FullContretemps

Mooncup and period pants. Perfect combination has been my solution for heavy periods! I haven't tried the leotard-friendly ones though as I have a 3 month old baby so that's not really been on the cards lately (neither has ballet for the past three months as I can't leave him for long enough yet! Hoping to take him to an adults workshop in the sling in a couple of weeks!!). But Mooncup and a liner used to work fine so I'd think the pants would be ok. But everyone's different! And teenagers might be less keen on a cup? But they do collect a lot more than a tampon and I find much more comfortable, even pre-baby, and less leakage for me.

Wow, thank you for sharing. I have a friend with scoliosis (who dances) and she doesn't tell many people. I know it's different for everyone, but this is a beautifully made insight.

Thank you to the mods and for such a pertinent new year message. Wishing everybody all the best for whatever 2021 brings

I completely agree with everything you've said. All bodies have a different set point weight, the majority of which lie between a BMI (highly flawed measure!) of 20 and 30/35. Many dancers' may indeed be lower for them to be able to sustain that level of activity at that weight, and as you say, no body shaming smaller bodies either, but like you I suspect that very few bodies have a set point weight of extremely low BMI. Many people end up in hospital with anorexia at a much higher BMI than the number you stated too.

Done for you. Good luck with your project.

Jumping on this a bit late, but I cannot recommend Vanessa Golborn in Alton enough. I began my dance life there aged 12 and danced there for 10 or 15 years altogether. Still miss it to this day despite having moved north nearly 8 years ago! Top notch technique training, and top notch people! http://www.vgdance.co.uk/

Hi Efftee, and welcome. Loads of great advice on here already about really examining whether now is the best time and ultimately nothing can come above her wellbeing. If she doesn't have that she won't have dance either. Between you I'm sure you will get a good idea over the coming months of what her particular recovery journey might look like (never quite predictable and rarely entirely linear but so glad you are getting support for it) and what is best for her and you as a family. Not knowing what support network you have for yourself, but I know that supporting someone with an ED can be really confusing and horrible. I'm sure there are people here who can identify and support you in that, but if it would be at all helpful to talk to someone who is also in recovery from an ED please feel free to PM me. I'm not a parent and didn't study dance professionally (just in every spare minute to keep me a little sane!!). My ED came along a little later but am here and happy to talk if there's any way I can help. Wishing you and DD all the very very best going forward, and it sounds like you're both taking a really positive and proactive approach though it must be scary for you both. The forward planning and openness you're describing from both of you will stand you in good stead.

I know somebody else who goes to Deborah Coultish in Alwoodley for Adv 2 and recommends. I really want to make it but weekday evenings are tricky for me as it's a 45 min-1 hour drive home and I have to be up for work in the morning! And I teach until 6.30 so not certain whether I could get there on time!

Gosh, the reporting leaves something to be desired - fishing for details that would be very triggering for anyone dealing with those issues... Thankfully Jade Wallace dealt with it fairly well, not giving too many of the probed details. Wish people would consider the media guidelines for reporting responsibly on mental health!

2 hrs 37 mins

Anna, you have said everything I wanted to say but couldn't frame as eloquently! Only commenting to add weight to the excellent points made by Anna and others. Also to add, health is a very important thing to focus on, and it is exactly that: health not weight or body size/shape. If it really came to it (not because it is likely or to scare you, but just to frame perspective) would you rather a physically and mentally healthy daughter who may not have the "100% perfect" (definition of which will differ with every single person you ask) or one who is the "right" size and shape but compromised in a greater or lesser way by achieving that body? Glad she has got a caring and interested parent to guide her and that you are seeking healthy nutrition - sorry I can't help dietician-wise but as Anna says, everything in moderation, wholegrains, nourishing foods that provide the energy and nutrients to keep a body working to its full potential. Educate yourself and her on health (not weight or weight loss or body shape), as you are seeking to do, just don't get stuck on it. Nothing wrong with treats as long as they are not compromising functioning, at which point she may well notice that herself and adjust! As I'm sure you are aware, undue focus on diet can be a lot more damaging than any imperfection in said diet. Care for body, care for mind and care for self. Good nutrition is part of that and so is treating ourselves with kindness and generosity: both together keeps room for freedom and joy which can be found in dancing!

The Bra-Tek from Capezio are useless if your bust measurement is even slightly disproportionately larger than rest of torso! (Unless I also have an unusually long torso which I suppose could be the case ) Good luck - it is a nightmare situation. Currently I can just about get away with nude dance bras if I buy carefully and buy the leotards carefully although they do show sometimes. But for under costumes I've actually gone to M&S and got regular multiway bras before as they tend not to come up too high in front or at the back and of course support without straps. Before my last show I went in complete with tutu and catsuit stashed in bag and took about 10 to try on 🤣

I'd be interested if still available LTD?

Sadly can't make 30th, but will be looking forward hopefully being able to be there in July in Yorkshire. Have fun next week

❤️ This hits too close to home for many words, but though I have never met either of you, I truly wish you and your daughter peace and health, in whatever way that comes. I know what these things do to brains and wish all the best in recovery. Her openness and honest writing now bring light to an area too often hidden in shame, and that in itself is a wonderful and powerful thing.

This sounds potentially very exciting! Have you any plans as yet as to how often classes/rehearsals would be? Selby-based here... a bit of a trek so do-able every now and then but not weekly. Even if I can't be involved I shall watch with interest though! Long overdue I think

Pink and purple ombre skirt. Only worn a handful of times because it doesn't go with (m)any of my leotards and is a bit bright for me. Handmade by Kakakiri on Etsy. Stitching slightly coming away where tie joins on at one end but absolutely fine to wear. £10. Can't seem to upload pictures as they are too big but will work out a way if anyone is interested!

Ha ha ha! Up with Yorkshire ballerinas! Although the accents over my side aren't quite as good. Bit diluted with posh southerners I think (of which I am definitely not one... well not posh anyway! Think I've been here long enough and enough Yorkshire blood in me to count. Still working on the accent but the bluntness I have down )

Only just discovered this thread and have loved hearing everyone's stories! I was the opposite of most kids: wouldn't have dreamt of going anywhere near a ballet class when I was little, although I was very in love with gymnastics throughout primary school, and not bad at it (having begged to follow my big sister there! A common theme!). My big sister was a complete book-a-holic and went through the "ballet books" phase in her teens. She was adamant that she was to old to start, but at 12 I might just be young enough (if I had had the right facility for ballet. Ha ha ha!). She must have been very persuasive to enthuse me so strongly that I actually phoned the local school to enquire (my Mum said I could try it on the condition that I rang myself, which she obviously thought I wouldn't do!)! Never looked back, learned to tolerate ribbons when I started pointe (I have a real sensory issue with ribbons, lace and buttons!!), somehow managed to wangle more of my parents' pennies on extra-curricular activities than both my elder sisters put together to have an extra lesson a week (on top of music lessons, which were my "official" "thing")! Then as soon as I had a Saturday job/student loan/actual wage you can guess where my own pennies went. And still go... All thanks to my older sister's wisdom edited for typo

Ballet to me is not only joy; it is a lifeline. On the few occasions where I feel nearly too tired/down/anxious to take class, I almost invariably come out with more life, more energy and the knowledge that I can carry on. The movement, the routine, the clearly formulated social interactions, the music, all bring me calmness, joy and peace. It's one of the few places I can (usually) forget about everything else. Even when I was younger and not dealing with some of the issues I now have, my family noticed before I did that I am grumpy when I don't dance!! In my teens, I grumbled once in the holidays, "I don't know why I just feel really irritable and horrible." "Well you haven't been dancing for 3 weeks. You're always in a bad mood when dancing's not on." Since then I have made it a priority, not just for my enjoyment, but for my wellbeing and that of those around me! It almost broke my heart when I thought at 16 I would have to give it up. I spent days in tears, and actually, my need to dance has been a huge part of my personality development. I never would have had the confidence to take action in many contexts if my sheer determination to dance hadn't shown me that I can do things. Ballet has given me not only co-ordination, a hobby and a place to be calm and joyful, but confidence in my ability to contribute: my self-worth. We all have our bad days, and I am a perfectionist so I rarely meet my own ideals, but in the studio I learn that it's OK not to be perfect. Some days things work and some days they don't. I have made amazing friends through ballet, which compounds its effects on my wellbeing. As I am reflecting writing this, I am realising even more how much ballet has done for me! It's almost as if my normal life rules don't apply in the studio. I can contribute, my opinion does matter, it doesn't matter if I get it wrong, it is OK to speak to people. I think many of the important things I have learnt in life I have discovered and practised in the studio and then taken out into the world. What a gift that is! As to whether to keep dancing Fiz, I tend to think it depends on whether it is helpful to you or not. If the frustration when it goes badly (how well I know it!), the spending of valuable energy resources and other negative effects will outweigh the joy and positive effects, then it is no longer serving you helpfully. Just because it used to be good, doesn't mean you can't let it go if you need to. If you do choose to let it go, you're right, it probably will always have a part of you and you will grieve for it. I have a similar relationship with music. It is painful to me now because that world was no longer good for me. I can still love and appreciate it, but from a distance, and I think that is OK for now. It doesn't mean we can't go back in the future if things change (somebody pointed this out to me recently!), and I may start taking tentative steps back towards music. Whatever decisions you make now, you can always change your mind in the future if circumstances or opportunities change. I came across a quote recently: "I give up. Not because I have failed but because I have learned." I think it was in the context of giving up trying to be perfect, but it has really stuck with me and I think can apply in a lot of areas! I hope that dancing finds you again and reminds you what it has to give, but don't feel you have to stay yoked to it if it's not helpful at the moment. You may find something that gives equally well but in a different way around the corner. I'm sure there are people on many diverse internet forums discussing what their particular hobby means to them!

Hi Jade, I have also been watching this thread with interest and didn't really have anything to add, but I will now I've never been a girly girl (or I suppose these days a ladylike woman!). I HATED dresses when I was younger and only wore them on very odd occasions when I was made to, and in a great grump. I was a tree-climbing, shorts, t-shirts and sweatshirts kind of person and still am. Well, maybe less of the tree-climbing now, but that's more down to opportunity and social convention So no, your un-girlyness doesn't have to be a problem. I find that ballet has given me more confidence in movement and being seen, co-ordination and "grace" if you like, rather than less, but it's not taken away from who I am as a person and my personality. I now have the choice of how I want to be or present myself, but I'm still one for the striped all-in-one warm-ups rather than elegant skirts! As for why schools require uniform, I guess it's similar to why many academic schools do. Like you, I hate uniforms. I think they squash individuality, are entirely unnecessary and often uncomfortable (especially in academic schools!). BUT I can understand that it is easy for children and young people in particular to become engaged in some kind of competition about who has the best kit, most expensive, brightest colour, fanciest design etc, which is not helpful to anyone, so uniform can help on that front (takes any debate out for parents too!). It makes it really clear what is acceptable and what isn't. Also, perhaps as a teacher it may be easier to see what's going on in the class if everyone looks the same: less chaotic so they can just concentrate on what the bodies are doing. I have teachers who prefer a plain style of leotard for class so as not to distract from the body (in particular, I once bought an asymmetrical one, which I only realised was really dim once a teacher pointed it out to me!), but one of them has actually said several times that she prefers people wearing nice coloured leotards. Both schools I attend are fairly strict on uniform up to Advanced level (age 15ish perhaps) then students are treated more as adults and tend to wear what they want as long as it's appropriate. Maybe the years of uniform are what inform the student of what is appropriate. Sorry, I've rather waffled on, but just wanted to say ballet can be for un-girly girls too, and although we may hate them, uniforms can serve a purpose. Most important is the functionality of what you wear, and as you get into classes you might find that you choose to adopt many of the traditions of ballet uniform even if you have a choice, because they are helpful. Do let us know how you get on!

Happy New Year! And thank you to all the moderators for all the work that goes into running Ballet.co so that we can enjoy and learn from each others' company and experiences. Although I don't post that often, I've been here for the whole journey too and it's such a great community to be a part of where members old and new are so friendly, interesting and helpful

I had a feeling that was the case (and that you probably already knew anyway!), I just have an unquenchable need to fill in pieces of information if I know them (and my knowledge of repertoire is sadly inferior to my syllabus knowledge...)

Allegro 5 new RAD Adv 1

Henrietta Branwell at Chelsea Ballet this morning: "If air can hold up a jumbo jet, it can hold you up too, if you use it."