drdance

Balance and a VERY strong core to mantain that balance is key. The longer you can balance in pirouette position, whilst being able to make tiny adjustments to your balance and maintaining a secure centre, the longer you can pirouette.... as shown here: (NB it's not my video - and it's not ballet, but one of the girls has just been accepted into the Australian Ballet School level 5 full time from January so the skills are transferable!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuFnqZZrxok&feature=g-all-u

Ah right - not the FHL tendon then! Good luck with the outcome

You say 'under the sticking out ankle bone bit' - is it the side of the big toe (inside) or side of the little toe?

I've posted this before but if you are anywhere near the Midlands, going over to Mark Suffolk near Leicester is well worth it. For anyone not aware of him, he used to make shoes for Freeds before setting up business himself. I've had many pupils fitted by him and they always come away with an excellent fit.

Dancia stock all the different makes. Is there still a Porselli shop in London? I'm sure there's been a thread on here about pointe shoe shopping in London before, either that or I'm getting a major sense of deja vu! I've had issues with pupils going to Freeds, when I used to work near London; the fitting always seemed dreadful but it might be that they walked around for hours getting hot swollen feet before going to be fitted so do bear that in mind.

I second that - best to be sure as vets are on their feet long hours too!

Good luck to all of you and your DC's!

Taping would help but I fully support the other posts that recommend getting the ankle looked at, and getting some strengthening exercises from a sports or dance physiotherapist. It could be a nerve issue - a trapped nerve or nerve under stretch/pressure from the spine or further up the leg can cause weakness. Or as Anjuli recalled from her experience, it could be a ligament. While taping can support the ankle with weak ligaments (many footballers tape their ankles for every game after suffering multiple ligament tears), strengthening exercises are much better in the long term, even if it is 'only a few months', and you'll get to the root of the issue.

I'm sure that the RBS teachers are wonderful - but PLEASE do not assume that 'ballerinas' make better teachers than those who have qualified. Teachers need to know how to see dancers and train them, not to be able to do it.

Wow Balletpointe thank you for posting your experience - many congratulations to your DD!

It's not physically possible to get the underside of the back leg on the floor. When training front splits, the back leg should be 'knee down' ie from a kneeling position gradually getting closer to the floor until the back leg is straight with the kneecap touching the floor. The front leg should be knee up, with the kneecap facing the ceiling. Hips should be square. Once the dancer can achieve straight legs in both front and back, they can then attempt to turn out both legs so the front leg is turned so that the knee faces as far towards the side as turnout allows. The back leg can turn out to resemble an arabesque, but practicing turnout of the back leg with the knee bent should be avoided as it places a lot of rotational stress on the knee ligaments.

From what I've heard on the grapevine etc, Preston has the reputation of being a teacher training college more than a 'performance' type of place, but I don't know anyone that went there so can't really comment I've just heard that it's very good for teacher training and is state funded!

I agree with Spannerandpony here - it's very difficult on here to A ) understand exactly what the issue is, and B ) what you want to achieve. It would also be very difficult, for anyone to explain an exercise or two through the medium of writing sufficiently for you to be able to perform it safely and properly. In fact it would be unprofessional and negligent of me to suggest something for you to do without my being able to supervise you doing it. However - I do recommend you ask your teacher if you're worried about your feet. They will either tell you that your feet are lovely and you don't need to worry, or will be able to give you some advice. And if you are worried that your teacher is not familiar with giving exercises like this then can you try to see someone else nearby for advice? eg a physio etc (edited to remove a weird sunglass-wearing emoticon!)

Feet that point that much are pretty rare - and actually a lot harder to work with! As you sit with your legs stretched out in front of you, and feet pointed, could you lie a pencil flat on the top of your ankle? as in flat, touching all of the end of the tibia, across to the metatarsals?

I had forgotten Preston College - great course! The one at Bucks is New Buckinghamshire University - not sure about the fees though

swanprincess you say you have high insteps/arches so I don't quite understand what you mean about flexibility in your feet - can you take a photo and PM it to me?! Or explain what you want to be able to do? Is it your toes? Your toes should be straight, not curled, none of the toe 'knuckles' should be bent. Perhaps it's strength that you need in your feet rather than flexibility?

I would say this is end of upper school/ graduation type standard, but don't quote me on that!

Hi - sorry to be a bit slow on the uptake here! Thanks for asking for my advice, but the other mums have told you everything I would! Firstly a slight heel is good to allow the achilles a bit of recovery if dancing barefoot or in flats a lot, but too much of a heel can make those calves tight and affect posture so be careful there. Anything that is so sloppy that it's like being barefoot is comfy at first but like JCJC said, it's not great if you're even slightly pronated (naturally rolling inwards) and will often cause the wearer to use all sorts of odd muscles to keep the shoe on the foot (normal ballet shoes have elastics/ribbons for a reason!) and that can lead to problems. I personally like M&S shoes and have just bought a nice pair for myself to wear at school (I'm a science teacher!) - I didn't want a high heel as a lot of womens smart shoes have, because they hurt being on my feet all day, but I want something that my mobile foot won't collapse out of like the ballet flats, which would give me leg ache by the evening too. I've ended up with quite nice shoes that look a bit like the old character shoes but with a low heel, and they're very comfy. Plantar fasciitis can be helped with an arch support.

It certainly is! I spent a good 9 years studying it full time and spreading the word is my passion (as if you hadn't already guessed!)

OK now the debate has happened a bit I'll add my opinion! I was absolutely astounded by the strength and flexibility that these ladies have, but - and perhaps it's my English-ness here - I felt that they were pulling off their supporting legs a lot at the barre (is this a difference between English and Russian training maybe?) often as their gesture leg was up around their ears somewhere, and my knees were aching just watching their supporting legs.... It all looked so very, very difficult in its content - so many turns, changes of direction, legs in the air so high - yet all so effortless! Having said that, if you can make THAT look easy, then the repertoire of most ballets will be a walk in the park!

Anjuli is spot on there - however you're probably thinking 'my feet are just sore, not injured'.... After any moderate to intense bout of physical activity the body tissues are experience some wear and tear, known as microtrauma. Most of the time, we don't even know it's happening and are totally pain free, and once we rest, our bodies heal this wear and tear all by itself quite happily (incidentally, this microtrauma is the stimulus that generates strength too). If this microtrauma becomes a bit more than 'micro' then tissues get inflamed (pain and/or redness and/or heat and/or swelling). The signs of inflammation vary from person to person... some get swelling and puffiness but nothing else, some get a bit sore but don't feel any of the other signs. But that's not to say that they aren't there! Ice reduces the inflammation therefore reducing the pain caused by it. Ice also reduces muscle spasm which also often occurs after a lot of activity. Heat opens up the blood vessels which increases inflammation so actually the worst thing one can do is climb into a hot bath! Edited to add: Ice won't necessarily help blisters to heal, but might help relieve the pain and swelling associated with them. A bit of salt in the water will help as an antiseptic but might sting!

Hi, If she wants to teach tap/modern and have pupils do exams etc she'll need to train with one of the examining bodies such as the ISTD and there isn't actually a university course designed to do this (madness I know, it's on my to-do list once I win the lottery!). Some of the vocational schools eg Birds do a degree course and include part of the ISTD teacher quals in that but not all of the units, I believe. The best places for advice on their qualifications are the bodies themselves eg RAD, ISTD, IDTA. The closest thing there is, however, is the degree course at RAD - where one graduates as a registered teacher. That allows 'mutually recognised teacher' status (and therefore exam entry rights) with the IDTA. At one stage you used to be able to do ISTD Associates (as they were back then) at RAD as part of that course but I think that has all changed now. A lot of 'private' dance colleges have emerged where one can train in the ISTD teaching qualifications but these are not universities as such, and the qualifications completed there are ISTD vocational grades and DDI/DDE only, not degrees. The ISTD do now do a degree but I think it's only distance-learning, validated by HQ.

At risk of playing devils advocate......(!) I just came across this video on youtube which I believe to be an assessment/performance class of the Vaganova Academy and having previously followed threads on here discussing whether ballet is becoming too much like gymnastics particularly leg height etc this video got me thinking.... It seems that whether we like it or not, high extensions are being trained here!

I tried to add photos but if you do a quick google search of athletes and ice baths you'll see Jessica Ennis among others all in their ice baths. Some stood in wheelie bins up to their waist but at the Athlete's village there's a room full of inflatable baths for the athletes to use, and a whiteboard where they've all written messages to each other!

The best thing for any soreness after rehearsals, training etc is a 15 minute bathe in ice water. Get a tray of icecubes or more, and fill an old washing up bowl or bucket with VERY cold water (let the tap run for a bit to make sure it's coming from way down underground!) and add the ice. Have your DD sit with her feet & ankles, or calves too if using a bucket, in the ice water. It's certainly not pleasant but it's the best way to aid recovery. There's a reason Olympic athletes do it!