Viv

Hi everyone, I have poked a hole through the toe of my normal bloch flatties and I'm looking to replace them in the school holidays. What I've noticed with my bloch prolites is that there is a lot of bagginess in the arch, the leather sort of bunches up and makes it look like I have no arch at all. I'm not sure if this is a fit problem or an issue with the style of shoe? I don't have the best feet so I want them to look as good as possible. Any suggestions for leather split soles that are fairly stretchy or hug the arch? I have quite narrow feet if that changes anything. I've had a look at some past threads and it seems like the capezio juliet would be a good option? I don't have many dance shops near me and the ones I do tend to stock only one brand, so it would help to know what to look for beforehand so I don't end up tramping all over town.

I actually got asked the other day in class to demonstrate allegro 2 as my teacher said I was the only one closing my fifths fast enough. So apparently yelling at myself is doing the trick! How is everybody going with their exam prep? I will be sitting mine in October Grade 6 also in October, within the same couple of days... So that'll be interesting!

I think all the replies here have summed it up very well. Starting 'late' in ballet is age 13... But, if you're determined to try it, give yourself a year of classes with no expectations. The likelihood of joining the Royal Ballet post age 24 is just as poor as 23, you need to have that year of training anyway so why not? I'm assuming you're not yet a year into your training but if I'm wrong you can probably disregard this... But if I'm right, for this year just go to class for the joy of ballet (you have to have the joy or you wouldn't want a career in it). In a years time, look back on what you've learned and what you've accomplished, and then realistically look at how far you have to go. It can take a few months for the sparkle of just starting ballet to wear off, and for you to realise that you're stuck in 'beginner' level classes for the next 3-5 years...that those pointe shoes you covet are a lot further away than you thought. But also that there is so much more to learn than you ever thought! Why would I be thinking of a career in ballet when I can barely nail a single pirouette? Why would I be desperate to put on pointe shoes when I can barely balance on demi? I started ballet 4 years ago at age 20, and I was woefully unrealistic in how I perceived my talent and the world I'd just entered. When I was able to be realistic, and make manageable goals (and even start achieving some of them!) I got so much more out of my ballet classes than I ever had before. I didn't dream of being a professional ballet dancer, so I'm not in your shoes, but I did have a skewed view that needed to be set straight. In one year, look back on where you've come from and think about whether you even want a career in classical ballet. If you've just started, how do you even know that's what you want? You've barely begun to experience life as a ballet dancer. It is beautiful, challenging, maddening, and sometimes demoralising to dance, even as a beginner. I dancer 5 days a week and can't for the life of me imagine why anyone would want to be a professional ballet dancer... In one year, you'll be a year further along in your training which you need anyway, but also a year further along in this mental journey. If you decide you still want to go for a career at the Royal Ballet and think you can actually achieve it, you can come back here. Unfortunately, the answer won't change. You've more than likely missed your opportunity. Do ballet cos you love it, not because you'll make a buck off it. For making money, that's why i study law

Energetiks is an Australian company that I think ships internationally. They're one of my go-tos and I noticed this nice long sleeve leotard the other day. http://www.energetiks.com.au/sophie-leotard_2420824/ Might be good if you want to avoid mesh or lace, nice fun colours and I think is pretty for either a younger child or an adult to wear without looking too young or too old.

Ha, my teacher sings the exercises too. One on a straight leg, one into plie, one on a straight leg, add a demi plie...no one ever forgets that exercise! I've found though that the way I sing it in my head can sometimes lead to me doing it...not wrong, but not right either. So, for the above mentioned Allegro 2, I was sort of singing this flowy glisaaaaade jete, glisaaaade assemble and so I wasn't bring my second leg in fast enough or into a tight enough fifth. I now sort of shout to myself...glissade! Jete! Glissade! Assemble! Squeeeeeze and beat! Squeeeeeze arms stay out! It's a bit aggressive haha, but since my feet don't move as fast as my brain, it works out alright

I came back from a two week break recently and suddenly the shoes that were fine were causing a lot of pain in my big toenails. My teacher thought that because I'd gone from two weeks of nothing to suddenly intensifying my pointe work, my feet had lost some of their strength and were generally out of practice. I read an article that said that you start losing muscle within 48 hours of gaining it if you suddenly go sedentary... And the special muscles in the feet we use in ballet don't really get a work out any other way. Over the break she may have lost strength which is why it is generally more difficult now than it was before. Unfortunately doesn't help her prepare for the exam coming up! But it may be that the shoes are the same as they were and the feet working in them have changed...

Love that this is a thread. I am preparing for my IF exam this year. Please help me! Struggle spots after yesterdays class - weight placement too far back when turning (I think I'm compensating for boobs?) and glissades not closing in a tight fifth meaning I can't get the right preparation for the jete and assembles in allegro 2. I was terrified of free enchainement until I went on an RAD course and had a different teacher setting them. I fluff every single one my teacher sets but nailed all the ones given on the course. Is it possible my teacher is just really mean? She likes to challenge us so is always giving jetes devant then glissades with like, arms to fourth and then beats upon beats upon beats...if I had to do that in the exam I'd probably cry. Are the exercises that give you generally simple? Like simple arms and heads? Also, does anyone have a good way of remembering under and over? I can remember for both assemble and sissone because then I think of the 'working leg' or the one that's in the air going over and under. But for glissades I always move the wrong way because I can't remember which one is the working leg... Does that even make sense hahaha?

I just want to say, you won't know if you never try. I decided I wanted to start dance when I was 15, but it took me another 5 years to work up the courage to actually find a class. I regret that 5 year delay more than any of the 15 years that came before it because I knew what I wanted and talked myself out of it. You know what you want. Make it happen. As for what you can achieve with it, as mph says that's down to how hard you work. If you want it badly enough, there is no reason why you can't compete. Don't expect to start pointe for several years after starting, but while that's an eventual goal for a lot of us starting, you soon learn that there's so much more to ballet than just pointe work! None of us can say 'yes' you'll be able to do pointe but I think we can safely there's enough to learn without pointe shoes to keep you challenged! And I went en pointe at 23 so it's definitely possible Also, while private lessons can be valuable, if you can find a group class as well I'd definitely recommend it, it's a really nice social environment and you end up with great friends who can help you when you're struggling, or just understand what's soon to be your next obsession. Have fun and good luck!

Turns out you were all right...time to get out my darning thread!

I have to say, as a person with a disability (I originally got into ballet as recommended physical therapy and well, it sort of took over my life), I'm well aware of the need for reasonable adjustment and have used equitable adjustments myself when available. That being said, I have huge issues with the article you posted... It seems that the girl was able to complete the exam and passed it which, considering her level of disability, to me shows that there were allowances made for her condition. I find it incredibly sad that her parents pulled her out of ballet class, something she clearly enjoyed, because she didn't get a distinction. Unfortunately, this girl will have to learn as she grows up, no matter how much we want something, we can't always get it. Sometimes there are physical limitations that are essential pre-requisites to what we want to do (e.g. too tall to be a pilot, not enough turnout to be a dancer, not smart enough to be an astro-physicist). Is it fair? Perhaps not. Is it incredibly painful to learn as a child? Absolutely. Is it still a fact of life? Without question. I wish these parents could have celebrated their daughters achievements for what they are, that she was able to complete the exam to the best of HER ability is admirable. To demand she gets 10/10 for footwork when she only has one foot...seems unrealistic. I don't mean to be callous and this issue is of particular personal relevance to me. But there does come a point where reasonable adjustment ventures into the world of inequitable adjustment. The line needs to be drawn somewhere. Dancers with disabilities should be encouraged, celebrated, and given all possibilities to participate and achieve. I don't think artificially inflating someone's exam results does anything to achieve that goal... I'm not explaining myself clearly so I'll just leave it here, sorry for the rant!

I went to an RAD exam course the other week and got quite an interesting story from one of the ex-examiners teaching there. When she discovered that I was not in fact 14 years old, she told me the story of a 61 year old she'd once examined for intermediate foundation. When she got to the exam venue, she was pre-warned that 'there's an old lady in there!' (the examiner didn't take too kindly to this, being 62 at the time herself...). Turns out this poor woman had taken the IF exam about 6 times and kept failing. When the examiner told her partner this he said 'there's nothing for it, you have to pass her this time'. But the examiner said, if she deserves to pass she'll pass, I can only mark her on what I see on the day otherwise it's not fair to the other students. When she added up the marks, the candidate had managed to get exactly 40 points and so she passed! While the examiner was personally pleased, she felt professionally she'd done no more or less than for any other student, regardless of this woman's age or circumstances. Just a story for those who think that examiners we'll go easy on someone that doesn't fit the mould and thus that the candidate doesn't deserve the mark they earned...

I actually quite enjoy doing both of them together IF let's me drill down into technique and the relative simplicity of the exercises helps me to work on issues that can easily get overlooked in the rush to learn a more complex syllabus. I recently went to an intensive course (honestly nearly killed me!) where the teachers really focused on arms and posture. I hadn't actually realised I was doing them wrong, and this is my fourth year doing ballet (though only second doing syllabus). I've found that I can understand and apply the corrections when I'm told, but when I'm actually dancing I tend to sort of forget and focus on other things instead So the simpler IF syllabus gives me the opportunity to work on utilising corrections while moving, drilling into my body that turnout isn't something that you just do at the barre, that floor pressure isn't just used for a tendu exercise. It sounds simple for most ballet types but it's a bit of a revelation for me haha. Then, in contrast, Grade 6 is floaty and honestly a bit weird. Every exercise seems to start or end in classical pose, even at the barre. But they sort of throw everything at you in one exercise and expect you to not only remember it all but to perform it all. Like you were saying about other styles being a little more free, I feel that the higher grades are RADs compromise. Freedom, movement, artistry and a solid grounding in technique. I just hope that I'm as successful at Grade 6 as Dormouse, who started this thread, was. As for the gold medal oooh I know all about that! I took Grade 5 last year, fell over in the middle of the exam and sprained my ankle. I cried for two days thinking I'd let myself down (didn't help that I was locked in a moonboot and told I wouldn't be well enough to perform in the end of year concert). Funnily enough, before going into the exam, the mark didn't matter to me as long as I'd done my best. Then, when I fell, I knew I hadn't done my best and suddenly the mark mattered like crazy! I needed some outside validation to reassure me that I hadn't let myself down. I managed to scrape 75 and a distinction (I think the examiner felt a bit sorry for me in the second half of the exam, trying to execute a double pirouette on a sprained ankle)! I just about cried in front of the whole studio

@sophie_rebecca So glad to see you on here, putting yourself out there and clearing up misconceptions. I just want to say that you've been very inspiring for me as an adult doing syllabus classes. I am preparing for my inter found exam now and your joy when you received a merit was so pure. It pains me that people would make negative comments to you. Even the ones that are not intended to be rude demonstrate a general ignorance about gender/sexual identity. Hopefully, through having the opportunity to ask questions, and hear stories, that will begin to change and we can all be a lot more understanding of each other. I'm sorry that you have to be the person on the front lines so to speak, but if not you, who? If not now, when? Unfortunately, though it's hard, I hope you continue to put yourself out there. Your love of dance shines through and you're doing very well for so little experience. While it may be a trial for you at times, I hope that your journey makes it a little easier for the trans/gender fluid/non binary dancers who come after you. They see your courage and the way you live your life the you way YOU want to, and hopefully they feel more accepted. On a lighter night, your trials with pointe work seem nightmarish! I'm lucky that I have childsized feet (literally, smaller than the 12 year olds I take class with) but I've still had some issues... I'm doing grade 6 as well as IF and like you I love the higher grades. So romantic and dancey and a little bit more mentally complex. It's an entirely new type of challenge Hopefully you keep posting here on some of the adult ballet topics, I think we can all learn a lot from each other

I have one teacher who seems to think that the more gruesome the imagery, the better it will stick in your mind. The one we got recently was 'imagine someone has stabbed a barbecue fork into the front of the thigh, all the way to the bone, and now they're yanking it to the side. Your thigh has to turn with the fork, doesn't it? That's turnout!' It actually seems to work quite well, though of course it started up a flurry of macabre descriptions for other things we needed to work on... Instead of supporting a tomato under our armpits, there was a toothpick waiting to stab us if we let our arms relax. There was a pin on the floor underneath our heel and if we lowered our releve too much it would stab us and we'd bleed all over the floor and cause a slip hazard for the girls in the next line.

Thanks Anna C I'm not the biggest fan of the pool (chlorine...) but I have found it helps my technique through the resistance combined with weight support. So I may have to suck it up and dive in, so to speak. Really, I think the actual exercises I'm doing are all good. Physio is happy with the strength progress and gives me good exercises, I do one-to-one pilates every week and I have vigilant teachers making sure I'm working correctly with my injury. Physically, the ankle is strong enough to support work on that leg. It's just the blasted mental side that I can't overcome. I feel like there's no exercises for that

Centre Stage comes to mind for me. While Jodie is the pretty blonde lead, it's an ensemble film and Zoe Saldana as Eva Rodriguez gets what I would consider a secondary lead role. What I enjoy about it is that she is unequivocally one of the best dancer in the fictional school and her blackness is never in issue, although you could likely make an argument that her attitude (which is a central issue in her storyline) is derived from her background. While the film is far from perfect and the same arguments of the 'paper bag test' could be raised, I think it directly contradicts the idea that there are no black storylines in ballet films (though I'd love to see a lot more!)

You're probably right Colman We've already had to drop so much until my ankle is strong enough to support it (e.g. no grand jete till I show I can land regular jetes without rolling) and I guess single leg releves may need to go on the 'no' pile for now

I think you're probably right CeliB Time to stick to the barre for single leg work, just for now. I'll also talk to my to my teacher about some nice 'hand holding' to get through it Weirdly enough, and slightly off topic maybe, I find it a lot easier to work that leg when I can see it in the mirror. When I can't see it, it's almost like I can't feel where the lower bit of that leg is in space. As in, I can feel the foot itself working, but I have no concept of where it is in relation to myself when I can't see it... So I think part of it is the fear of not knowing how to position my weight when I don't know if my foot is directly under me, if it's a little to the left or closer to the right and I'm about to fall over. Maybe barre work will also help train my brain into knowing where my foot is. As for time off, no worries about that, no chance of dancing with Danish Royal Ballet for me! Although maybe by the time I'm up to scratch they'll have started the Royal Geriatric Company and I can finally shine...

I completely understand where you're coming from with regards to not dancing while injured, and I want to be very clear that I would never (well apart from that one time I did, but I think that was mostly shock and one of the dumbest things Ive ever done, it was only because I was 80% of the way through the exam and not thinking of anything except finishing so I could collapse). When I say I'm still seeing the physio, it's because we're still doing follow up visits once a month to see how the re-strengthening is going. The 'injury' is completely healed, it's just correcting the muscle weakness caused by chronic ankle sprains. I also make sure to tell all my teachers and they know if there's any pain I sit out. If I was feeling pain doing it, that would be one thing. But in terms of strength and ability there is no reason I shouldn't be able to do it. I can do it fine at the barre. The second I move into the centre my brain just...will not let me do it! It's completely mental (and completely frustrating). As for the point of this thread, it was mostly to share experiences more than getting particular advice Thank you so much for sharing your DSs journey CeliB, it's nice to know you're not alone sometimes. If a, by all reports very talented, Vaganava student still struggles to overcome that mental block, it makes me feel like less of a total dork hahaha!

Morning everyone I've been struggling a bit with 'fear' in the studio at the moment and I was wondering if anyone else has had the experience where, you know you can do it but you're so scared you keep psyching yourself out? And if yes, how you overcame it/are overcoming it. I'll go first. Yesterday in class we were trying releve passe en pointe and while I could do it decently enough on my right foot, my left foot was a total mess. I've had a history of serious ankle problems on that side, including a dislocation several years ago. Last year I fell (in the middle of my exam and directly in front of the examiner ) and sprained it pretty badly (hello moonboot), then did the rest of the exam on a sprained ankle like an idiot. Even though it's been 6 months, I'm still in physio recovering from it. Everything I do with that leg now my brain is trying to protect me from injuring it again. I feel like I go in with a positive attitude but my brain is so terrified it completely stops me from being able to do the move. It doesn't seem like a conscious fear, it's like I'm telling my body to do one thing and a traitorous part of my brain is sending completely opposite signals. I'm worried because if anything, this is more likely to injure me more, if I'm sort of half doing it or doing it incorrectly. Mostly just looking for other stories of people (or their dance kids) who have felt this total mind block after coming back from an injury. Any stories of how you got over it would also be very welcome

Thanks for the tip about the foot powder Lucinda! I've found somewhere that stocks basically every Scholls product ever produced so I'm hoping to pick some up today and I'll try foot powder to keep them lasting longer

Oh have no fear Legseleven, I am not going back there! Waiting for these shoes to die so I can justify being fitted by someone I trust As for 'Boots', I'm guessing that's just the name of a pharmacy right? Haha silly question but we don't have them where I live

Thanks Is there any difference between the spacers you buy in dance shops and the ones you buy at the chemist? They look the same in pictures.

Does anyone have any good pharmacy or homemade options for a spacer to go between the big toe and the second toe when en pointe? The fitter I went to 'doesn't believe in them' and while I've been doing okay without them, I'm starting to do more and more pointe and it's getting harder... I am dancing right on the outside corner of my big toe and no other part of my foot is in contact with the floor. Then last class the corner of that toenail broke off and stuck into my toe mid-exercise hahaha, not the nicest feeling in the world! I'm not going to be able to make it to a dance store for a while so if anyone has any workarounds that they or their dds have used, I'd really appreciate the help

I managed to find the Perfect Pointe book by Lisa Howell online for free, so I'd try googling before going out and purchasing an expensive program. It was very good though, I liked that it focused not just on your feet but also core and turnout strength as well. It's helped me with all areas of technique and not just getting me onto pointe. I still use the exercises as a good maintenance workout to make sure I stay strong for class.