aisha

Thanks for all the help people on here give as I am new to ballet classes and was a bit clueless on certain aspects, but have learned a lot just reading posts and have now looked up some great dance websites which I wish I had done before. I am loving trying out ballet, as only did things like Zumba before which is also good in a totally different way.

As for the pumps I was wearing for ballet, I think they will make a nice shoe/pump for going out with as some have suggested and suffice to say I will leave them at home when I go to Ballet class tomorrow. .  May need some nice nail polish for my toes though ha ha. xx

33 minutes ago, LinMM said:

The irony is the proper ballet shoes will probably have cost you less than these fashion shoes!

What do the other students in your class wear .....do some have proper ballet shoes.

Those shoes are fine for an evening out etc but in a ballet class not even sure how they would stay on your feet!! 

 

just saw your above post Aisha....your  mum was only doing her best for you not her fault at all!! You can just make a bit of a joke about it all and you can still wear the shoes when you want to anyway.

But hey Aisha Christmas is coming!! 

Yes my mum meant well and i should have went with her when she got the pumps as i would have went to a dance shop.. I did notice when i went barefoot that i moved much better but having never done ballet never thought about footwear. Do you mean ballet pumps for my xmas ha ha? I will not dare ask for pumps again lol. 

Oh no i never realised how wrong they are as i have done a ballet class and my mum did ask for dancing pumps and was told they were fine.

As i started the class three weeks later than the others i think the dance centre did get ballet pumps ordered or sold them to the people who started the class on the first week. Socks are not allowed so i will do it with my barefeet for now. Just spent my savings on my first car hence my mother going out and getting pumps for me ( bless her). I wont say anything as she did mean well.

That is the ones my Mother got me from the shop. They are advertised as Ballet Pumps. I am still a student so cannot afford too much more.

They are a little different from some

I spoke to my friend who also goes to the class about it and she reckons the teacher thinks i prefer going barefoot as the first time i was asked to take off my pumps and socks to show my toes pointing the teacher only meant for a small period of the class time but i went over to the changing room  once i had removed them and left them there as i thought that was best and carried on barefoot after toe pointing thinking the teacher would tell me if she wanted me to put them back on. While i was in the changing room my friend said the teacher smiled and said i dont think Aisha wants to put her pumps back on after toe pointing. Apparently in the opening 2 weeks a couple of other girls removed pumps to show there toes pointing but kept there pumps beside them and put them back on after. Looking back i also said 'wow i always point my toes better when in barefeet' so my friend thinks the teacher took this to mean i never wanted to wear ballet pumps. As it is not a serious class and we are not doing competitions  my friend says the teacher likes to keep it relaxed. I must say the teacher is always nice and patient so if i mention that i prefer keeping pumps on after toe pointing without making a deal out of it then hopefully that should work. 

I cannot believe i went and put my pumps in the changing room when it was only for five minutes toe pointing, my friend said she thought the teacher was going to burst out laughing. So this is why the teacher probably says to keep my pumps off. Without knowing knowing i think i got myself to blame a bit.

8 hours ago, LinMM said:

I have to say I'm not really sure why your  teacher is asking you to do SO much of the class in bare feet! Maybe for certain exercises to be sure.....but the entire hour? 

It may feel like you are being singled out as I'm sure not everyone else  in your class ...if you are all beginners ...will have perfectly pointed feet!! 

Have you spoken to the teacher about it? She may not realise that you feel so self conscious about it and may be able to limit the time you have to spend with no shoes on. 

Some steps in ballet are really very hard to do in bare feet in fact and can actually hurt the sole of the foot....though this may depend on the floor surface in the studio etc. 

Im just trying to imagine the situation! As presumably you have been told when your foot is in at least a good enough position for a pointed foot as it were ....when you have no shoes on ....so both you and the teacher know what this looks like for your foot and you are beginning to get a feel for when it is correct for you and when you are NOT doing it.

So ....my point is ....if you have your shoes on both you and your teacher can still see when you are not pointing your feet ....so a reminder from the teacher about this should prompt you to do so......whether your shoes are on or not .....especially after so many classes barefoot!! 

I can see in certain classes when people are not pointing their feet .....or doing so incorrectly eg: say, curling up the toes instead of stretching them out and stretching across the top of the foot ....or sickling  the foot so the heel is not uppermost etc and this is when they have their shoes on!! 

Personally speaking I would have thought that you would only need a few weeks having to do the whole class with no shoes on at all but of course I'm not your teacher and why she feels she needs you to do this. 

You may just have to "grin and bare it" but certainly if you are experiencing any other physical problems from being barefoot then have a word with the teacher.

 

 

Thanks for replying. I mentioned it to my friend last night who also does the class and she reckons the teacher thinks I prefer going barefoot as after one of the first classes i said something like " wow i always point my toes better in barefeet and that i practiced barefoot at home which i did say but never meant it to mean i prefer doing class barefoot. My friend also thought i liked going barefoot as well so i can maybe mention to the teacher when i am at the centre on Tuesday that i want to keep pumps on to get used to them without making it a big deal.

PS ... Last evening i knew if i did toe pointing wrong then i would end up in batefeet so that is always on my mind but i need to forget it and concentrate

Hi Maria.

I did relax much more for the class last night and the teacher was pleased with the progress made. I did try too hard when raising the foot then pointing the toes but i realised my mistake straight away. Yes i do dislike it when i need to go barefoot as normally we do toe pointing in the first 15 minutes so if i am asked to take pumps and socks off then i am barefooted for the rest of the class as we do toe pointing near the end too so the teacher says just to continue barefoot. The thing is i always do it properly when i am in my barefeet which is weird and frustrating as i hardly have my ballet pumps on for a class anymore.

Ha ha i bet they not that bad. I would probably be more okay going barefoot if i was not the only one as it seems to draw more attention to me.

 I started the class 3 weeks later than the others as was on holidays so that is why i am a bit behind. 

I had a class this evening and thought i was doing fine until we raised the feet and I knew straight away where i went wrong, i pointed the toes then let myself relax and when i looked at the others who were all doing it well i knew more practice would be needed. I got the benefit of doubt from the teacher that time but slipped up again so was told to take pumps and socks off for rest of the class. When i get told to go barefoot i always seem to do it right as i can watch my toes and feet but with pumps i tend to forget sometimes so i can see what the teacher is telling me. 

4 hours ago, RuthE said:

 

Socks could be a slip hazard... maybe your teacher would let you try yoga socks (with the little rubber grippy bits on the soles?)

Good thought but text the teacher to ask her and she said that my toes would not be seen properly in socks plus as you say i may slip. I got class this evening and have been practicing pointing my toes all week so I should not have to do any more classes barefoot.

15 minutes ago, Colman said:

 

It's not even just flexibility - it's the proprioception as well. If you wear shoes all the time - especially if you're sensitive about being barefoot - your sense of what your feet are doing and can do will be underdeveloped. I remember utterly freaking out a tai chi class once when our teacher decided to work on foot sensitivity and flexibility by being able to move toes and flex my feet. This was before I started ballet: I fear they'd run screaming faced with even my stumpy and inflexible proto-dancer feet. Normal modern humans don't use their feet at all, apparently. 

I always get told i have nice feet so they dont look horrible, i just dislike being the only one barefoot i suppose plus people in class who look at my feet when we stop and the teacher talks. I need to try and forget and get over it.

Thanks, 

My sister thinks I try too hard to correct what I do wrong, and to relax more.

So between that and the fact that i so dislike being barefooted for the class I suppose my sister is right. I just so much want to learn to do it right that i get uptight. 

Ha ha yes I did practice pony trots at home which is strange at first. And yes it is the moment my feet leave the floor that I forget and as my feet leave the floor alot it is then i make the mistake of not pointing. We have an open day in our city centre next week so hoping I can sort it out with pactice.

Going to ask teacher if i can keep on my socks rather than barefeet as she should still see my toes pointing.

Thanks, Is it normal to have to go barefoot so the toes can be seen pointing? I am barefoot for most of the class so hardly get to have my pumps om.

Thanks for replies. I think I concentrate on other parts of ballet so much that i forget to point toes. I reallly dislike being the only one barefoot though but the teacher said she and myself can see toes pointing much better that way.

I think it is keeping the toes pointed for any length of time as I am not used to doing it and always forget.

Hello all, 

I am aged 21 and new to ballet classes, I have been going to an adult ballet for 5 weeks nows and seem to struggle when it comes to pointing toes.

The yeacher now has me going barefoot so she can see properly where I am going wrong. I much prefer keeping my ballet pumps on but also want to learn as much as I can.

Does this come natural or is it just practice.