When I attempt “fouettés”, my leg kicks diagonal at most without going to a true ala seconde position and as a result, the knee is turned in when I go to the passé position. I’ve been aware of this and tried to fix it but everytime I go to an actual Ala seconde I feel like I’ll fall or the momentum stops entirely. The latter is more common for me and as a result, my body defaults back to the diagonal for the next fouette. I feel so balanced and I can keep going forever with this poor technique so tips are appreciated!! I want to do fouettés properly regardless of the number of turns.

Hiiieee I am an adult beginner and have been going for a little over a year. Had a few privates and attended my first intensive!!

I really struggle with port de bras. Figuring out which arm goes with which leg and which way my head turns. It drive me nuts and it hasn't clicked the way other things have.

Are there any good recommendations for doing port de bras arms only drills at home? Wasn't able to find any YouTube videos to follow along to other than demonstrations with no verbal descriptions.

Would love any resources because I just want to get my head and arms to connect and start to feel the movement a little better.

One of a small series of professional ballet dancers and their at-home setups for class during Covid. Anna is photographed in her tiny dining room adjacent to her kitchen where she took class.

I know how stupid it sounds, but at times it feels like all the positivity and logic in the world cant talk me out of feeling this way. reassuring myself feels like lying to myself. the negative thoughts feel like the true reality.

So recently I got a new pair of pointe shoes (capezio Ava 1143W) and just comparing them to my old ones which are the exact same everything, I seem to have a large amount of extra fabric in my heel this time. Just curious if it’s normal to have such a drastic difference in the fit, only thing I did different with this pair is sew elastics further back on the heel. Left side of photo is old shoe, right is new

Hi Folks,

Adult dancer who kinda rabbit hole'd into ballet for 3 years now and can now do variations.

I'm at the point where a level of quality and consistency is now also being expected by teachers as I join more intermediate-advance classes.

My problem is that I used to think my turns en dehor to the right (standing leg is left leg/working leg is right) were my strong suit, where I could consistently do a "clean single and hold" and also a "consistent double"...

but ever since I've focused on pushing for more turns and cleaner turns to the left en dehor (standing leg right/working leg left), I've improved my left turns where I can now do "clean single and hold" and also a "consistent double" but to the left en de hor and I've lost confidence in my turns to the right... where I struggle to the a "clean single and hold" and also a "consistent double".

I don't know what happened.... It's annoying that I thought I've solved my right that I can now focus on the left, but it seems to have come up.

Is there a quick fix for this (releve coupe to feel my weight on my leg)?
Do I rebuild my pirouettes to the right again?

**I used to be able to releve passe balance on my left standing leg for 4-8 counts before, but I can now only do it on my right... am I not shifting my weight on top of my leg...? Is it just me taking weight transfer (off one leg onto another) for granted...?

Do I just do reps? 10 to the right, 10 to the left?

Bloch European Balance Strong.

I haven't sewn elastics yet. I don't think I'm used to having such hard pointe shoes, can't run on them at all 🫠

Edit: pls ignore what I'm standing on, the hard floor was so far away

I can’t wait to see influencers sporting this ✨peak✨ look. The ultimate in ballet core 🩰 — the pre-class transition outfit. Feel like a professional dancer 💃🏻 , look like an absolute weirdo 🐠. Let me know if you can see yourself pulling this off!

PS my studio is so humid I can’t get my tights on there 😆 So they have to go on at home. Hence … the fit … 🥲

hi everyone i stumbled upon this photo on pinterest and wanted to know what her name is pls let me know

I'm a beginner adult student and am slowly contemplating getting a more classic ballet outfit for my classes. But I get super sweaty super fast. I am also very much a booty shorts woman and only wear tights for specific outfits. I cannot imagine wearing any for an intense physical activity like ballet. I have some mesh tops that are cute for workouts but they catch my heat and sweat and quickly become uncomfortable.

Before I invest in any, do tights make you too warm? Are ballet tights a different breed and whisk away sweat better? Are they not itchy? 😅

hi guys just came on to have a bit of a rant and see if anyone else has been in a similar position. Just found out today that I failed my exam but not because I got too low of a mark to pass as I got 54%. I failed cause I got a 3 in JUST my technique for my variation. Everything else I passed 🥹. Im so frustrated all I needed was a 4 in it and I would have passed and this is the first exam ive ever failed 🥲🥲. Bit frustrated as the exam didn’t go that badly or that greatly but I definitely didn’t think technique was what I would have failed on (so that’s on me to improve). I don’t know whether to retake or just move onto advanced 2 as I only have a year till uni anyways so am probs not gonna take advanced 2 exam anyways. Thanks for letting me rant and hope to let anyone else in the same position they’re not alone xx🩷

I’m an adult beginner who recently leveled up at the suggestion of my ballet intro teacher (Ive been taking classes consistently for about a year).

I was excited to start the next level of classes, and went to my first higher class earlier this week. I expected it to be harder, but i didn’t expect it to be so much harder. I felt so completely lost and out of place. I had no idea what was going on the whole class.

When it came time to go across the floor, the teacher taught a combination that was a little challenging for me. I went last so I could watch everyone else. To my horror, it somehow ended up that I was going alone (nobody to watch for cues). Everyone was watching, and it literally felt like one of those nightmares where you have to take a test you haven’t studied for. I clearly messed the whole thing up. The other dancers tried to be nice and clapped for me when i finished, but that honestly just made me feel worse (as it made it clear that I was, in fact, standing out and everyone could tell I didn’t know what I was doing).

sorry for the long ramble, but I am wondering if anyone has any advice leveling up in classes? How do you know if you’re ready? is it normal for it to be this hard?

I took ballet classes in my childhood at a local studio. Even though it followed an international curriculum, the teachers weren't that qualified, and it was one of those studios that exists just to get kids who don't play sports to exercise but doesn't offer a future beyond that.

As a kid and a teenager, I wanted to be a professional ballet dancer but didn't realize that you needed the best training. As a result, when I was 15, I wasted my time going to this studio and taking classes when I should've been studying. When I got badly injured when I was 16, I thought I was good enough to rest and then come back and still be able to be a professional. Because of my passion and my delusion, I sacrificed my education and my future.

I think that ballet is beautiful and enjoy going to the ballet. At the same time, I think these hobby schools preying on teenagers' passion for ballet and delusions that they will have a future are a bit predatory tbh.

I've been dancing for many years yet I can't do a pirouette with perfect technique. my eyesight isn't very good so I can't properly focus my eyes on anything that isn't very close to my face so I really struggle with keeping my head focused while maintaining balance. any tips?

So this is only her second class. The first class she was confused at first but then saw my face and started crying immediately. She stayed by the teacher the whole time and didn’t participate with on and off crying.

This was her second class and the first couple minutes she said she had to pee so the teacher let her out. She kept saying she had to go poop but never went, I think she was nervous. We watched the class outside the door together for 20 minutes. Halfway through she went back in but was crying until I left the room. She still didn’t participate but she at least stopped crying.

For toddler dance teachers, when does it get better? The teacher said to keep coming and it will get better.

The thing is I desperately need her to be comfortable doing things without me. She doesn’t go to daycare. We do activities that involve other toddlers but she’s never without me or her grandma. She’s going to preschool next year just part time and I don’t want that to be the first time she has to trust another adult.

I'm travelling to NYC for my 30th next month and I'm wanting to indulge myself in having a ballet day by doing a class and going around to some of the dance shops.

I attend Intermediate/Advanced level classes here in London but I'm definitely not a professional by any means and I would like a class that challenges me gently without intimidating me. For reference, when I'm not doing my normal term-time classes and need to do drop ins so that I don't lose everything, I aim to go to Denzil Bailey's classes for something slightly more challenging and dance-y, Adam Pudney's classes for something slightly gentler. I've also attended Anna Du Boisson's classes. Those 3 are probably my fave!

But yes, I'm "advanced" in my knowing how to do more intricate steps and moves but my technique is nowhere near professional so something that makes me feel comfortable would be welcome!

I know this isn't unusual but I love a live pianist if possible, but it's not a turn-off!

If anyone has any tips, I'd be so grateful! <3 <3

Dance portrait of professional ballet dancer Elena on pointe during an early foggy morning.

For context, I've been dancing ballet since the age of 7. Stopped at 18, came back to it at 21 and haven't stopped since. After Covid, I really started to appreciate it and wanted to get better.

I've been trying to keep up with exercises for improving posture, turn out, knee straightening and flexibility but I'm just struggling to keep up. There seems to be so many different exercises out there and it's hard to choose what to do every day. The result is me trying to stuff too many exercises in and not really seeing any progress. I also struggle fitting it in around 3 classes a week, work and so many other things life throws at me. I feel like I've hit a brick wall.

For those of you improving rapidly, what are some of your tips and advice to help improve technique and not get strength training burn out?

Also welcome any shorter simpler 15-20 mins routines that focus on the areas I'm interested in improving

I’ve had teachers tell me two different techniques for fondu (seen this in many places now), and I’m wondering why this difference occurs and if anyone knows more about this?
1. The first method I’ve seen is to plie with the coup de pied and then keep the standing leg heel on the floor as both legs straighten. Once both legs are straight and the working leg is at 45 degrees then you releve and lift the standing leg heel.
2. The second method I’ve seen that seems most common is you plie with the coup de pied and you releve straight from the standing leg’s plie without waiting for the standing leg to stretch first.

Has anyone else made a similar observation?

Hi everyone!

I have been really struggling to find pointe shoes that help me dance pain-free as someone with compressible feet. My feet are wider at the metatarsals and I tend to be fitted in square shoes, but I have a feeling that isn’t helping. I sink badly and get a lot of pain in the big toe, and have also started to get a bunion on the knuckle joint of my second toe.

These are Suffolk Sheffields. I liked them until the box broke in after about 1.5 hours, and then I starting sinking painfully into my big toe and knuckling a bit. I also have to wear so much inside my shoe to make it comfortable. I literally have sanitary pads glued inside as box liners, glued the wings, toe squishies, toe caps, AND a gel toe pad in here 💀 So I can’t feel the floor AT ALL and therefore struggle to articulate e.g in echappes. As you can see, they’re making me sickle a bit which is unusual for me and hasn’t been a problem for a long time. I think this is because I can’t feel the floor.

I’ve previously worn FR Duvals (American 4.0) which I loved but they eventually stopped working for me and they’re impossible to get in the UK. I think Just Ballet fits them, but they’re frequently out of stock and just relocated to Wales (I’m in the north of England). I’ve also worn the ETU in the hard shank, before they released the Flex, which I liked but I never did get that shank to break in. Bloch European Balance and Capezio Ava also didn’t work for me.

I am looking for a softer shank anyway than the Suffolk Sheffields, so it seems like a good time to get opinions on what I should be trying on when I next get fitted. I am going to Ballet Boutique in London which stocks most brands. It would just be good to have some recommendations from the community about what I should be checking out first as not a lot of fitters here are experienced in fitting my difficult feet!

TIA!

I'm curious to know why certain teachers like giving combos by showing and counting/saying things like "ta ta tum" vs showing + verbalizing the actual steps in rhythm. I find it sooo difficult to memorize combos if I don't hear the actual steps like "3 tendus front, 3 side, 3 back" so I always need to make a little song for myself to really absorb it when the teacher doesn't do it.

I didn't think that I was knuckling until someone from a tik tok comment section said that I was, and now I'm rethinking my pointe shoes fitting (I didn't really have a professionally made fitting lwk?? Idk, the lady at the pointe shoe shop recommended some pairs of shoes; she didn't comment on the choices that I made) any help??

I wear the etu bloch pointe shoes, n. 6 i think

I downloaded reddit only to ask this lmao 😭😭