The Knee and Patellofemoral Joints 267movements should be used with more skilled dancers
who do not experience knee discomfort; and when
one is teaching these movements to more beginning
dancers, a logical progression should be used. For
example, skill can be developed (1) facing the barre
FIGURE 5.23 First-position grand plié with (A) desired
body placement and (B) undesired body placement.A
B
with two-hand support; (2) side to the barre with
decreasing one-hand support; (3) center floor with
range increasing in accordance with ability to main-
tain balance and body placement; and (4) center
floor with choreographic-specific challenges such as
adding off-center torso and arm movements.The Hinge
Hinge movements take on various forms but gener-
ally involve keeping the torso in line with the knees
as the knees flex and lower toward the floor on a
diagonal. They represent an important element of
dance vocabulary in jazz and some forms of modern
dance, including Horton and Graham techniques,
as seen in figure 5.24. The position of the torso
makes this movement even more challenging than
the grand plié in terms of quadriceps strength and
neuromuscular coordination. Hence, a well-designed
progression similar to that used with grand pliés is
recommended for less-skilled or -conditioned danc-
ers, or those new to this movement. An example of
a progression would be (1) a series of wall squats
(table 5.3G, p. 277) performed very slowly or with
holds; (2) side to the barre with one-hand support
while performing a hinge with gradually increasingFIGURE 5.24 Example of a hinge (side tilt) as seen in the
Graham technique.
Photo courtesy of Scott Peterson. Dancer: Susan McLain.