Cueing Dancers to "Externally Rotate From the Hips" Improves Potentially Injurious Ankle Joint Angles and Contact Forces During a Demipointe Ballet Position.

This article focuses on the biomechanical effects of cueing pre-professional ballet dancers to increase hip external rotation during the demipointe position, a foundational ballet stance associated with high risk of ankle overuse injuries. The study found that the cue significantly increased hip external rotation and reduced knee external rotation, ankle eversion angle, and ankle eversion force, which are factors linked to injurious ankle valgus stress. However, the cue also caused a small but statistically significant decrease in total turnout angle, which may affect aesthetic performance. These findings suggest that targeted coaching to enhance hip external rotation could improve safer demipointe mechanics, though further research is needed to assess long-term injury outcomes and whether turnout angle can be maintained without compromising joint safety.