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PLEASE HELP It’s the first time my girls are in festivals and I’m really struggling to find tarantella costumes for them both. Can anyone help and point me in the right direction please? (Age 9 and age 13)

I wasn't able to get tags to work in the testing section but have managed it here. Is there a list of 'approved' tags to choose from? Thanks

Normally I wear grishko nova pointe shoes, and while they're very supportive they look rubbish on my feet. In the search for a prettier, softer shoe, I bought a brand new pair of Mirella Whisper pointe shoes. In the shop they looked gorgeous on, I had no trouble getting over them (which is rare for my flat feet) and I was super excited to dance in them. Fast forward to today, where 5 minutes into class I am in agony and about ready to throw these shoes against the wall! Rises were alright to start with but once we got to releves I felt like I was putting all my weight straight on my big toe and toenail (on both feet), it was excruciating and I couldn't attempt anything in the centre. These shoes have a gel 'cushion' thing that I'm thinking, far from cushioning things, is actually causing more problems. It's a curved pillow and I think it is digging into the toe under the nail and the curve is pushing my toe out of alignment. I'm thinking of removing the gel cushion entirely, though this will make the shoe bigger. I was thinking maybe padding with lambswool might help? My teacher says the shoes don't look too wide, though this happened last time with bloch european balance shoes and both my toenails cracked and fell off. I just dropped £75 on these shoes and while I don't want to see this go to waste, I also want to keep my toenails...has anyone else had this problem before with shoes like the mirella or euro balance? Are there any DIY fixes I can try before packing it in? Obviously I've sewed ribbons on and danced in them so there's no chance of taking them back.

Hello everyone, I need advice and help in terms of my feet shape and which vamp etc will be most suitable for me. I will like to point out that I have Joint Hypermobility Syndrome and although it affects my entire body, my ankles and shoulders can sometimes dislocate if I stop strengthening everything. I have attached some photos and I look forward to hearing from you all! 😘 P.S Sorry for the low quality photos but you can still see my feet. 😀 http://s557.photobucket.com/user/pixy-dust-here/slideshow/

Hi,I'm in the UK and doing fine art & business at night classes at my local college I would like to request that if you have any dead pointe shoes (England & Scotland only please) You could consider sending them to me rather than throwing them away. My project is to consider the perfect pointe shoe for dancers I would prefer dead pointe shoes as I am ripping the shank out (shank less or de-shanked or also therefore welcome) then I will be reconstructing my own version of a shank before placing it in the shoe. If you would like to know anything else do feel free to ask and I will keep the page updated on every step I am also looking for opinions,my plan and sketches etc all correspond to a cross between a gaynor minden,Bloch and a Freed pointe shoe in that you have to work hard In the shoes as with traditional,they shape perfectly to your arch and they last a long time as well as being as pain free as possible for all dancers Thank you so much for all of your help in advance !!!

What do you look for in a perfect poimte shoe??? As I mentioned in my previous post I'm working on creating a point shoe that is a mix between Gaynor minden ,Freed and Bloch! Long lasting like GM's,pain free,the asthetics of Bloch and being a little like freed and having them form to your arch as well as hopefully prevent as many stress fractures from occurring if your prone to these (feel free to read my older posts to understand a little better) anyhow I require 2 things of you in this post. Firstly -your opinions on what your perfect poimte shoe is(feel free to list exact specifications) Secondly-I hope in 18 months they will be ready to trial in the UK(I'm so sorry but I need to exclude Ireland for the first part of the experiment.Don't be sad though as you will be much needed a little later on As such if anybody would like to trial these shoes.Leave a message below with the following- Your street shoe size & if you know if your foot length in either inches or centimetres,your foot length do mentions it and which foot is which length of it is a significant difference eg more than 2mm as this would fall into the custom made section- If you need it custom made- If so the specifications- Foot width - We're going basic N is narrow M is medium W is wide) If you would need extra narrow or extra wide it falls into the custom made section. If you need any special considerations made for your feet eg,calluses,blister prone feet,high instep and I will cater to my best ability to your needs These trials are of no cost to you whatsoever,you can also alternatively send me a private message with this information or ask any other questions , Thank you so much guys ????????????????????

Okay, so class is going amazing so far but in our last class there we did pirouettes and I froze up. I literally lost focus completely and just couldn't process the steps. I felt like such a failure. The week before that I found I wasn't able to focus well enough and was making mistakes and I hate making mistakes. I'm a perfectionist. I've already made extreme changes to my diet. I have literally cut out junk food, soda and white bread and even cut down big time on my brown bread. Eating alot more rice and pasta and drinking tons more water and yet my focus seems to be slipping. Any advice? Also any tips on how to strengthen my flexibility/leg height. When my boyfriend is helping me stretch I can get my leg up to 135 degrees sometimes close to 180 but I can't hold it. The second he lets go or I let go it drops to 90 degrees. I don't have my splits yet but I'm working on that. I've been doing extra core exercises to strengthen it. Is there anything else I should. I'm trying the whole, leg on counter and lift it up but my leg cramps up no matter how much I warm up or rub the heck out of it. Hope everyone else is doing splendid

Hi there, I'm living in Ireland and have two years left in secondary school, so I'm starting to look at possible colleges to audition for in 2016. I'd like to train as a contemporary dancer, but would prefer to go to a college that would also give me a strong ballet base. Although I am interested in and enjoy performing most modern and contemporary dance styles, I love more ballet influenced choreography, and watching contemporary dancers who clearly have a strong ballet technique (like the dancer of Nederlands Dans Theater!) I was wondering if anyone knew of any schools that would be suitable for me? I'm looking for somewhere where I can study for a BA in dance, and am thinking of schools in Europe. I've been looking at Fontys Dansacademie in the Netherlands, Palucca Hochschule in Germany and maybe Rosella Hightower in Cannes... does anyone know anything about these schools or have any others to suggest? Thank you, any help would be much appreciated!!

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