Assessing Turnout in University Dancers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test practical procedures for assessing total turnout in dancers’ lower extremities. Passive, active and best turnout measurements were taken for 17 first-year dancers in a selective university program, using measurement protocols demonstrated to be reliable. The results revealed considerable variability in the degree of turnout available to individual dancers, and a tendency for many dancers to use less turnout while standing than shown to be available when measured passively while supine on an examination table. Thus, the study indicates an opportunity to improve the use of turnout in dancers, and recommends a set of measurement protocols for assessing this capacity to which many dancers and teachers attribute a good deal of importance.