This exercise is designed to target and warm up the adductor muscles, which are crucial for producing and maintaining proper ballet turnout. This warmup aims to activate these muscles safely, ensuring that students avoid locking the knees and engage their hamstrings instead. The exercise also focuses on elongating the body and controlling breathing, both of which are essential for proper ballet technique.

Preparation: Instruct students to lie on the mat with the fit ball close to the groin. Legs should be stretched over the fit ball, positioned with consideration of whether or not the student has hyperextension in the legs. If so, ask students to move the legs a little closer and further over the fit ball.

Steps:

1. Have the students exhale while flat on the mat and then inhale while moving into the bridge while the arms adjust into second position.

2. Ensure students exhale upon reaching the bridge in order to keep the ribs from flaring.

3. Check for a straight line from the hips to the femur.

4. Guide students through dorsiflexion, rolling through the metatarsals into plantar flexion. Repeat three times.

5. Lead students into parallel and repeat the sequence. Repeat in full.

6. Conclude with a controlled roll back down, visualising each vertebra touching the mat.

Focus: Emphasise maintaining proper hip alignment and avoiding knee locking and engaging the hamstrings for support.