Analysis of Human Movement 481flexors of the gesture leg concentrically contract in
a forceful manner to raise the leg high to the front.
Simultaneously, the knee extensors work to keep
the knee extended, and generally the plantar flexors
contract concentrically to produce a slightly greater
pointed position of the gesture ankle and foot.
Now, to reverse the movement, the hip flexors
of the gesture leg work eccentrically to control the
lowering of the leg during the initial part of the down-
phase (subphase C to D), while the knee extensors
and ankle-foot plantar flexors work isometrically to
maintain their positions. In the final portion of the
down-phase (subphase D to E), the hip extensors of
the gesture leg work concentrically to bring the leg
behind the body, while the knee extensors work iso-
metrically to keep the knee straight. At the end of this
subphase, ankle-foot dorsiflexion of this leg can be
produced by a combination of concentric contraction
of the ankle-foot dorsiflexors and the passive effect of
shifting the body weight back so that the gesture leg
now helps support the body weight. During this sub-
phase, the support leg is also undergoing joint move-
ments to return to the starting position. In this case, the
hip extensors, knee extensors, and ankle-foot plantar
flexors all work eccentrically to control hip flexion,
knee flexion, and ankle dorsiflexion, respectively.
Because this movement is performed in a turned-
out versus parallel position, the hip external rotators
are working in an approximately isometric manner
throughout the movement on both the support
and gesture legs. In different phases of the move-
ment, changes in joint angle and other factors will
influence the relative contribution of specific hip
external rotators and the degree to which they are
activated.
Looking at the upper extremity and simplifying
the analysis to the shoulders, the right and left shoul-
der flexors work concentrically to raise the arms to
the front to different heights on the up-phase of the
movement. On the down-phase, gravity would tend
to make the arms rapidly fall back down to the sides,
and so the shoulder flexors work eccentrically to con-
trol the lowering of the arms (shoulder extension). A
more detailed analysis of this movement would take
into account the subtle rotation that occurs at the
shoulder to help position the elbow and forearm in
accordance with this classical aesthetic.
Looking at the movement more specifically,
because of the challenge of balancing on one leg
and the large weight of the leg being displaced, many
muscles throughout the body would have to work
in an approximately isometric manner as stabilizers
to maintain the desired “aligned” upright position
of the body with the body weight appropriately
maintained over the support leg. One particularly
key muscle group acting as stabilizers are the hip
external rotators on the support leg. If these are
not appropriately used, the pelvis will tend to rotate
toward the support leg (left pelvic rotation result-
ing in relative hip internal rotation of the support
leg) as the gesture leg is lifted. Cueing dancers to
focus on maintaining turnout on the hip of the sup-
port leg is key for helping to limit pelvic rotation
to a degree that is accepted by the aesthetic of the
particular school of dance. In terms of synergists,
the hip adductors would theoretically act as help-
ing synergists on the gesture leg to neutralize the
undesired abduction action of lateral hip flexors,
such as the tensor fasciae latae and sartorius, so as
to keep the leg appropriately positioned in front of
the body. Focusing on the end of the up-phase of
the movement, it can be ascertained that inadequate
hamstring flexibility (passive insufficiency) or inad-
equate hip flexor strength (active insufficiency), or
both, could limit the dancer’s ability to achieve the
desired height of the leg.
In terms of technique, one common error is
bending the knee of the support leg as the gesture
leg is lifted to the front. As described in chapter 4,
posteriorly tilting the pelvis will change the facing of
the acetabulum and allow for less relative shorten-
ing of the iliopsoas, both of which would facilitate
greater height of the gesture leg. One study showed
that an average of 30° of posterior tilting of the pelvis
(beginning at about 45° thigh displacement) and
an average of 82° of hip flexion were combined to
effect the end position of a grand battement devant
(Ryman and Ranney, 1979). However, an excessive
degree of posterior tilting of the pelvis or tight hip
flexors will bring the femur forward and cause unde-
sired flexion of the knee on the support leg.
Preventing this undesired knee flexion can be
accomplished in many ways, including emphasizing
using the quadriceps femoris to maintain the knee
in an extended position (often encouraged through
cueing to “pull up the thigh of the support leg”),
using an appropriately balanced co-contraction of
the hip flexors and extensors on the support leg to
limit hip hyperextension and associated posterior
tilting of the pelvis (often encouraged through
cueing to “reach the sitz bones down toward the
floor on the support leg”), or limiting the backward
lean of the torso and associated hip hyperextension
and posterior pelvic tilt (often encouraged through
cueing to “keep the torso directly above the pelvis”).
Although there is a natural slight backward shift
of the torso as the leg kicks (Ryman and Ranney,
1979) to offset the forward leg displacement and