Buying pointe shoes involves visiting a trained professional (mine was a former professional level ballet dancer from the Royal Academy in London), who looks at the shape of your foot while your toes are pointed. I spent an hour trying on about 10 pairs of pointe shoes (each are handmade and the fit can vary dramatically even in the same size). I went en pointe near a barre built for 3 year olds (it literally went to my knees), and did demi plies in second position in each pair before she finally picked out the "right" (i.e. most forgiving) pair of pointe shoes for me.
*Note: In this picture, I'm not en pointe, but am positioning my foot so you'd get an idea as to what being en pointe looks like.
Last week, Elena marked on my pointe shoes where I should sew my elastic and ribbons (the stuff that keeps the shoe attached to your foot). As each person's foot is as individual as your thumbprint, sewing your pointe shoes is a very individual thing, and you will need a professional opinion as to where to sew what. Having finished my sewing last week, I was finally ready for my first ballet class with pointe work tonight. After padding my toes with protective silk pads, we spent about 15 minutes doing various pointe exercises. It was really exhilarating doing pointe work for that tiny span of time. It's definitely the next level up and it's given me a new incentive to work much harder. It's also increased my body awareness dramatically. En pointe, you have to concentrate a lot harder and think about what every muscle in your body is doing in order to keep your alignment and balance all your weight on your toes. Suck in the stomach ("more, more, more" Elena barks at me), squeeze the cheeks hard, pull the knees up all the way, relax the shoulders, raise and elongate the arm but break the wrist, pull up your chin and neck but keep them relaxed. There's so much to think about, but it's an exciting new chapter in my ballet hobby. For my own sake, Elena is also cracking down on improving my technique when it comes to the barre exercises. When they're actually done correctly, you feel every muscle working to the pointe of exhaustion. "Oh, it's supposed to hurt like that" was my latest revelation tonight. "Chin up! Chin up! Pull up your knees! Correct your sous sous! Fourth position!" Elena barks. As we're all trembling on our tippie toes, barely hanging onto our balance, Elena purrs "Enjooooy the pain, ladies!" while we wobble and sway like buildings in an earthquake.
8 comments:
Sigh, how I long to take a ballet class. I have taken dance classes for years but stopped when i entered high school. I haven't had the time, but I really want to start again. I do well with modern and contemporary choreography but there's something about ballet that intrigues me so much. It's always been a hidden love for me. The graceful movement and beauty of this form of dance is like moving art.This summer my friend and are going to sign up for classes..so until then..we'll see.
You'd probably surprise yourself as to how well you'd do if you took classes again. My ballet teacher can automatically tell when adult students took ballet as children or in high school or college. It's as if their bodies are already familiar with the movements and they automatically perform the techniques more correctly. I spent about 1 1/2 years just going through the motions of the barre exercises and only now is my teacher actually correcting my technique.
If you want extra inspiration, The American Ballet Theatre is performing "Swan Lake" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion at the end of March.
http://www.abt.org/performances/default.asp
Oh I would love to see that. I saw a Korean ballet of Romeo and Juliet at the Kodak theater, and it was wonderful. Something about certain pieces in Swan Lake make me misty eyed; but thats another topic:) I'm really excited about possibly taking those ballet classes in the summer. I want to learn everything from total basics to advanced. I would love to be a ballerina-seriously!
Oh me too! As I enjoy the class more and more, I regret that my parents never took me to ballet classes when I was a kid. I love it as exercise and an opportunity to stretch.
I think it's the best exercise-it works everything! One of my problem areas is my thighs and when I've studied some ballet techniques it does wonders for your legs...:)
I haven't done ballet since I was 6 years old, and that was mainly little kids running around in ballet shoes. I used to wear mine to the supermarket. Shake 'n Bake, your post is truly inspirational.
You are all beautiful ballerinas already in my book, but Especially the Prima Ballerina is Audrey. I really loved your post and the slippers look like cruel shoes...but l o v e l y. I want to see the ballet too. Dee and Kaci, you guys should sign up for continuing instruction if you can keep it on your schedule. I will stick to my Pilates (and future once-a-week Hello Kitty toast). Pilates work is as graceful as I can aspire to be at the moment. I am just trying to keep from atrophying. I do have to be self-motivating.
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