Combination Adage, where dancers are challenged to apply their turnout across multiple planes including devant, seconde, and derrière, all while maintaining alignment and control.

Tips:

Encourage dancers to stay pelvis-aware in every position—whether lying down, standing, or in adage.

Reinforce the concept that core stability supports turnout—when the centre is active, dancers will have better control of their extremities, allowing them to move with more freedom.

In arabesque lines, encourage visualisation techniques: dancers can imagine the movement extending from the top of the head all the way to the toes, creating a long, open arc—like a rainbow—with no tension or compression at any point.