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?

 

More Life Updates–Busy, busy, busy!

I mentioned going to a journo awards ceremony last Wednesday, but I didn’t mention that I happened to win an award for my dance reviews! The award was called the Sam Singer Reviewing Award, after a critic who worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

My latest review was also published about a Philadelphia contemporary ballet company, BalletX.

In other news…

Yesterday’s yoga video, Yoga for Athletes, was really awesome. I’m off to a double whammy of yoga and ballet at my dance studio as long as I feel like my stomach can hold up to it (I didn’t sleep well last night because I wasn’t feeling great). I’m going to try to remember to take a picture of my splits (to use as a comparison for my starting point) when I get home tonight if I’m not exhausted.

I won tickets to the PA Ballet for Friday. YAY!

I have orientation for my new internship tomorrow–also awesome.

The boyfriend and I are running again in the Urban Scramble as part of Philadelphia Runner again this Thursday–it’s a scavenger hunt where you run over the city to collect raffle tickets.

I’ve also signed up for a Nutrition, Health, and Lifestyle: Issues and Insights class on Coursera so that I can learn more about eating healthy (something I really need to do in my life)–hopefully I’ll be able to fit in in with everything else crazy I’ve got going on this summer.

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Lastly, I bought myself a new pair of ballet slippers (mine were getting pretty gross) and some Bunhead Hair Nets (finally after everyone kept recommending them) as an end-of-the-semester present to myself.

Mostly, I’m looking forward to getting lots and lots of sleep–something I’ve been lacking in the past couple of weeks.

I’ve only got one more final to go next week  and I’ve got lots of great posts planned for the upcoming week!

What exciting things do you have planned for this week?

 

Beginner Ballet Profile: Lionel

This week’s profile is another of Susan Attfield‘s ballet studio students, Lionel–who first started to take ballet in October 2012 after seeing So You Think You Can Dance. 

LionelDid you ever take lessons as a kid?

No, never took any lessons as a kid, I grew up in a small town and my interest was mainly athletics.

Why did you decide to take ballet as an adult?

There are a few reasons, I have always loved watching ballet, I was always an active individual but since I left school it gradually got replaced by work, deadlines and the idea that one day my busy schedule will get better.  It was the infamous series So you think you can dance which made me look for adult ballet classes in my area.

Where do you take classes?

In Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa.

What is your favorite part about ballet?

When after 3 months you finally start doing something right…lol, just kidding for me it’s that one hour when all the troubles in the world disappear.

What is your least favorite part?

To be honest…. when the classes are over 🙁

Who/What is your ballet inspiration?

I’m not yet familiar with the great names in ballet, but at this stage watching anyone who can really dance, you don’t realise how hard these dancers have to train to dance at that level, when you see them you think to yourself o that’s good, but you don’t even begin to realise that there is a reason they train for years…

What motivates you to keep dancing?

To dance makes me happy, if I had discovered this at an earlier stage in my life things might have been different, but I like the feeling I have when I leave the class and that makes me want to come back.

Do you take any other dance classes?

No not at this stage.

What are your hobbies outside of ballet?

Gardening, Cleaning, Swimming.

What advice would you like to give to those who want to start ballet or have just started?

I have started the class about 4 months ago, and in every class I see new faces, if you like ballet just keep going, with every class it gets better just persevere.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I wish to thank the teachers and owner of the DANCE HUB group for dedicating their time to beginner adult dancers, even though I will not become a professional what your classes do for my soul is far more fulfilling than anything money can buy.  You guys are awesome.

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?

 

Back En Pointe!

English: A pointe shoe, showing the elastic ba...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s taken me forever to get there…but yesterday I took my first pointe class again!

I hadn’t been in a pointe class after my first one in January when the pain in my shin started to get super intense and I had to take a fair amount of time off.

Yesterday I decided it was about time to try pointe again.

I don’t know whether it’s the running or all the stretching I’ve committed myself to over the past week (or something else entirely), but my nagging shin pain has finally started to disappear. While running hasn’t been 100% pain free, it’s been more manageable once I decided to adopt a better training plan. The pain usually disappears after running and I feel great afterwards. Ballet was a different story for a while–but this past week has been great!

Class went relatively well–except for the moment when I accidentally jumped onto pointe–OUCH! Not what you are supposed to do, I know. I was super worried that the rest of the class was going to be too advanced (pointe classes started in December, I think….) but my ballet instructor gave me different things to do when the exercises were too challenging.

I can’t wait for this super busy semester to be over so I can start going to more ballet classes!

What ballet or fitness-related accomplishments have you made recently?