swanprincess

Just read all 3 parts, and they are fabulous! (even though i'm a teenage dance student, not a baffled adult beginner!!) I love the sense of humour in them, too!

My 'Oh ****!!' moment came on my birthday, in Bloch in Covent Garden. The extremely enthusiastic assistant asked to see what shoes I currently wore (and then rather insulted them by saying 'How on Earth do you dance in these?! I'd cry myself to sleep if i had to wear these!!') and asked 'Are they a bit small?' I said 'yes, a little bit,'- thinking that pointes are supposed to be snug, but id be able to wear them for a month or so longer. She replied, without checking, 'Can I just do *This*, and stood on them and bent them, which created a hideous snapping sound. Those shoes still fitted- I only wanted to buy a spare pair, not have my old ones made in to soft blocks!! (they were a custom-made Christmas present, and thus very special!!) We spent nearly an hour in Bloch, but just couldnt seem to find a perfect shoe. Most annoyingly, we had just 2 hours before we had to catch a train home!! Luckily, I got an utterly beautiful pair of Mindens from Dancia, but was still deeply irked at the 'death' of my old shoes!!!!

hi Anjuli, I haven't had chance to ask my teacher about it yet, but the reason why I asked was because I'm interested in auditioning for RBS associates, and the MA friend I mentioned before, as well as another girl I know who got SWL for SA's, both have very flexible feet. Although of course there are many things that RBS look for in their applicants, I would like to be able to improve on whatever I can before auditioning. Drdance, I tried the pencil thing, and, when the pencil was vertical, it eventually, after many attempts, stayed resting on my foot/leg, however not all of the pencil was in contact with my leg- there was around a 3cm gap across the front of the ankle where it wouldn't touch. When the pencil was horizontally across both feet, there was one spot just before the ankle where it would stay, but any closer to the tibia or the metatarsals, and it would roll off.

drdance, it may be an issue of strength, however I assumed that my feet are relatively strong, as it only took me around half an hour to break in a medium strength shank pointe shoe. Also, when I am en pointe,.i find that, unless my shoes are fairly new, they don't seem to support my feet when doing releves in 1st and 2nd- i'm not fully over the box in a well broken in shoe because it feels as if, should i push any further over, my foot will go too far forwards over the shoe, potentially causing injury. As for a photo, i am unfortunately utterly dreadful with technology and would not know how to upload it- hopefully my previous post has clarified it slightly?

Yes, i think so- i presume that if the front of my ankle was more flexible it would allow my foot to kind of point more? (basically, in a tendu, the foot looks similar to how a swayback knee arcs back as the thigh joins the calf: the front of the foot arcs back slightly.between the bottom of the tibia and the metatarsals, so that in battements tendus, glisses etc, the foot looks as if it is not fully pointed) Imagining the leg as a diagonal line when the foot is pointed at glisse hight, it is as if the end of the line- the foot- becomes slightly more of a horizontal line, thus destroying the extended line of the leg... Sorry if that's as clear as mud, can't think how else to describe it!! but one of my friends, who used to be an RBS MA, has very flexible feet that touch the floor when she is sitting down pointing her toes- is such flexibility genetic, or can it be worked on?

Hi, I was wondering wether anyone could give me any exercises, possibly with a Theraband, to make my feet more flexible. I have high arches and insteps, but my feet aren't very flexible, meaning that in exercises such as battements glisses, the line of my foot looks really messy (not a straight line from the leg to the toes, if that makes sense) Also, when in the splits etc, with my feet pointed, I can never get my toes to touch the ground, which is frustrating!! Thanks, S

thequays, i hope not, if that is the standard required for 6th form schools then ive got no chance!!!! lol

ohh they're so amazing!! wish i could dance like that

that's interesting, drdance and anjuli, i had always wondered why it is necessary to ice injuries! the science behind dance is fascinating

So how does the ice help? I'd probably go for Savlon cream and moisturiser if it was me- does the ice on the feet purely reduce swelling, as Anjuli mentioned, or will it help blisters etc to heal?

this gorilla-in-a-tutu image, funny as it seems, is now utterly baffling me- where did it come from?! Edited to correct spelling

Wow, I think these extensions are gorgeous, and that the girls have incredible balance! i did find it interesting, though that at 14.43, they seemed to find the arabesque penche difficult- I mention this because my left leg is extremely flexible with developpes etc to the front/side, but I struggle to reach an 180 degree penche, but when using my right leg, although my hamstrings seem less flexible, my arabesque penche is relatively easy. The girls are all utterly amazing, though, how old would they be?

Ecarte, I find it hard to memorise the sequences, but once i've got an awkward one in my head, (annoyingly, usually after i've messed it up in the class/audition), i'll remember it for ages... and don't worry, your dd isn't the only one- i am hideously forgetful with shoes, leotards etc- once tuned up to class, got my ballet shoes out of my bag to see that, although I had a left and right, one was Bloch and one Sansha, thus very different shades of pink!!!

wow thats awesome! well done to her i'm still halfway through the first shoe x

aww, hope your dd has a wonderful year at the Bolshoi, Primrose, and that your husband is ok in Afghanistan! It must be so hard having 2 close family members in different countries... xxx

yes, good point, Anjuli! time to learn to ignore the negative thoughts

Taxiforballet, I have started darning my own pointes for the first time this week (previously just stuck on the suade patches), and am beginning to feel like Aurora- have pricked my finger with the needle about 4 times already.... Hope your dd's darning mission goes well! x

hope your dd has a wonderful time, Lildancer x

Wow, thankyou everyone, some really interesting ideas! I've got my first Grade 6 class this evening so it will be interesting to see how quickly I manage to learn the combinations (and wether I can actually remember what step to do next whilst actually dancing it!! ) It is very tempting to just copy the other dancers (especially at auditions when i'm thinking 'eeek, you actually want me to remember then dance all that?!' lol) but I will try to break that habit! Anjuli, thankyou so much for that wonderfully detailed answer, i really appreciate that, there were quite a few points in there that I hadn't thought of.

Hi everyone! This was mentioned on another thread, so i decided to start a new topic. At auditions, I struggle to learn combinations quickly (the long allegro sequence at the EYB Wolverhampton audition seemed really daunting!!) so was wondering if anyone had any tips? I'd like to just be able to learn sequences quickly, especially before I start 6th form auditions next year! I do syllsbus classes during the week, and a non-syllabus class on Sundays as part of a youth ballet Thanks x

Ok thanks, will (attempt) to start a new thread, Moderators please correct me if i do it wrong somehow, lol

thanks, Spanner i find picking up combinations quickly quite hard- any tips??

Ah, that's reassuring Spannerandpony, thankyou! As for what part- well, i have to audition and get in, first!!

gosh, I wanted to audition for EYB, but don't know what my parents would say about the prospect of having to spend a fortune on pointe shoes!! lol

glad it went well, miss.pointe!