I think I have finally, at long last, got my students to begin to understand turnout and how the legs move to the side. It has taken a while, but last class I used some ideas from the Teachers forum on BTfD to help them understand. A yardstick was very helpful.

First, I repeated something I've done before: have the student stand in 1st position, place the yardstick on the floor in front of him/her so it forms a horizontal line just touching his/her toes, and have the student tendu side along the line formed by the stick. This gets them to understand that the leg needs to move directly to the side. Otherwise, when they go from 1st to 2nd position, the legs will not be in line, glissades will move slightly forward, échappés will be a problem, &c. Also, it forces the student to use the appropriate muscles. A tendu that moves along the line of the foot will, in many cases, end up somewhat forward of 2nd, and it will not improve turnout, just reinforce what the student already has.

Second, once the student had established pointe tendue à la seconde, I held the yardstick vertically at his/her working toe and had him/her raise the leg as high as possible without moving the leg forward and without losing the turnout of either leg. To do this, they had to keep using their turnout muscles (which often get relaxed when the leg is held too far forward).

For a few weeks now, I have had my less advanced class do the following exercise:

Beat 1: Plié in 5th

Beat 2: Relevé to pirouette position

Beat 3: Hold the position

Beat 4: Close 5th on demi-pointe

Last class (after having them practice battement tendu and rond de jambe par terre en tournant) I modified the last two parts so that it went like this:

Beat 1: Plié in 5th

Beat 2: Relevé to pirouette position

Beat 3: Remaining on demi-pointe, turn 1/8 en dehors

Beat 4: Hold the position, or if necessary, close 5th on demi-pointe

It was not perfect, but they made a good start. Once they get stronger at that exercise, I can have them learn pirouettes, but I will continue to have them work on learning tour lent on demi-pointe. Having that control is very good for pirouettes, especially as the study of tour lent on demi-pointe will instill muscle memory of correct position.