Simply Adult Ballet: the progress of one adult dancer who took up ballet later in life

[LinMM]

We would never have got those costumes and head dresses organised without your help Michelle but we all knew you would much rather be dancing!! Next time 😊

[LinMM]

Can anyone tell me how you post a picture which is in the public domain to this site!!

 

 

[Michelle_Richer]

Wednesday was my day to see my orthopaedic specialist at my local hospital in Spalding, although the day didn’t start well when I was receive a telephone call to say my consultant was running late as he was still in theatre in Boston. I was asked if I could come an hour later but there was a possibility that he may not be able to see me that day at all. Oh poo here we go again, I was almost convinced before this that it was most probably going to be a wait of time.

I went along to the hospital an hour after my normal appointment time expecting the worst. When I registered the nurse smiled and said, “he's not here yet”, but he wont be long, he wasn’t I had to wait about an additional half hour.

 

When I went in I took a documentation pack of my doctors referral with the appointment details, both Physio referrals and my account as to what had led to the injury, we spent some time going through that and the associated X-rays that were taken at Boston , surprise surprise he wanted to examine me, whoopee we may actually get somewhere now I thought.  that was far more that my two GP's wanted to do. In hopeful anticipation of this I had put my leotard on under my day clothes. I popped my shoes, socks and leggings off and laid on the bed for examination, a nurse came up and covered my legs with what looked like a paper blanked. I asked “what was that for” she replied to the effect “some people are embarrassed to expose their flesh, I couldn’t help but smile and fight away the giggles. I couldn’t help but tell her I ran around on stage in a tutu exposing my legs in public, but she continued to cover me. That was really quaint and did tickle me pink.  

He spent quite a while on the examination in terms of areas sensitive to pain, range of movement as a comparison between the two legs and power behind the movement in different directions. The diagnosis was given as Tendinitis of the Ankle however he is unable to say if he can help until I have had an MRI scan which he has requested. I am to meet him again after he has seen the MRI results.

 

I did take the opportunity to ask him if it was absolutely necessary for stop ballet with this injury as I was progressively loosing a substantial amount of strength in my right leg. Although I cant remember his actual words, essentially it was “you don’t necessarily need to cease ballet completely, you know your own body best, but you have to be sensible”

 

Within the last 3 weeks or so I have made the following changes, I’ve weaned myself of the Amitriptyline due the side effects and no perceivable benefit, within the last two weeks  I have also stopped the combination of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen pain killers, not because the pain has ceased although there are periods where it diminishes, but more noticeably now there is greater clarity of thought and some of my enthusiasm is returning.

 

My concern now is regaining back some of the lost strength to some form of ballet normality without incurring further injury in the fight back. To that end I have restarted some relatively gentle ballet running up to Christmas at around one or two sessions a week. More than anything else that has been a real eye-opener, my first session was at a Northern Ballet Workshop on Leeds Grand Theatre stage with the lovely over 55 ladies of Yorkshire. As usual it would start with a warm-up (no Barre) with a few plies, tendus and rises etc, for those that could do them full plies but that was optional. For me no problem getting down, but no strength to rise. What is strange is, you still have the memory and feeling in the body and confidence to be able to do it, but its just as if the body is refusing to, very weird. Other things that stand out from the rep, we were required to go into a lunge, if my right foot was in-front (bent), it just wouldn’t bend and support my weight, with left foot in front no problem. That was unexpected as in the past it was no problem taking a lunge fully down to pigeon pose and up again as in some PDD's, balance was another issue in turns but that may have been the rake on the stage, but hasn’t been in the past.

 

My next session was 4 days later this was a body conditioning class follow by a gentle rep session with my coach on the Lilac Fairy variation. During body conditioning we went into splits or at least as wide as we could take it as non of us could achieve a full 180. I found I couldn’t fully straiten my right leg and get it fully on the floor, when I tried to, the muscle on the top of the thigh would appear to bunch up in to a solid lump (spasm) and hurt like hell, I had to release it immediately and accept what I had on that one. The rep session turn out to be quite successful taking into account the loss of strength, more time was spent on both my coach and myself re-familiarising ourself with the rep itself. Although my sissonnes were a bit lack lustre, the unusual pirouettes stepped into from behind an arabesque seamed to work surprisingly well.

 

Third Ballet session 5 days later, practice session down my hall, Giselle Solo from Act 1, this was one of the first solo's I took to Ballet West 4 years ago, a piece I knew really well. So much affected, came out of this one. Double beats this time with the left leg, lack of sharpness, felt as if I was dancing ballet in wellies. Hopping ballonne section, insufficient strength to sustain 26 hops. Pivoting leg swap pirouettes over cautious execution, I think the body was in super protection mode, as my hall floor is hard.

 

For me putting my sensible hat on, this has become an exercise in identifying those area that have become significantly affected by the absence of ballet body conditioning activity through this injury. Many of these things can be taken into isolation worked on separately for strengthening without adding unnecessary stress that might otherwise occur in the dance itself. Never the less I am also mindful that as the new year starts I need to get back to the Alive Ballet Company as soon as the new term starts, and my full schedule ASAP as I have a number of Workshop/ Intensive coming up.

 

Unfortunately since my injury a bad habit has crept in that worsens the strength of my right leg and that is how I climb stairs, by using my dominant left leg to take the weight to both ascend and descend the stairs. Now I have to think first and correct by using both feet equally rather which is naturally easiest. Its just too easy to fall into that bad habit.

 

[Jan McNulty]

I’m so glad you’ve made some progress Michelle.

[youngatheart]

Oh please be careful Michelle! It doesn't sound to me like you are starting back "gently" at all if you are already attempting splits, grand plies, lunges & even double beats on a hard floor (never ever a good idea, even if you are not injured!)

 

Surely sticking to a very basic barre and centre would be best initially?

[LinMM]

I think your "bad habit" going up the stairs is quite natural after a leg injury.

when I injured my knee it was about six or seven weeks before I could walk up ...or down...the stairs naturally again. My knee didn't want to take the weight so it was a bit of a slow one step at a time starting on the uninjured leg. I just went with the flow with this and then one day my body just went back to normal almost unawares so I knew for sure it was getting better. But I didn't force it when it was painful.

[Michelle_Richer]

Hi Youngatheart it may seam I have deliberately chosen the more extrema movements, but in reality it was a case in the main it was in the class, nothing more. As for the hard floor, in all other aspects the hall is a brilliant performance venue, however in the next couple of months my own 4metre studio extension should be in place with its own Harlequin sprung floor.

 

As for basic barre I’m trying to do a couple of 15minutes or so each day starting first thing in the morning after a 10minute warm-up on the treadmill. However although some ballet movement are quite difficult after this injury, so is some everyday tasks. Last weekend Adrian and I did a bit of a blitz on the house as we have Adrian’s brother coming down to us for Christmas, that has meant moving a lot of stuff out of the dining room which was more like a costume making factory as it was where I had enough room to layout fabrics and do my sewing. Needless to say there was loads of boxes of materials and equipment to be carted up stairs and temporarily stored in my tutu room. That really did takes its toll on my right leg.

Within a week or two I suspect we have an even bigger move when we get the date that the UPVC extension to my studio is being installed, at least all the studio equipment is remaining on ground level split between my Gym and Office.

 

Thursday done another ballet class at a local school, that went far better than I could have anticipated, it really lifted my spirits.

I even managed a few Grand Plie's and Lunges that were giving me problems a week or so ago. The only real issue that showed itself was lifting the right leg devant where it would quickly go into spasm, derrier or a la second no problem, but I think that is just down to loss of strength.

At least I think its encouraging for when things start to ramp after Christmas, with ENB Nutcracker Workshop at the Coliseum on the 29th of December, then I take Adrian to Liverpool and back on the 30th, although not ballet, the driving is quite unconformable to my right leg. January Rep workshop at Leeds Ballet Retreat on 6 and 7th Jan, then full day at Elmhurst with RAD Associates, with some of that time on Giselle Rep.

Hi LinMM I guess I really don’t go with the flow, its just no me. I really do want to claw back some of the lost fitness after such a long period of inactivity. However even the gain of Thursdays ballet class which to some extent feels as if it was attributed to the regular home practice barre sessions, is still inclined to be easily set back as I found out the following today (Friday) as Adrian and I took a trailer load of garden waste (Tree Pruning's) to the local Recycling Centre, that in itself was ok, but dragging the trailer into its parking spot in our ground did aggravate the area of my injury somewhat. Hopefully that will go away in a day or two.

I will be pleased when I get a proper diagnosis for this injury, thank goodness I  get my MRI Scan on the 15th of Jan with a follow up appointment with my consultant on the 29th, then I guess I see if what the options are, but I’m very uncomfortable with the thought of surgery.

[Michelle_Richer]

The definition “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry” seemed to apply to me this Christmas, although I will say my right leg injury has stood up to things remarkably well. Christmas was planned out for visiting family and accommodating Ballet up to and including the first month of the new year.

 

Everything was fine in Visiting my Sister, Adrian’s daughter and having Adrian’s brother over to stay with us on Christmas day. However Boxing day morning we were to visit Boston and have a wonder round the sales before going on to spend the afternoon with Adrian’s son and his son’s family. I reversed out of our yard on to the road, things seemed normal then I went to pull forward and an awful noise came from under the car, I reversed again and it was clear then pulled forward to park it back in the yard, the noise was present again. I suspected that something had dropped that covered the engine compartment but neither of us could see any thing, then I checked the wheel arches, the drivers side front shock absorber spring had broken and was fouling the tyre, this is what was making the noise. Needless to say I could not make any arrangements on boxing day but realised I only had a couple of days to get it fixed if I was still to attend ENB’s Rep workshop on the Coliseum stage that Friday, if the worst came to the worst I could cancel that one. But more importantly I was to take Adrian to Liverpool on the Saturday to see his favourite team LFC play, it was my thank you for all his hard work during the year as my PDD partner.

 

Firstly there was no one at the Garage on the 27^th, they were still on holiday so I checked out as a contingency hiring a vehicle, that came out very expensive as we had to keep the vehicle over the New Year bank holiday even though we didn’t actually require it past Saturday evening. Fortunately I was able to find the Garage owners wife’s mobile number as she had text me in the past to say my vehicle was ready. Thank goodness they were able to order the bits today 27^th , take it in tomorrow and possibly fix it dependant upon when the bits arrive, but in the mean time they have a courtesy care that I can use. As I will be back home late Friday afternoon after the ENB workshop, it more likely I will pick my own car up then for the Liverpool trip.

 

Although the car brake down was quite annoying in upsetting our plans, it could have been so much much worse and not actually shown itself up at home as it did, I think someone upstairs was looking after me over Christmas.

 

As a result of not being able to go out Boxing day, we wrapped up well and took a walk along our river bank and through the park opposite, although it was cold the sun was shining and it was a really beautiful day, we walked as far as the A16 bridge to cross over to the other side where we popped into the Riverside Hotel for a drink, my first alcohol beverage over Christmas as I wasn’t driving. It was gorgeous, warm and cosy inside and made for a pleasant walk back. During the walk I realised just how good my injured leg had felt it really did benefit from what could have otherwise been thought of as an annoying incident. Sadly its likely to be the new year before we get to visit Adrian’s sons family.

 

I just hope him upstairs keeps an eye on my travel arrangement again for January with Leeds TBR on 6 and 7^th and also RAD Associates at Elmhurst on 14^th, then I will be a happy bunny.

 

 

[Jan McNulty]

BBC3's Amazing Humans series of short films has featured a 77 year old dancer:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/item/bc89f5e9-651a-4ada-86a7-bce244cf45e4

[LinMM]

She is amazing Janet ....to still be on pointe at that age she must still have very good balance and strong feet!!

[Michelle_Richer]

Thank you Janet she is absolutely brilliant, so inspiring, I’m really really jealous as I’ve never mastered dancing on pointe as yet. Even my Adrian has been inspired by her, so hopefully I will have him as my PDD partner for many many years to come..

 

I was to restart point classes after starting a few years back, but sadly they folded after a few weeks due to poor attendance. I was to start last term as our company was holding joint ballet and pointe classes split between the Royal Ballet School and Studios at Sadlers Wells. Just after booking and paying for the classes (Ballet 75mins, Pointe 45mins), I incurred my injury, for the first 2 or 3 weeks I just kept sending apologies in each week as I believed my recovery was imminent, but sadly it was not.

 

Even now I would not chance restarting for a term or two as I really do want to take my PDD’s on pointe for my week at Ballet West, perhaps 2019 if I’m lucky, but saying that I stupidly hurt my poorly leg again today. It was a gorgeous day to be outside to day, I would take advantage of the weather and mix a tiny bit of cement up, then I accidentally stepped back onto a metal bucket which tipped over and the upper side cut into my leg halfway below the knee. Although its given it a bit of a nasty gash and is quite sore I don’t think its done any real damage or change my immediate ballet commitments coming up.

[LinMM]

Michelle ...be careful ....things seem to start happening when you get into building mode!! 

[Michelle_Richer]

Hi LinMM

 

I think you should add motoring to that list.

When Adrian and I went to Liverpool on Saturday the roads on the way and in Liverpool too were absolutely awful with dangerously deep pot holes, alarm bells range after the aftermath of having the large springs on the front shock absorbers replaced after one broke and fouled the tyre the week before. Instead of it fracturing at home it could have so easily happened at speed on the motorway and ended in a seriously dangerous accident. Not only that, the multi story car park we used on Saturday, caught fire on Sunday according to the TV and I think something like 1400 vehicles were damage and the multi-storey car park is going to have to be demolished. Both instances so close its worrying. 

[LinMM]

Yes I double checked the date of that  fire outbreak and was relieved to see it was the day after you there! But awful for the people who did have cars in there. 

[lollylamb1]

Recently attended a class advertised Beginner/General, and although I am not a beginner myself, (have RAD Advanced), I am not as strong or fit as I used to be and like to keep up with a couple of classes a week.

 

The class was very mixed in age and ability, with one or two near professional standard dancers, right down to people who may have started ballet in the last few years as an adult. Expecting Beginner/General, I assumed a simple barre and centre, however the class was not simple at all, it was Intermediate in standard except at a painfully slow pace. Slow tendus, grand rond de jambe en l’air and multiple forward port de bras, to the point where your body doesn’t feel warm anymore, your back, thighs and calves are starting to hurt and you are wishing for something more up tempo or cardio. This did not happen, and the barre went on for an hour.

 

As a RAD qualified teacher I was looking around the room and horrified to see adult beginners battling grand battements en demi-pointe, completely out of alignment, knees bucking barely over toes and accidents waiting to happen. The teacher, who didn’t introduce herself at the beginning, just sat on a chair for the majority of the lesson, dazing into the centre. After the barre had finished I hoped to do centre practice or corner work, but it was more slow releves, like something out of Vaganova Academy, except I didn’t feel like I was gaining strength, except perhaps causing a repetitive strain injury!

 

So I started to wonder what the opinion is on the following:

 

1. Does being a professional dancer who maybe has coached professionals/vocational students qualify you to teach the adult beginner market or not?
2. How long should be spent on the barre or doing very slow movements with the majority of these attendees having been sitting at desk jobs all day, is there a higher risk of injury in this group with slow repetitive movements which are uncorrected and not executed well?
3. What responsibility do vocational schools who offer these lucrative adult ballet classes have on student safety, if any?

I am concerned because I think there is a growing market of adult beginners attending such classes being put at risk of injury.

Edited January 5, 2018 by lollylamb1
typo

[LinMM]

Hi lolly lamb 1 before I tackle your post ....which is a subject very dear to my heart I need to sort something out with moderators regards your post.

 

Moderators the above post dropped into my email in box as if it was a personal,message to me from the Forum ....which it isn't 

I have had this a few times recently ....and maybe occasionally if someone has posted here publicly ...but however personally addressed the message just to me ( as opposed to anyone else reading the thread) ...then I can see why this could become a "personal message" but I don't want all messages to this thread to drop into my email box as personal messages!! 

 

Am am about to embark on a fairly long journey so will get back to this tonight hopefully lolly lamb.

[proballetdancer]

Lolly lamb1

 

It sounds like: a. you definitely were in a Vaganova technique class, with

                         b. a teacher who had absolutely no desire to be there.

 

Vaganova technique is a real shock to the system for Western trained dancers, it concentrates on deep muscular power, the secret to the Russians explosive jumps and leaps. The slow repetition of relevé, everything on demi pointe, repetition of small concentrated deep muscular movement ronde de jambes etc

 

Grand battements on demi, all of it is an absolute killer if you're training has been based on Cecchetti, RAD or the US onus on Balanchine technique and the Danish Bournonville techniques, techniques which are about placement, terre a terre or speed, attack and lightness.

 

Vaganova has to be taken incredibly carefully and the point and reasoning behind the exercises explained, as well as a teacher who takes the time and attention to explain how to engage the muscles and why. Your legs will be throbbing at the end of it. Indeed in Vaganova training it's not unusual for some teachers to take a term preparing their students to jump without ever leaving the floor. Months of just relevés. 

 

Unfortunately your teacher sounds like she knows what she was doing, but couldn't be bothered to explain why, for what purpose, to teach and didn't care about student safety, the grand battements on demi - she must have known, but just didn't care.

 

Vaganova is a very interesting technique and can help improve deep muscular strength, but it has to be taken very slowly, with a teacher who wants to take the time and cares about the class. It sounds like you really didn't luck out with that teacher. 

[Jan McNulty]

45 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Hi lolly lamb 1 before I tackle your post ....which is a subject very dear to my heart I need to sort something out with moderators regards your post.

 

Moderators the above post dropped into my email in box as if it was a personal,message to me from the Forum ....which it isn't 

I have had this a few times recently ....and maybe occasionally if someone has posted here publicly ...but however personally addressed the message just to me ( as opposed to anyone else reading the thread) ...then I can see why this could become a "personal message" but I don't want all messages to this thread to drop into my email box as personal messages!! 

 

Am am about to embark on a fairly long journey so will get back to this tonight hopefully lolly lamb.

 

Sorry for quoting your whole post but am on my phone.

 

I suspect you are “following” threads and that is why you are getting email notifications.  That happens with me on another board that uses the same software.

 

There is a section for technical queries in the About forum.

[Nicola H]

i'll demure to proballetdancer on the differences  between  the various   schools/ ideologies/ awarding bodies  ,  as  although i'm aware of the differences  i cant; speak with  any level of authority on the differences  beyond yes they exist  ans yes they will throw you a little  when  a different teacher  wants  something done different  ( but the good teachers will know  and be able to have  a ' ah , I see you've played knifey spoony  before '  moment .

to answer lollylamb's three  questions 

1a. Being an expert practitioner doesn't necessarily mean you'll be a good teacher at  any level , however a good teacher with relevant  pro exeprience  adds a certain je ne sais quoi 
1b. difficulty in teaching to the levle of the class is a development opportunity for the teacher but  it should not be an  the expense of the students 

question 2  is again in two parts 
a. depends on the expectation  if a class is billed as  absolute beginner or suitable for absolute beginner then the  teacher arguably has a greater   responsibility and duty of care  than for a the class labelled beginner/ improver  or ' general '  ( suitable for beginners) . 
b. correction  is important in any  psychomoter/ muscle memory  dependent skill  - esp as unlearning and re teaching is harder  than teaching right  to being with 

3. same as any other  provider of service  and  the HSE / coroner / insurers / civil litigators  would  be looking with the  same eyes whether someone  who was injured was a 19 year old  vocational student  or  a 37 year old who works in an office and dances for fun.  ( civil litigators however would be looking differently  at  any compensation payout  but that is par for the course  when loss of  earning / loss of career potential  earnings  comes into it ) . 

the trial by media would be the same regardless ,  the  media struggles to  distinguish  between  WL / RBS upper school and RAD HQ  at  times. 

[TYR]

This sounds....familiar?

[LinMM]

Adult Ballet is a very difficult area it seems in terms of monitoring. So many different levels of ability: real recent adult beginners......some who did a bit as a child now returning.......some who did a lot as a child and now returning.....some who have had careers as dancers....but a long time ago and now returning ....the list goes on!! 

 

I think the general assumption is that as an adult you should be self monitoring and therefore be able to judge for yourself if the class is too difficult etc so I think with adults many teachers ( not all) feel exempt from  that much responsibility 

For me though even if in Law ....legally ...they are not responsible I disagree with this approach. I think you have a moral responsibility to adult learners too......which means they are learning safely and at the appropriate level for their ability.

its funny really if you were an adult going to learn the piano the teacher would assess where you are at and start from there .....you wouldn't as a beginner be given a Beethoven sonata to play!! 

 

I don't know if your class was in London but if it was it doesn't surprise me as there are so many classes called General Ballet which covers anything from beginners to advanced ballet. I prefer to find teachers who genuinely try at least to grade their classes .....if they. Offer more than one class in the week that is.....though unfortunately that won't stop some people from attending classes for which they are not suitable even if teachers tell them this .....not many teachers of adults will say directly ....sorry you cannot attend this class ....they will recommend another class but then just say ..."well be careful then" if the student is determined to attend.

 

I feel teachers should be stricter about the name of their class and if it has "beginners" in the title the class should be aimed towards that level and if more advanced students turn up ...well that's fine ...but they should be prepared to work at the beginners pace.

I think what happens is that teachers start to teach towards the upper level students in their classes even if the class has beginners or Improvers ( sort of 2nd year beginners) in the title. A sort of lack of discipline in approach. They should be looking after the needs of their beginners and be aware of possible injury situations. Some of this may come from proper training on how to teach and what to teach when etc which maybe some teachers of adults haven't had....but you can find out!! 

 

In my view a General Ballet class (with no "beginners" in the title) should not go above Intermediate level.....otherwise the class should be called "Advanced" .....or even "Professional" if the standard is very high. Many classes are called "Advanced/Professional and people who are beginners should NOT attend these classes or should not expect the teacher to adapt their teaching in these cases.

If a beginner should keep attending such a class then they should have to sign a disclaimer about injury if the teacher has told them they are not advanced enough to be in the class.....what I don't know is if you can insist on this or not.....it is what I would want anyway! 

 

In terms of HOW the teacher teaches and engages with the class that can be hit and miss .....but excellent teachers of adults are out there you just have to keep looking till you find a teacher who you can respect and who respects you. It doesn't automatically follow that a career in Ballet makes you a good teacher though.. .....good teachers have to remain passionate about their subject first and foremost and even be able to inspire passion in their students. They will want to explain why you do an exercise a certain way and what you need to do to obtain a degree of success in executing it. If they are totally bored by it all time to do something else! 

 

The barre does tend to be longer slower and more arduous in Russian style classes.....however even here notice has to be taken of the level of the class .....beginners shouldn't be treated like Professionals!! 

 

 

 

[LinMM]

Janet I see what you mean ....I've just looked and this is the only thread on the Forum that has me as "following" it so perhaps that's why the public messages are coming directly into email inbox .....it still seems a fairly recent thing though last month or two! I did have to have my iPad reset last October .....(which incidentally as a bonus solved the problem of accessing the Forum with that dratted message which kept coming up after the last Forum upgrade!!)  Perhaps this has been since that reset.

[Colman]

A warning to anyone doing the RAD adult repertoire stuff in Elmhurst - the 4th of February coincides with some giant conference or the other. Flights are pretty much booked up so I'm going to have to miss it (or pay €250 to fly!), which is rather annoying as "The Dream" is the most interesting piece they're doing. I don't know how this will affect local travel. 

[Nicola H]

8 minutes ago, Colman said:

A warning to anyone doing the RAD adult repertoire stuff in Elmhurst - the 4th of February coincides with some giant conference or the other. Flights are pretty much booked up so I'm going to have to miss it (or pay €250 to fly!), which is rather annoying as "The Dream" is the most interesting piece they're doing. I don't know how this will affect local travel. 

what a shame  for you ... 

welcoem to the world of demand managed  travel and accomodation. 

[Colman]

As a consolation prize I'm going to do a day trip to Paris with the 9 year old and see the Degas exhibition in Museé d'Orsay later in the month, so I wouldn't feel too sorry for me! Annoyed to be missing the Ashton though.

[sophie_rebecca]

45 minutes ago, Colman said:

A warning to anyone doing the RAD adult repertoire stuff in Elmhurst - the 4th of February coincides with some giant conference or the other. Flights are pretty much booked up so I'm going to have to miss it (or pay €250 to fly!), which is rather annoying as "The Dream" is the most interesting piece they're doing. I don't know how this will affect local travel. 

 

I had no idea they'd added more rep dates beyond the 4 I'd booked in to, the RAD really need to sort out the website for events or is there something I'm missing? 

[Colman]

There's a new term of them: https://www.rad.org.uk/events/, search with keyword Adult.

 

The Dream, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia.

[Nicola H]

15 minutes ago, Colman said:

There's a new term of them: https://www.rad.org.uk/events/, search with keyword Adult.

 

The Dream, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia.

still a bit of a nightmare  as you have to work through the listings  where it's mixed in with the  CPD for teachers  and examiners  stuff 

[Colman]

Could certainly be better, but that's what we have right now! 

[TYR]

Earlier criticism nonetheless, I was back in my regular class tonight and discovered it's possible to grande battement on demi pointe until your ears pop, so there's that!

[Michelle_Richer]

At last after waiting months I have finally had my MRI scan on the ankle on Monday, the scan lasted as best as I tell somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to chat to the operators of the MRI unit as they literally wheeled another one in immediately I was finished. However I did have a bit of a strange effect hat evening which may have just been coincidence, the injured leg was ok but the other one which was not scanned seamed to have developed little shooting pains going down the whole of the inside of the leg, these would last a few seconds and ten subside , it occurred many many times. I have never had those before and the following morning had completely gone.

 

I don’t get the results of the MRI scan until I see my specialist on the 5 of Feb.

 

Although the main pain region of the ankle and shin is greatly diminished to what it was a few weeks ago, some pain is still present, but so is a sense of numbness, a lack of feeling to the touch which is a little worrying, otherwise functionally its more or less ok other than a complete lack of strength which I think is basically down to inactivity against what was my normal ballet schedule .

 

At least I’m doing a few sessions a day now, I really notice the lack of strength on my body conditioning classes, at least now I’m getting back to doing full plie’s, however fondu’s  are a bit too shallow still and releve definitely lack strength. On of the pieces of rep I am doing for taking up to Ballet West which requires 3 x 8 sets of releve passe’s, for me that snatch is not just there, particularly with the right. At least running through this piece should provide some strengthening of the ankles.

 

I guess what is the most frustrating thing is getting cramp at the top of my thigh every time I attempt to lift my right leg devant, even a fondu above 45 degrees is enough to catch it, its really annoying as I have the old muscle memory of what I could do before the injury, my body seams to assume it still can, but it catches me out for such things as Developpe’s and Rond de jambe l’air when circling round to the front. I was caught out several times last night at class and that top muscle really begins hurts, Ive heard it said in the past that I may not be using the correct muscle, I need to use the one underneath but I have no sensation of that to contact it and utilise it.

 

[Anna C]

Glad you have now had an MRI, Michelle.  Two questions for you; has anyone referred you for or suggested an MRI of your lumbar spine? I'm thinking of the shooting pains in your other ankle and going back to that feeling of fluid/water down your leg(s).  If the ankle MRI is normal I would be inclined to ask if you can have a lumbar spine MRI.

 

Also, can you swim and do you like the water? Because doing simple barre exercises in a pool can be hugely beneficial for recovery and strengthening post injury.  It allows the joints to work without too much gravity, so doing rises and releves (then adding in fondus etc) in waist high water are done with some assistance from the water.  Then as you progress, you can increase your extensions gradually.  

[LinMM]

I often do ballet exercises in the pool!! I particularly like doing grand ronde de Jambe en L'air as its such a nice feeling doing it all the way round at 90!! Bit of a disappointment when doesn't stay at 90 back at the barre lol! But when I had a back injury a few years back I invented a new swimming stroke ( well it felt like I invented it) just lying on your back and gently pulling both legs towards chest and straightening them with a little push ....managed to get from one end of the pool to the other like this when couldn't do my usual strokes! 

 

I never do hundreds of lengths at the pool just a few of each stroke ...then the ballet/gym bit ..even including walking just rising up on one leg stretching the other forward and doing a sort of giant step stretching the other leg as much as possible behind etc as you change legs ....where everything in slow motion sort of thing ......

I then finish with just a couple of speed laps against the pool clock.....for the aerobic bit..... So far just cannot beat 35 seconds for the length of the pool....for crawl and 40 for breast stroke!!