drdance

Virtuosity is purely skill based. The more 'virtuosity' that a performer has means they tend to be able to perform long secure balances, multiple pirouettes expertly, multiple beats in allegro, higher jumps etc.

Have you tried going up a size all round to get the width fit in a canvas shoe, then washing them (which shrinks them) and putting them on damp although not the most pleasant experience) will then encourage the shoe to fit to the foot in the right places.

Shimmer - Yes! - bowed legs (called genu varum) tend to follow the pattern you describe; in parallel the bow is visible but in 1st the heels and knees touch. The opposite is knock-knees (genu valgum) where the knees touch in parallel but there is a gap between the heels, although the leg viewed from the side appears straight. In this case, unless the ballet dancer has totally flat 180 degree hip rotation they will find that their knees want to 'overlap' in first position, and they will want to leave a gap between their heels. In this instance a gap of a couple of centimetres is ok, but I still believe that a gap any larger than this will encourage the weight backwards, will further stretch ligaments in the knee joint and leave the dancer prone to tendonitis/bursitis/impingement issues.

Lil, You will be able to book an appointment to have a barrage of fitness and functional tests which will give advice on areas to improve in order to enhance performance and prevent injury.

Ok well if this is the place for promoting summer courses.... MIDAS will also be doing their summer training intensive in Birmingham next year, most likely 19-23rd August to include daily ballet, dance specific fitness and skill development (eg turns and leaps), as well as jazz, contemporary, dancer health advice and repertoire. The junior and senior courses will run parallel for the week - juniors are intermediate foundation / grade 4 level upwards and the senior course is for students working at Intermediate and above. Faculty will include the regular MIDAS staff as well as some guest teachers who will be announced nearer the time. Fee will remain frozen at £195 for 5 days and we offer a 10% discount for siblings. Dancers will also be able to book performance fitness screenings during this week. For more information visit www.midas-dance.org.uk or follow us on facebook for more regular updates as well as fun and inspiring photos etc!: www.facebook.com/midasdance

Hi everyone - sorry I'm a bit late to the 'party', I've only just got in from work and got the computer switched on! Anjuli has pretty much summed it up in that knee structure is largely set in stone. I say largely because I believe that hyperextended knees can actually become more hyperextended if the student works with their weight back and the knee pushed into hyperextension all the time. I'm interested Primrose that you think that your DD's knees have become more swayback as having watched the video of Russian training I felt that the style encouraged the weight to be back in comparison to the British or French training. A dancer with swayback knees tends to have strong thighs and weak hamstrings, especially if they work with their weight back. On the other hand, if the dancer stands with their body weight shifted towards the front of the foot (so that a piece of paper could be pulled from underneath the heel) the dancer will find it IMPOSSIBLE to lock back into a swayback knee because the hamstring muscles become engaged if the weight is sufficiently forward. Incidentally, this is why dancers with swayback knees sometimes have trouble jumping (due to weaker hamstrings). I believe, and teach that knees should not be hyperextended while weightbearing eg if the dancer stands in 1st position their heels should always be touching, but I believe there are other schools of thought. A hyperextended knee does so because the ligaments are looser and the bony structures are more spaced apart. Due to this, the knee needs extra strengthening to protect it as it is less stable. Therefore locking back into a swayback/hyperextended knee while weighbearing (eg standing in 1st with heels apart and knees together) will further stretch the ligaments and make it even less stable and prone to acute injuries like sprains or ligament damage. Furthermore, the kneecap usually sits directly infront of the joint made by bottom of the thigh bone (femur) and the top of the larger shin bone (fibula). The femur and fibula should usually be vertically aligned so that the kneecap sits cleanly in front and can move freely without rubbing on either bone, as in the photo here http://images.emedicinehealth.com/images/healthwise/medical/hw/n5550515.jpg However if the knee is hyperextended, it ends up creating an angle and the kneecap then ends up touching bone as it moves up and down, or catching on the patellar tendon (imagine the bottom of the lower bone in the image being moved 2 cm to the right, it would now be slightly diagonal). This can cause all sorts of chronic pain especially when weightbearing.

I know a very talented young dancer who actually left her vocational school for sixth form having been there since yr 7, despite getting a funded place into the sixth form, because of the limited range of A-levels on offer and the prospects later in her career. She carried on her dance training at her old dance school, went to a good sixth form and took 4 A levels, and is now at Laine.

I would suggest relaxing the ankles as much as possible in demi plie in 1st, without rolling inwards. A lot of dancers restrict their demi plie by tensing the front of the ankle. It might be worth having a quick look at her movement of her big toe joint. You should be able to take her big toe (with her sitting with legs out straight) and bend it up to 90 degrees. If her FHL tendon is tight this will restrict this big toe movement, but will also create tightness under the medial arch of the foot (in line with the big toe) and can develop into FHL tendonitis which is often confused with achilles pain. On similar lines, her toes should be flat and relaxed in the demi plie. Any 'gripping' of the floor with toes, particularly the big toe, will also restrict the plie due to tightening of the FHL and associated tendons.

Probably my mistake - sorry!

The 'lift' to which you refer comes from breadth across the upper back, the use of breath and a slight feeling of extension - which is technically correct. I have seen an AWFUL lot of amateur dancers (mostly youngsters I admit but that is my area of expertise!) see this breadth and extension and imitate it incorrectly by breaking the line of the arms at the elbows and wrists - thus creating more of a 'butterfly wings' flap - which creates a totally different movement, wipes out any use of the upper back and in my opinion, is technically incorrect. I believe classical ballet should be technically correct and pure in its line and artistry.

I believe O'Sullivan was trained by her mother until she went to WL...

In my opinion there should be no 'painting the walls' movement of the hands - in this video, Romany Pajdak (RB first artist) performs the port de bras correctly This second video shows the old RAD intermediate 1st ports de bras and the movement from 2nd to bras bas is also shown cleanly, without affectation.

Golly was it that long ago?! Incidentally, I remember Anna Rose O'Sullivan dancing at the All England semi finals when she was in the 9-10 years section - her ballet solo was phenomenal, the audience were spellbound particularly when she calmly did a developpe to 2nd position (ecarte) and her leg just soared.... my 14-15 year old students (who were struggling to do developpes in the centre in Intermediated!) were gobsmacked! I remember at the time I stored her name to memory, thinking she would be something special.

During the port de bras from 5th through 2nd down to bras bas some schools promote a feeling of extension, even suspension possibly, with the palms turning downwards as the arms lower to bras bas, but the arms should not lift up - this is a common mistake and is an affectation which appears amateurish and is most often seen in youngsters overdoing a movement, trying to emulate older students.

Lyrical in the UK tends to refer to a particular style of modern or contemporary dance, often performed to ballads and at festivals adjudicators look for weight, relaxation, suspension and musicality. Lyrical competition pieces in the USA/AUS are also performed to ballads and tend to be based on 'floaty' movements but can include all sorts of tricks as well. Everyone thinks lyrical is easy but to do well it's difficult - it needs the classical technique as turnout is still needed albeit not necessarily as strictly as in ballet, and lines to tend to be more classical, but dancers need to be able to show relaxation and weight too. Contemporary dance can sometimes be lyrical eg choreographers such as Christopher Bruce choreographed pieces that I would describe as lyrical, and ballet can sometimes be described as lyrical - parts of Kenneth Macmillan's Concerto for example, or Balanchine's Serenade.

Thank you Tulip. I suppose we just have to hope that the Freed fitters and teaching staff are expert enough to recognise an ill fitting shoe!

Great to finally get a diagnosis - thanks for sharing too! Good luck x

Ribbons - possibly - however she does tend to ask me for advice on most things, so it would be good to know others' experiences, especially those a bit further up the school. I don't think she'd mind me saying this on here either but she doesn't have any other DD's and wouldn't class herself as a 'ballet mum' so might not be aware that there are other options if her DD's shoes aren't great. I wouldn't let her go onto pointe before she went away to school so her WL experience is her only experience of pointe work - those kids won't necessarily know that there are other shoes that could be a better fit/less painful/ easier to work in etc so won't necessarily complain about them, especially as part of the ethos of ballet is not to complain about the pain of pointe work!

Movelat contains NSAIDs or non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (aspirin and Mucopolysaccharide polysulphate) so is fairly similar to Ibuleve - each persons experience with them will be a bit like one person taking aspirin and one person taking ibuprofen. They are similar drugs in terms of their actions. Having said that - I will reiterate something I've said many times! NSAIDS should only be taken or applied in conjuction with other anti-inflammatory strategies ie rest, ice, compression, elevation etc. If someone uses NSAIDS but then continues to do the activity that causes inflammation, it's pretty pointless, as well as likely to make the injury worse. Accurate assessment and treatment of any tendonitis-type injuries, especially in the foot and ankle, is imperative. These type of injuries tend to be recurring, chronic and relate directly to slow, gradual wear and tear on a tendon that is either being stressed more than usual or sometimes stressed unevenly, or in a slightly different way to which it is used to. Thats why they tend to be related to an imbalance, difference in alignment, change in shoes or even a growth spurt. True healing and recovery will only exist once the root cause of the wear and tear on the tendon is established, and corrected. Otherwise, you can treat the pain and let it recover, but then it will keep causing issues. Good luck :-) Edited to add: PS I advise people to steer away from internet self-diagnosis where possible, as there are an awful lot of horror stories around! And while others may be well-meaning, it's impossible to tell what is causing a problem without a full assessment - it's always best to seek advice from a pro.

Please could someone with a DD at WL please PM me more info about this eg at what age can the girls ACTUALLY get their shoes from elsewhere, if at all? I have a student there who I'm sure will be fine but I'd like to be able to give her mum the full details in case they're needed!

I agree with Anjuli - I find it rather odd that WL still limit their students to Freeds, especially if the fitting isn't wonderful. If the fittings were ok and the shoes made to individual needs then that's a different matter, but if they are just stock shoes that are tried on and the best fitting out of the bunch given to the student it could be a tough few years until they try a different make.

I agree with Spannerandpony - it sounds like a case of plantar fasciitis but I'd recommend a trip to a physio or podiatrist for a thorough assessment. In the mean time, try ice baths or ice massage - use some lotion or oil to do a bit of massage along the fibres of the sole of the foot (from heel to toes and vice versa) for a few minutes, then 2/3 fill an old washing up bowl with cold water and a tray of ice cubes and put the foot in for 10-15 minutes. Not very pleasant but works wonders! Or get a paper or polystyrene cup, fill with water and freeze (upright!). Once frozen, cut the bottom off the cup and use it to massage the base of the foot.

My mum always used to rub saddle soap onto my leathers - it's a bit like a very soft wax, the same sort of consistency of furniture polish (the sort you rub on with a cloth, not in a spray can!).

When discussing the 'run before a large jump' if this is 2 steps/runs in the RAD school this is termed as a 'passing glissade' for example a common preparation for a grande jete en avant is a chasse (or tombe) sideways through second or en diagonale through 4th, followed by a pas de bourree under (behind, side, front) finishing in 4th position, then a passing glissade ("run, run") then a grande jete.

The RAD dictionary of classical ballet terminology states: "couru ku-ROO (Fr. pp of v courir, to run; adj run.) See courus, pas de bourree couru. courus (Fr. nmpl running steps.) A series of very small, rapid, even steps en pointe or on demi pointe with the feet well crossed in 5th position and the body remaining poised over the feet. When performed in 1st position the legs are usually parallel. May be performed sur place, en tournant, or traveling en avant, en arriere, or de cote. In the Cecchetti school, this step is called pas de bourree couru". (Ryman, R. 1997. Dictionary of Classical Ballet Terminology. 2nd Ed. Royal Academy of Dance: London)