June 7, 2013

Any advice on overpronation?

Ballet shoes, showing the dancer's feet in fif...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Overpronation is when your feet roll inwards too much towards the big toe side of the foot. It happens a lot when dancers try to “fake” their turnout using their knees and ankles instead of their hips (guilty here). It was brought to my attention last class that I should instead be trying to distribute my weight equally among my toes and place it more back on my pink toes as well (people in this dance.net forum recommend the same thing.) I tried to maintain this throughout class, but it was tough–and I feel like the rest of my technique suffered and my arches were crazy sore throughout class. Sigh.

My overpronation is probably the cause of all my ballet-related shin splints which have been really bad as of late and haven’t been much motivation for me to get to ballet class. Since getting new sneakers and running more often, my running shin splints have been reduced to almost nothing (almost).

I know that overpronation can be created by forcing turnout (you can try it and see for yourself) but I also know I overpronate when I stand “naturally”–which I figured was caused by the fact I am one of the most flat-footed people ever–especially since new sneakers have helped. So I took to the Internet to try to get more of a solution…and pretty much came up with a variety of different explanations…and no real answer.

Some say that overpronation is purely a technical problem (sure, I can correct it, but it’s still how I naturally stand and feel like I have for a while). Others say it’s caused by being flat-footed. Others, ankle weakness.  A lot of websites recommended orthotics (which won’t work with ballet) others say if it’s not caused by flat feet, that’s not a solution. My head is spinning.

Advice anyone? I’d appreciate help whether you know about overpronating in runners or dancers.

 

Filed Under: Ballet Class, Blog, Etc., Info, Outside Class Tagged With: , , , , , 11 Comments
May 9, 2013

The Random Questions That Lead People to Adult Ballerina Project

If you’re a blogger, I’m sure you’ve looked at some of the questions that have caused readers to end up on your blog–and I’ve gotten a few random (and weird) ones–so I’ve decided to answer some of them here for those who probably didn’t find the answer:

Why are tendus in ballet important?

They’re one of the most important moves in ballet because they’re a foundation move for a lot of different movements, especially jumps.

What are toe spacers used for in pointe?

I use toe spacers because it helps distribute the weight between my toes and take some of the pressure off my big toes.

Why shouldn’t dancers run?

Unless you’re a professional (or pre-professional) dancer and worried about too much stress on your legs, there’s no problem with running. A lot of my fellow adult ballet buddies run and it’s actually helped improve our stamina in ballet class.

What is covered in adult ballet?

The same things that happen in any other ballet class. There is usually a barre section, then center, adagio and allegro. For more information, see here.

What is it like to dance in pointe shoes?

I’ve only taken a couple of pointe classes so there are probably better answers out there from other people, but it’s a lot different than dancing in ballet slippers. My feet always feel weird and super long when I’ve got them on and they’ve taken some getting used to.

 What is your favorite ballet leotard brand and what leo?

I really like my plain, simple black camisole Capezio leotard. I own a few others, but I usually end up wearing the black one as long as it’s clean. I don’t really care for my BraTek one, however.

 Do adult ballet beginners perform on stage?

Some do–a lot of my fellow adult beginner ballerinas do–Legal Ballerina and Disney Ballerina have recitals coming up, Dave Tries Ballet and loveballet89 have performed in productions I believe.

 As an adult, how often do you take ballet?

Anywhere from once to five times a week probably. I’m trying to fit in at least two (three when I’m not busy)–which is all my budget allows.

Make boyfriend take ballet?

You can’t make your boyfriend take ballet, but there’s certainly reasons why he should. I’ve dragged taken my boyfriend to a ballet class a couple of times now and he’s enjoyed it and plans on going to another one in the future.

When is too old to take ballet?

NEVER! I’ve profiled people who are in their 70s for this blog. They’re awesome.

Does ballet make your feet ugly?

YUP. Pointe especially with make your feet ugly and you might lose a toenail. I’ve ended up with some bruised toes just from dancing in slippers, too.

 Is it safe for a beginner to practice en pointe at home?

Not until you’ve had some classes in a studio en pointe, otherwise you’d risk injuring yourself.

 How to make pointe shoes out of leg warmers?

Ummm…you want to do what? You shouldn’t try to make pointe shoes. There’s a lot of crazy homemade ones out there on the internet…I’m not even going to link to them because they’re so unsafe. Stick to professionally made ones. They’re worth the cost.

*I’m not an expert or a ballet teacher, these are just from my own personal experience.

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What crazy search terms have led people to your blog?

 

Filed Under: Ballet, Ballet Class, Clothing and Gear, Info Tagged With: , , , 8 Comments
May 1, 2013

Beginner Ballet Tips: How to Improve Jumps

Now that my legs finally seem to be getting back in shape, it’s finally time that I start to work on my jumps a little bit more, which, honestly are pretty pathetic. I’m not a jumping person AT ALL. In fact…it’s probably my least favorite part of ballet. But, I am ever so jealous of pretty professional ballerinas and their perfect grand jetes.  So I did some research into what I could possibly to do improve them and found out the key was:

Plies, Plies, Plies!

Plies are one of the keys to  jumps (and  turns as well).

The Ballet Dancer’s Guide says:

Your plie is crucial to every single jump, for both the landing and the take off. Without your plie you simply can not jump, but more importantly, without the right use of the plie you won’t be give full value to each jump.

Other tips from Dance Advantage (which also mentions plies!) include strengthening your core and proper alignment (my dance instructor is always reminding us of this). I know I need to work on proper alignment more, as its one of the things I’m likely to forget as I’m focused on something else. It also mentions working on strengthening your feet as well through exercises in class (tendu, degage, releve) as well as through theraband at home exercises.

Dance Advantage also has some pretty great tips for doing grand jetes.

What do you do to improve your jumps?

 

Filed Under: Ballet, Ballet Class, Info Tagged With: , , , , , , 2 Comments
April 10, 2013

Help Me Deal with Crazy, Unruly Hair

Picture of the back of a woman's head, with he...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Someone help me out, please. Share your perfect ballerina bunhead secrets.

We’ve discussed how to make the perfect bun (and trust me, I’m not there yet either). But I want to know  how do you make the rest of your hair–even when it’s just in a ponytail–look less unruly. My messy bun that I usually rock to ballet class looks way more messy than it should.

My hair is super unruly–it seems like no amount of headbands, bobby pins or gymnastics clips can help keep my hair from looking like an absolute mess. I got a hair cut a couple of weeks ago, and instead of making my hair less messy, it made it worse. My hair is in an awkward stage and I can barely get it to stay up in a messy bun because it’s too thick to get a hairband to wrap around 3 times–but when it’s only wrapped around twice my hair falls it out of the bun.

My bangs are also short and messy and I usually have a bunch of stray pieces coming out all over my head resulting in me using a headband or a billion bobby pins, clips…or both. While this is sometimes effective, other times I just like a hot mess. When I use most headbands, I have to use bobby pins to keep it in place. ICK. I recently bought a Bondiband which is super wide (and thin, too) so it keeps all my hair in place, but it’s not perfect and it seems like it slips a bit, although not much. I’m super looking forward to trying it out when it’s cold out cause it’ll cover my ears. I’ve also found that my headbands stick best when my hair is completely dry–and it’s tough to get my hair dry in a hurry, so I shower at night sometimes but it’s not always helpful.

So girls out there with the perfect hair–how do you get yours buns (and messy buns and ponytails) to look so good? I’m looking for hair product, hairband, headband, bobby pin, etc. recommendations. Whatever will help me out, even if you’re not a ballerina.

Filed Under: Ballet, Ballet Class, Blog, Info Tagged With: , , , , , , , 13 Comments
April 5, 2013

Beginner Ballet Tips: Grand Plies in Fourth

Ballet class

(Photo credit: Oude School)

Grand plies in fourth position: yuck, right?

Okay, maybe you don’t have a problem with grand plies in fourth, but I certainly do. I’m always super wobbly while doing them. I realize that this probably has a lot to do with the fact my turnout needs a lot of work (my feet can look a mess in fourth position if I’m not being careful).

As it turns out, a quick Google search found a lot of people struggling with grand plies in fourth position, with a lot of them even questioning a need for them, as they’re kind of harsh on the knees.

Someone else recommended keeping a very small fourth position that allows you to really feel your turnout. Other people on the same message board recommended making sure your back knee doesn’t bend too far in, maintaining proper turnout, and keeping your weight equal on the same legs.

My goals for improving my fourth position grand plies will be both working on my turnout and strengthening my knees (from Dance Spirit Magazine). I’m already doing the squats from the knee strengthening post!

Do you have trouble with 4th position grand plies? Do you think they should be banned?

Note: I’m not a professional ballet instructor or fitness instructor, just sharing the notes I found helpful when I was looking for help for myself.

Filed Under: Ballet, Ballet Class, Etc., Info, Outside Class Tagged With: , , , , , , 9 Comments