Work deliberately and sequentially through your feet. Articulate through the working foot by lifting your heel, metatarsal and then toes as you tendu -- or slide -- the foot along the floor to a fully-pointed position. Work through your feet in this manner every time you push off from the floor in a jump and consciously reverse the direction -- rolling back through your toes, metatarsals and heels -- when landing. Careful articulation of the feet will help build the muscles of your calves, making them stronger and more shapely.
Use your turnout, which is one of the primary characteristics of classical ballet. Concentrate on actively turning out your legs at the hip socket, rotating your inner thighs forward and outward and keeping your knees directed over your toes. Greater turnout results in greater range of motion, giving you potentially more height from your leg extensions.
Lengthen your knees fully and engage the upper muscles of the legs in extensions. Consciously straighten the knees of both the supporting and extended legs to ensure that your leg lines are as long and sleek as possible. A straight supporting knee is key to achieving stability on one leg, which contributes to successful multiple turns.
Point the foot of your working leg properly in leg extensions. "Sickling" your foot -- or angling it inward -- creates an awkward leg line. Instead, "wing" the foot of your extended leg slightly outward and upward to achieve the leg line of a mature, professional ballerina.
Engage your core muscles. Work with fully engaged abdominal muscles to lift your body weight up and off your legs as much as possible. "Lifting up" leaves your legs and feet free to move beneath you, which helps when your teacher or choreographer demands fast, complex legwork.
Stretch before, during and immediately after every technique class. Prior to class, use dynamic stretches -- such as side-to-side lunges -- to safely warm up the leg muscles. Before leaving the barre and beginning center work, place one foot at a time on the barre and stretch forward from your hips to lengthen the muscles and increase hip joint flexibility. Remain after class -- when your leg muscles are warm and supple -- to thoroughly and gently stretch the hip flexors, hamstrings, quadriceps, calves, ankles and arches of your feet.