New Ballet Resources Page

English: A performance of The Nutcracker balle...

English: A performance of The Nutcracker ballet, 1981 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Over the holidays, I’m going to be putting together a page with all the great posts my fellow ballet bloggers have already written about. I’ve already got several in mind, but I wanted to give everyone a chance to submit the posts they have written or posts they’ve read by others that they think are great. I think this will be a really useful way for beginners to find all sorts of information about ballet quickly and easily.

 

So you can either leave the post in a comment, fill out the form below, or shoot me an e-mail at Adultballerinaproject@gmail.com.

 

Also, don’t forget to enter the giveaway here, and remember, for each of your entries to count, you must post a separate comment for each! (And you can enter, say, for liking the page, if you had already previously liked it before the contest began).

 

 

Guest Post: Advice for Men in Ballet

The man presents the lady...

(Photo credit: fingle)

Last week ABP profiled Scott, who runs In the Wings and LoveBallet89, here. Enjoy his post on advice for men in ballet!

“You take ballet?” “Seriously?”

That’s usually the reaction I get when people find out that I dance.

Let’s face it, ballet is an outside the box activity for an adult, period, much less for an adult male.

Men, especially in the South where I live, hunt and fish. They play golf. They play softball.

They don’t dance.

Continue Reading

What was it like to get your first pair of pointe shoes?

Bloch Signature Rehearsal pointe shoes with a ...

Within the next couple of weeks, I’ll be going to get fitted for my first pair of pointe shoes at a store nearly everyone recommends in Philadelphia, The Rosin Box.

I’m not going to lie, I’m terrified. I’m worried they’re going to tell me I’m not ready. Or none of them will fit me. Or I’ll somehow spectacularly fail at something as simple as a shoe fitting because I’ve never worn pointe shoes before and I’m 21 years old. (Okay, I’m a worrier.)

So I want to know, what was getting your first pair of pointe shoes like? Were you nervous? Anything wish you’d done? I’ll be posting the answers in a separate page for future adult ballerinas to read and get your advice! Make sure you include what your first pointe shoe was!

Catching Up on Ballet and Real Food Barres

I’ve been MIA lately, I know. With two cases of strep throat in three weeks (yes, two) I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with school work and haven’t made it to ballet in a while. The last class I made it to was a Tuesday night between both cases of strep–and that was only for barre. Hopefully this week will be at least 2 (hopefully 3) classes.

Other than that–I plan on finally starting my next 30 Day Stretch Challenge as I described in my last post tomorrow. How is your split coming? Is it where you expected it to be? Any suggestions for those who might just be starting out?

P.S. Has anyone tried out real food barres? They were developed by a professional ballerina for dancers. I just ordered one of each today because they have free shipping today for Small Business Saturday and I plan on having a review up once they arrive! I’ve yet to find an energy/snack/granola bar I really like. If you have one you like, what is it?

 

A Different Take On Stretching

I’m not going  to lie, I failed at keeping up with the 30 day stretch challenge. Between my injury and not being able to attend classes (which killed my motivation)–stretching for a full 30 minutes didn’t happen everyday.

split rock pose : sutro baths, san francisco (...

split rock pose : sutro baths, san francisco (2012) (Photo credit: torbakhopper)

Yesterday, when I talked to my boyfriend after his Tae Kwon Do class, he mentioned how his instructor said that instead of stretching for just one period a day, you instead should stretch for shorter intervals multiple times a day. This allows your body to get used to being stretched several times and not just being exposed to it once a day. This gymnastics article also says that “short, repeated exposure to stretching is more productive than a single intense or long bout of stretching.”

It’s better to stretch for 10 minutes a day than 70 minutes once a week–which is what I would end up doing because I’d avoid stretching and then try to make up for it

So for the next 30 days, my plan will be to try to stretch for still 30 minutes total a day, but in three segments: 10 minutes when I wake up, 10 minutes during my lunch break, and 10 minutes in the evening.

How are you working on becoming more flexible?