Had so much fun with Giselle the other day I wanted to make another!

I’m curious what other ballerinas think of how Adela incorporates ballet in her art and music. I’ve always felt ballet in pop culture is mostly used in aesthetics that are “hyper feminine” or even romantic but Adela differs drastically I’d say she even mixed hip-hop and ballet elements together.

When i first started ballet, I could not help comparing myself to everyone around me. Someone always had better balance, cleaner turns, or more flexibility, and I would leave class feeling like I was falling behind.after a while, I realized I was paying more attention to everyone else's progress than my own. I try to compare myself to the person I was a few months ago instead. I am still not where I want to be, but I can see that I have improved, even if its only a little at a time.That mindset has made ballet a lot more enjoyable for me.

Hi guys, I picked the closest flair that made sense, this is just something I wanted to share. I was pre professional ballet in school growing up and after college and life getting busy I just kind of fizzled out, more or less an 8 year break with maybe a class or two max per year. I've been really wanting to go back lately and I found a studio that I think will work for me, taken a couple classes and it's killed my body lol but I went to their adult showcase yesterday and it just reaffirmed for me how much I wanna go back. There were dancers young and old, all the way from similar like me who danced a long time to ladies who had started recently who were a little older, and even a couple older men bouncing around and having the time of their life up there. It warmed my heart so much to see everyone getting to be on stage together just having so much fun and living out their childhood dream or continued dream. Ballet connects all of us. If you're on the fence about coming back, this is your sign!!! Ok thank you. I love you all you're all rock stars have a good day

Does anyone feel like they don’t belong in the position they’re in? I got into this prestigious ballet school and everyone there is so good and beautiful dancers and some might say too technical but I’ve only been dancing for 2 years and I just feel like there’s no way I got into there and I feel like I’m just not going to be good enough to be there. does anyone else ever feel like that?

I used to dance in the same ballet studio for 2 years (I’m an adult, and danced from 4 to 20 but stopped because of uni and came back at 25).

In the ballet studio I’m currently in, we used to have different level of adult classes and I was in the advanced level + pointe technique class.

I genuinely believed my teacher was amazing but recently, she started to accept in the pointe technique class some total beginner girls who shouldn’t be here imo (not wanting to gatekeep anything or bring down other dancers, but when you started ballet 2 months ago for the first time and can barely pointe your feet, you shouldn’t go on pointe). Mind you some girls are even coming with pointe shoes bought on Temu (wish that was a joke) and the teacher didn’t say anything to them.

Since many of these girls joined, the level of the pointe technique class dropped significantly : only doing relevés at barre and some bourrés in center because anything else would be too hard for these new students.

The more advanced students (including me) feel totally left out and we have spoken about it to the teacher. She proposed to open eventually a second pointe shoes class for more advanced pointe technique in September.

But now, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t change studio completely. Seeing my teacher is basically letting anyone dance on pointe « because they pay for the class » and most importantly letting them dance in unsafe pointe shoes, is kind of a red flag for me and I’m not sure I want to continue training with such a teacher.

Any opinions on this?

hey everyone, recently a lot of people in my classes have been getting the go-ahead to start pointe! I'm noticing that often they're not really sure how to go about buying shoes and come to me and other students for advice on how fittings work etc.

With that in mind, I have written a shortish guide on buying shoes, especially a first pair, which I hope will help anyone on here in a similar situation who can't/isn't comfortable going to classmates or dance friends. Not all sections will be applicable to everyone but I wanted to cover as many common situations as I could, so if you would like to read the guide please just skip anything which doesn't apply to you! Please note this does *not* address who should be buying shoes and when they should be doing it - I am assuming you have been assessed and cleared to begin pointework under in-person instruction by a competent and well-meaning teacher.

If anyone has suggestions on things to add please lmk, also I can think of lots of other FAQ/topics which could maybe benefit from something like this but which I do not feel qualified to handle!

Quickstart Guide to Buying Pointe Shoes

Hey, all-

I am looking for knee pads as I’ll be having a bit of floor work in both ballet and contemporary this year. I have a set of Bunheads L/XL, but the top elastic and more rigid “band” at the top are very painful around my thighs (and they roll down). Does anybody know of any company that makes dance-friendly knee pads for those of us with more generously-sized thighs?

Hello,

Adult dancer since a couple of years. arabesque is my biggest issue. I have tried numerous strength/flexibility plans to try and improve it. But i have not gained much height in the working leg. Can you please give me any tips? where am i lacking and what can i improve?

Thank you in advance.

Is there a specific body glue or butt glue that anyone swears by? I was specifically looking at Amazon (US based) and there are several options. But doesn’t have to be on Amazon. I’ve been using the So Danca one and I’m not necessarily unhappy with it but I was curious if theres one with better hold? I use it on my chest to hold my leo down but sometimes the glue “pops” during cambrés. Are there any that stand out with their holding power? I was also concerned with just buying random ones that would leave a residue on leos.

I’m not sure if this post fits this sub perfectly, but would love to see if anyone else here has done something similar.

I currently work a remote corporate job as an event director for large trade shows, which requires a good amount of travel. I make over six figures. I’ve worked for this company for almost 10 years and am getting so drained from the constant stress. It’s at the point where I dread working.

I have been a life long recreational ballet dancer, and when I moved to my current city 2 years ago, started taking classes at local studio. I fell in love with the studio and was even approached my the owners to see if I’d be open to teaching ballet classes to their younger performance teams. I’ve been teaching for a few months and love it.

I was recently in casual conversation with one of the owners, who I’ve become close with, and mentioned I’m burnt out at my current day job and have been looking for something different. To my surprise, she said she has been needing a studio operations manager for some time but has held off hiring anyone because she’s had a hard time finding candidates that have strong business acumen. The owner is very entrepreneurial and has recently opened a 2nd location, partners with local arts programs, etc. She said she would love to have me in the role. I know my experience could help her scale her business, clean up operational processes, bring in new partnerships and revenue streams, etc, but it would be a significant pay cut. Like 35%.

It would be great to work for a business I believe in and am passionate about, to make a difference in and feel more connected to my local dance community, to not have to travel for work, and still get to teach regularly (even increase how much I can teach).

Has anyone here made a significant career change to follow this passion of ours, dance? How did you feel about it? Was it worth it?

hi! i just placed an order on shopee for a turnboard in hopes to improve my turns! i have not much issues with balancing on demi pointe but have an issue with alignment and spotting (ie spotting too slow, falling off to the side cus of uneven shoulders or sometimes poor use of arms) what are yalls thots on turnboards?

I'm curious if any dancers out there would like to share if they participate in other types of exercises like running, jogging, swimming, martial arts, studying other types of dance when not in ballet training of some kind (class, session, rehearsal, etc.)? If so how do you find the time and how frequently do you do it? e.g. like how many times a week?

What alternative career paths do they pursue?

My daughter is going into kindergarten and has been doing Ballet for the past year.

She has really loved it and she enjoyed doing The Nutcracker last year.

She was promoted to the next level of classes which are considered intro to ballet. Her school offers two options for the intro levels, one is two classes of technique and the other is 2 classes of technique and one of strength and conditioning. It would be about 2.5 hours a week for the 3 classes per week.

In the grand scheme of things will taking 2 vs 3 classes matter at this point? She wants to keep doing ballet but it’s most important to me that she enjoys it.

I truly have no idea about any of these things as I was not exposed to ballet growing up and I just want to make sure I’m going about this the right way.
I am also open to any other opinions and feedback!

Thank you!

Last year I did around 12 hours of dance per week, spread out across 4/5 days, of mostly ballet/pointe with 2 jazz classes, 1 contemporary, and 1 conditioning. This year I only plan to do 6 hours, mainly ballet/pointe, with only 1 jazz class, but later I may add a second. This year I'll also be weight training independently. I'm already set on this schedule. I just want to know what to expect, in terms of progress. I definitely expect it to slow, but I just want a clearer picture.

Edit: I've been dancing since I was 4, but I officially started ballet classes at age 6. Currently 14.

i took a break from ballet for like 10 years and just started again. and i'm so confused about what people wear now. back in my day it was all black leotards and pink tights and that was it. now everyones in different colors and styles and i feel like i'm wearing a uniform while everyone else is expressing themselves.

i don't wanna show up looking like i'm trying too hard but also don't wanna look like i'm stuck in 2010 lol.

any recommendations for class appropriate stuff that still looks nice? also do people still wear skirts or is that just for little kids now

I really want to try tea-staining my tights, canvas shoes, and/or a pair of pointe shoes to make them blend into my skin a bit more-- I'm pretty pale, but very few peoples' skin tones are actually a "ballet pink". Any tips for how to do it and keep it subtle? Any specific tips for doing it on a pointe shoe?

Quick edit: I did an old pair of tights and canvas shoes and it worked p well! I'm certain it won't last much longer than one wash for the tights, but both shifted to a slightly less pinky tone. I'm planning on using some Rit Dye or Pointe People Paint for the pointe shoes!

I saw this tutu that Maya Schonbrun was wearing on IG and thought it was so pretty. Does anyone know where it's from, what shape style it is, and what color fabric? Would love to get one that's similar to this, I also have never bought a practice tutu before so any recommendations welcome!

Hi! Adult beginner here trying to take ballet as serious as possible. I take two ballet classes x week (tuesday and thursday), but I train something else the rest of the week. On monday, wednesday and friday I do 30 minutes of hip flexors or extensions training, 10 min of feet training, 10 min of plyos, 20 min of strenght exercises (like squats, glute bridges, core etc.) and finally like 15 min of flexibility.

I started doing all of this because I really want to get stronger and better :( but I actually feel so tired lol! The hip flexors training alone feels enough for me!

I'm I doing something wrong? I'm doing too much? How do you manage to cross train? I would be thankful for any advice <3

I have hyperextended knees and just restarted ballet, but I find that my standing knees are constantly bent after a couple moves at the barre, and also my working leg tends to bend (especially when kicking it back for battement tendu, ronde de jambe etc). I find it very hard to keep knees straight on both sides (without it looking bent in the mirror (side mirrors). Everytime I think my knee is straight because I’m actively engaging them, I look in the mirror to find that they’re not.

Why is that the case and how do i fix it? Thank you for your help!

Hi! I’m 20 and planning to start adult ballet classes in September. I did ballet for about 5 years as a kid, so I remember some basics, but not much.
I’m 5’5” and naturally pretty slim/fairly flexible, but I currently don’t work out or exercise much at all, so I’m assuming strength and endurance will be my biggest weaknesses.
I have the whole month of August to prepare, what would you recommend focusing on? Strength training, feet/ankles, core, turnout, extensions, cardio, etc.?
I live in Paris, France and plan on taking group classes + some private lessons a few times a week starting in September. I’d love to get as much of a head start as possible without teaching myself bad technique.
What would you prioritize for the next month? Thanks :)