Anyone have experience at Pittsburgh's or Kaastbanns Summer intensives? Would love to hear about your experience. Good, bad and ugly. Thanks in advance.

I'll be heading to Chicago and I'm looking for pointe shoe shop recommendations! Currently I wear the Bloch Etu but I'm not sure if it's the "perfect" shoe or if it's just what the stores around me have in stock that I can wear.

My 3 year old is going to take creative movement, and they expect black tights, black ballet shoes, and a white shirt. He's still in pull-ups. Can I get away with girl tights, since I'm having a hard time finding tights for his age? Thank you!

Just wondering if it's possible to train/work as a ballerina and study a language at university ?

Hello everyone! I’m curious if any of you incorporate other activities to help hone your ballet skills. Personally, I also figure skate, although I only do it on the weekends. Since summer break is approaching, perhaps I could pick up a new hobby to help supplement my dance!

Hi ballet community!

As the title suggests, I’m looking for advice and tips to improve pirouette spotting and coordination with astigmatism.

I have prism lenses for my astigmatism (currently 3.5 in each, 7 total) and they generally keep my eyes focused. However, trying to spot for turns or pirouettes has proven near impossible because my eyes lag behind, meaning they don’t get to the ‘spot’ in time to be of use.

They might start with a focused fixed point, but they get lost before returning to said point.

My actual vision loss is not sever at all so it’s primarily an issue of tracking.

The feedback I receive most often is to use my head in turns, which I understand theoretically but haven’t figured out practically.

If anyone has any recommendations, useful articles, or any relevant advice I would greatly appreciate it!!

Hi everyone!

I just started ballet classes at my university, and I'm having a tonne of fun. I've been thinking about buying some proper shoes, even though as a drop-in and free class, my group is very okay with sock dancing. I saw that a store near me has some Capezio Daisies on sale and I really want to get them, but I don't really know anything about ballet shoes, so I wanted to get some opinions on them first from anyone that's tried them. I don't even know how to size them properly. The only other shoe I was looking at was the Capezio Lilly, since those are also on sale on their website. If anyone else has any reccs or some specific things to look for, I am pretty out of my depth here. All i know is i fs want black shoes, and I want to strengthen my feet, so I've heard i should get full soles?

edit; Also, i have a male friend doing ballet with me, can he buy the same shoes? are there men's specific shoes or are they unisex?

Hello everyone,

I got accepted to CPYB's summer intensive and I've been really excited about it, but I don't know what to do about the tuition. My family doesn't have enough money to pay for it, and we applied for a need-based scholarship but we didn't get it. I've started a go fund me, but so far haven't raised any money. Does anyone have tips for how to get money to afford summer intensives?

Adult beginner here, been learning since September and no past experience.

My teacher (who is very hard on me but I love) wants me to push toward ninety degree extensions — devant at first and then seconde afterwards.

He recommended as an exercise to put my leg up on something that gets me to ninety degrees, which I can do no problem, and then lift the leg up for half a second and then lower it.

The issue? I just cannot lift my leg from ninety degrees without sacrificing alignment. I assume it's a muscular thing as while I'm not the most flexible person, I don't have any issue having my leg up ninety degrees when it's resting on something

Best exercises for building whatever muscles are needed to lift that leg? I get that you're supposed to lift from under the leg, but regardless of how I try I just can't lift it without changing where my hips are (or bending my supporting leg).

When I do have my leg resting at ninety degrees and I try to lift it, it is tiring and I feel my muscles working— is that enough of an exercise or is there more I can be doing?

Does anybody know how to continue dance training after high school? I danced at an advanced level throughout high school and was hoping to continue my dance training even after I graduated (I’m not going to college). The dance studio I danced at only offers classes until 18 years old, so I tried to find another studio in my area offering classes for anyone over 18. I’m realizing any studios that do have them offer them as adult classes, and most of those classes are beginner level or are more recreational as opposed to a way to continue training. Like I just can’t seem to find any genuine classes for dancers who want to truly train and continue to get better. I’m assuming those who go on to dance as a career continue to train so I figure there’s a way, I’m just not exactly sure how. I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice, or any advice on how to continue dancing in general after school. Thank you!

Hey Im a vaganova based ballet student and I use the "gökçe aykut" pointe shoes. The shoes fit me but when I go on pointe my toes literally hurt so much and I cant dance on point. I used to wear wear moi alpha pointe shoe series and had the same problem. What should I do ???

I’m a seasoned dance mom and am putting together a playlist to share with some friends (other dance parents). What are some songs that you feel relate to ballet dancers and/or their families? Thanks!!

Thank you all for the suggestions on my previous thread!

First, I did get an email back from Eleve and confirmed that basically all of their short skirts are very short (between 11 and 12 inches long in the back in size medium). The short gathered skirt is 14 inches long in the back in the same size for reference.

Second, I found an Etsy store that I would like to recommend called MooreSkirts. The owner, Brooke, is wonderful and not only has skirts in a variety of lengths, but made some custom adjustments to my skirt so it would fit my hips! I'm extremely happy and will be ordering more for sure.

One note: if you like a more snug fit, definitely size down in the waist. I chose the waist size according to my measurements and it fits perfectly, but I think I'm going to go down one size next time. Hope this helps anyone looking for something similar!

Hello everyone! I am 20F and I restarted taking ballet classes a year and a half ago. I am not good at ballet but I like it as a hobby and I wish I could get better. I would like to do a complementary form of exercise a few times a week as I feel like I lack strength in my legs and back and that affects my dancing. I have tried doing online flexibility and strength workouts everyday at home but I think maybe I need something more drastic. Would you suggest I started Pilates or going to the gym? Are there any particular gym exercises I should focus on? Thank you for taking the time to read this, any suggestions are welcome

How hard is it to come off the waitlist for JCSSI? Is their program very selective?

I have a 12 year old who will be 13 in August. She has been on pointe for 1.5 years. Dancing since age 3 but strictly ballet focused now for the last year and a half. Because of late summer birthday I m having a hard time finding a summer intensive that is rigorous enough for her wants/needs, and due to scheduling issues she cannot attend a 5 week program this summer. OKCB has a 2 week session 3 and CPYB has an August session that is also shorter in length. Does anyone have experience with either of these programs? What is the leveling like and the class hours/structure? Is there individual attention? What are the instructors like? Any information would be appreciated as I do not want to spend the additional travel money/housing if we have comparable training in our home area.

I am preparing for my dance recital, and one of my costumes is backless, while I can't wear a bra with one because it has a mesh top. I have 6 costumes this year, which makes for a lot of costume changes, around lots of other dancers, including little kids. I was advised by my teacher to get the dance stickies, but I feel like most I've found have hardly any coverage. Does anyone have recommendations of things they've used that have worked well? Or tips to help me feel more comfortable?

Hello everyone!

I was wondering if anyone has noticed or knows about any big differences between the Grishko 2007 and the Grishko 2007 pro (not flex). I've had 3 pairs of Grishko 2007 over the past years, I only dance an hour a week on them at maximum and have been on pointes for more than ten years now.

I got new Grishko's last year, just to have them in stock due to the horrible chances of them being delivered, but they gave me 2007 pro Grishko's. I tried them on last week to start wearing them a bit at home before dancing, but they honestly don't sit right on my feet. They feel smaller in every way - I have to struggle to get my foot in length-wise and it hurts the sides of my feet in the box - even though it's the exact same width and size as my current Grishko 2007.

Is it just the difference between the normal 2007 and the pro version? Did Grishko's sizing change? I read somewhere that the US version of Grishko changed at some point and I did have my current shoes since 2018 or 2019 (I barely danced on them during COVID due to restrictions), but I'm in the Netherlands and usually buy my shoes in Belgium so I don't know what's going on.

I'm not sure what to do with them right now, because it scares me thinking I'll never be able to dance in them and everyone knows pointe shoes aren't cheap.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Hi, So I made a post similar months or a year back, I've accepted your guys opinions and answers. I've decided to that if I've Still interested in ballet in three years or while I'm in college I'll try doing ballet again.

However I would like to ask if Any of you guys have any ballet moves for beginners I can do as an exercise in the morning. I do have an app on my phone I can use but I rather get some advice from people familiar with this sort of thing and who've done something similar

Hello, I've posted here before about a year ago and have come a long way; I celebrated my first year of training in ballet this January! I can now keep up in class and do nearly everything at the barre well that my teacher gives me -- my teacher told me I've "conquered" the barre, which made me feel happy, though sometimes I still have to be reminded of little technical things. (Center is a another story).

On any case, I've started to become a lot more "serious" about it in the sense of my goals and really making sure I'm doing everything properly throughout the entire class (instead of focusing on things such as just pulling up but neglecting to squeeze the butt etc.) I've also started a strengthening regime that I do every other day/sometimes everyday if I'm not too sore to get my splits, along with resistance band ankle training and core muscle exercises my physical trainer gave me. I started all this at the beginning of the month, and already have noticed a HUGE difference in my balance, strength and coordination. I naturally pull up, squeeze my butt, distribute weight evenly between my toes , hold my arms, and everything without it being so uncomfortable. It's almost natural now. I am honestly so amazed at how fast my body has adapted.

While that's great, I'm saying all this to say that since I'm basically more consistently "training" myself, I've noticed that unlike before, after classes I am EXTREMELY ravenous and tired to the point that when I get home from classes some nights I can just barely make my food before I crash. I know its somewhat normal considering the physical activity, and I try to focus on fueling myself with protein especially after class, but lately I specifically crave things such as veggie burgers and fries, mac and cheese, lasanga, etc. I also drink a supplement shake before bed each night.

Does anyone have any tips/recommendations on things to eat before/after class to replenish energy properly? There's nothing wrong with those meals I have but I want to make sure I'm giving my body what it really needs after such work. It's already kinda small and I don't want to unintentionally lose weight and look sick. Is there a certain amount of calories one should add to their day when doing ballet? I feel like I've been so focused on technique and everything, I haven't really thought of nutrition and I don't want to worry myself with not eating properly. Any advice would be great! Also I think its important to note that I'm vegan.

Thank you.

So I teach teens and adults at a local studio, but last week they offered me to teach the so-called baby class (45min/week, about 8 kids ages 3-6). I said yes because I need the money and I like kids and kids seem to like me.

First week not all the kids could come. I was nervous but it went splendid, we were silly and had lots of fun. Everyone was attentive and kind and smiley.

Come this week, the three missing kids came. They are on the older end.

One is really kind and polite, but I fear she may be too mature already for the others.

The second simply can't be quiet and speaks very loudly, to the point where she speaks over me and grabs the others' attention. She also keeps suggesting "more fun" games than the ones I propose.

And the third one, she's a real bully. Idk if that's how they speak to her at home or school, but she keeps scolding and mistreating others for being slow to understand or moving differently ('do you even know what a line means?'). She also wants to show she already knows it all and does different things than the ones I ask and that she deems to be harder. Then keeps puffing and sighing and asking me when we're gonna be doing 'real dancing', even after a free movement section! But when the class ended, she went to her mum to cry because she wanted it to last more! I feel gaslighted by a 5-year-old?!

What am I supposed to do? I like to let the kids guide the class a bit, but this week I feel these 3 had their own ideas and wanted me to obey them. I'm also struggling with free movement because while some simply go and dance, others stay still or ask me 'how to do it', but when I show them by dancing, then all they can do is imitate me.

i'm a guest choreographer for my schools musical of Cinderella and i wanted to include this move but i can't think of what it's called! from what i could find and remember, it looks like a petit jeté but there's three or more people doing it together and they hold their hands and do it together, usually on or off stage. thank you!!

I keep finding that I beat myself up when I make a mistake in a combination and then I can’t ever get back into it.

I find it really frustrating and even if it’s just a small mistake it completely knocks me out of the entire sequence.

I’m definitely a huge perfectionist, and having only danced for around 6/7 I’m definitely very far off haha.

Any advice on how to overcome this mental barrier?

Does anyone have any favorite turn drills? Bonus points if there's a YouTube video for my own accountability.

I've never been a great turner (dancer all my life, currently 41) but once upon a time could do a reliable triple. I'd love to get back to somewhere close to that but none of my classes really do turns that much so I need to practice on my own. I know the basics I pretty much know what I'm doing wrong and right but I just need to drill it. It doesn't help that one of the rooms my classes is in has the stickiest floor I have ever experienced so it makes everything about 15 times harder even with using baby powder or rosin.

Other than the standard tendu plie passe, then with releve, the with single, etc etc - is there another tried and true you like?

My issues: need to focus less on getting high up on a releve and more on doing the dang turn on whatever raised foot I've got. Practice holding the end of the turn instead of hopping out of it. Practice not leaning towards supporting leg when turning.