Pointe Pals

Last Friday I took my new pointe shoes to their first ballet class - and I'm happy to say we danced really well together! Looks like I have found my match, because I ended up choosing the exact same model as last time: Bloch Balance European (size 6 XX). My old pair (Odette and Odile) is still in dancing form, but I decided to break in the new shoes - before I would be clobbering around with a pair of Dead Swans on my feet!

Getting ready to take many breaks.

This time I even managed to sew elastics and ribbons in less than two days - my personal record, I might add. Not that it takes that long to sew a total of 8 endings, it's just that I get bored doing it! Good thing I don't have to sew a pair a day.. I suppose I could be less meticulous with my sewing, but my dad taught me not to do things half-assed. Sorry, demi-derriered. I still remember when I sewed my first pair (16 months being such a long time ago). I googled and youtubed for instructions, then sewed and re-sewed about three times. The first elastics were much too narrow, and after I found Bloch's covert elastics - I removed the old and sewed the wider covert in their place. Twice, because sewing them on the inside did not work. So I got a lot of practice with my first pointe shoes already!

Sewing covert elastics at back of heel. Fun.

I have also adapted my breaking-in practice. My first shoes were Bloch Serenades with heat-activated TMT-paste. It was a lot of fun using a hair dryer and refrigerator for molding the box and shank! Unfortunately, Serenade's shank was too stiff for my foot. You really need banana arches for those shoes! My teacher helped me out by cutting a wedge into the outer leather sole, but my arches were still straining to get over the box. Then I switched over to Balance Europeans, and what relief! Pointe work became less about work and more about fun (and work)!

Meet Odette & Odile II, along with new Sansha Pro1 flatties.

With this new pair, Odette & Odile II, I've used the same break-in technique as before, but I softened the shank higher up. It's almost like dancing with a 3/4 shank, except that I haven't cut anything. Well, except for the right shoe's sole. My right foot has less of an instep, so it needs extra help. Whatever works, right? Check out the video below, if you haven't already. I've used Lisa Howell's technique since my first pair of pointe shoes.

Friday I pulled on my ouch-pouches and my gel socks for the big toes, and tied those new shiny ribbons. Cinderella moment! The shanks fit perfectly under the heels and all I had to do was some extra work on the demi-pointe line of the box. There wasn't even any pain or discomfort, other than a slightly squished right pinky toe! Sure, new shoes always feel a bit odd on your feet - but we're already on our way to become best pointe pals. :)

Dance-Vacation: Highs and Lows. Mostly Highs.

Second week of my summer dancathon and both my Pirouette Fairy and Inner Ballerina have ganged up on me. Drinking their mojitos somewhere on a sunny beach (which currently is not here), having a blast, thinking it´s their vacation. Just you wait.. Ladies, this is a dance-vacation! Now get your asses back in here!

Seriously, my initial holiday-buzz has faded a bit.. When you´re staying at home, you still have to do the dishes, cook the food, clean the house, listen to the upstair´s dogs bark, take the same bus to the city.. While friends are jetting off to Chianti, Italy or to Paris or Tokyo or even to summer cottages hidden next to lakes somewhere in the Finnish countryside. Sigh. But this is what I signed up for - no schedules, no travel plans, just ballet and beach. The weather is no longer beachy, but thank goodness for ballet!

Toes and Treats

The first week went swell (read my previous post), the second week started stiff-bodied. Could not believe that two days of not doing anything would throw me off my game. But that´s what happens with daily classes - the more you dance, the more you notice even the little breaks in-between. I remember our teacher M-P telling that she used to hate Mondays, because of Sundays off! Then there is the fact that I´m no longer twenty, which means more up-keep and maintenance. You can´t take anything for granted anymore! And do you remember the toes I banged first day? Well, they are still bothering me on the big jumps. That´s why I took yesterday off, to add a third day to this weekend and let them little toes heal properly. 

So, Monday did not start with a bang, but it ended with corks flying. Had a lovely get-together with my ballet girls at a fairly swanky brasserie. Guess what we talked about? Yup, ballet. It´s so much fun to be among dancers, you never run out of topics (dance!) or things to do (dance!). Oh, and the cava and pink raspberry mousse cake was very nice too. Talking about treats, I have decided to limit my chocolate intake to posh Varlhorna only. It´s so expensive that I dare not buy more than 3 pieces at a time! But this way I can have my choc, and eat it too. Another boring fact of life after thirtysomething: your metabolism slows down, making it harder to keep excess weight off. Another reason why I love ballet: it is the best kind of interval training - which raises you metabolism! Now, where is my chocolate?

O Pointe Shoes, Where Art Thou?

Tuesday we went shopping for pointe shoes, but left empty-handed. Well, I did find Bloch Pumps on sale, but the pointe shoes came in all the wrong sizes and widths. I did, however, get to try Bloch´s Morph -model, but it´s not the fit I had hoped for. And I didn´t care for the pre-inserted spongy bit inside the box. It just felt weird. I also tried the Balance European, but I was not so convinced as to hand over my money. The sales-girl was very nice and helpful, but sadly had little knowledge about pointe shoes (which she admitted herself). The shop does specialize in dance sports, not ballet, so I had figured as much coming in. We had been hoping to go to Grishko´s own small store across the Opera, but it´s closed for all of July. Like I said, no luck in the shoe department.

Morphs and Euopeans, I think..

By Wednesday I was still dancing way off my game, not helped at all by the worst case of crankiness. I guess vacations are no guarantee for non-stop fun & cheer. I just could not find my center, pirouettes were all over the place and I kept messing up combinations I had already learned! Grrr.. After class, I just stayed on and practiced on my own - which I like to do whenever I get the chance. I got some extra pointers from our Summer Sub, who was in no hurry to leave. Might as well share them with you.

Class Notes

Pirouettes - for a clean double, you need hardly any impulse. Certainly not the kind that would have you spinning like Baryshnikov in White Nights. If you had the skill. Go on, sit back and dream.. However, all you need is love and a deep plie, instant pose, and quick spotting of the head. Nothing new then. My biggest obstacle is that I overthink my turns, and that I get too excited (as in nervous excitement). Then, at the last moment I do something that throws me off my axis. The point is, that I really need to learn how to relax. Because whenever I´ve been calm & collected, turns just happen. I´m not saying to dance carelessly, but to care less. Like, pirouettes? Sure, whatever.

Economical dancing - how to dance with the least effort and still be on top of the music, with clean and sharp technique? Don´t muck about with anything that does not belong in the choreography. No adjusting of positions, no shifting around. Keep it simple where you can. Be fluid in your movements, not superfluous.

Fouettés Fun? Why, Yes.

Thursday back in business at last! Our Summer Sub gave us another challenging and fun center to do, and this time I also got the tricky ballotté sequence right. The adagio has been one of my favorites, I almost wish I could video it and share with you :) Pirouettes were kind of there, The Fairy was back in the house, but she´s a lazy girl, that one! Only at the end of class, I finally managed to reign her back in. We did a combination of emboité jumps and sous tenus: 4 x emboité - 2 x sous tenu - repeated twice - third sequence starts the same way, but after the final sous tenus straight into fouetté turns, in attitude devant, with arms at the side. That was a totally new move for me! And the first time anything fouetté-related was actual fun (and not desperate).

Who Needs Botox?

Still, could not resist staying behind after class. I find it odd that everyone else is always in such a hurry to leave class, even when there is space and time to dance some more! Sometimes I´ve turned my best pirouettes après-ballet, when I´m all warmed-up, yet totally relaxed. So I practiced more turns, and discovered I can do piqué turns in arabesque and in attitude (sort of). I could have gone on forever, which made my teacher comment that I reminded her of her 12-year old self, always staying behind to work. Last week I was estimated 10 years younger, this week I´m twelve. At this rate I will soon be reborn. Hey, I read somewhere that you only grow old when you stop dancing! So let´s all not.

New Pointes - No Match Made in Heaven. Yet.

After my old pointe shoes died on me last week, I did an emergency visit to the shop the very next day. I was lucky enough to have a teacher friend in tow, who conveniently happened to be about town the very same day. Always helps to have your own expert back-up. Especially as the one professional fitter is only available on week-days. So when the shop´s sales girl handed me the shoes, my expert witness took hold of them first, and only after careful inspection handed them back over to me. Pretty awesome, don´t you think? I mean who does not love to get the v.i.p. treatment? 

Unfortunately the selection of shoes could still not be helped. The models I would like to have tried were all absent. My metatarsals are wide-ish, but my short toes only somewhat tapered - meaning that my foot sinks down in a too-square box like Grishko´s Elite. Combine that with a low-ish arch (more so on the right foot), and choices narrow rapidly. I would love to try out Primasoft Pointes, especially the Prima Russe. They seem to have more choices for short toes anyway. Sadly they are not available here. Anyone out there have experience with these?

We finally settled on Bloch Serenade TMT31, as they at least allowed me to go up without sinking down. And because of the TMT shank and box, they are more easy to mold in shape. Back home, I used the hairdryer for heat, and the fridge for cold (as per instructions), and it really worked. Although the shank is still too hard and the vamp just a little bit too high. My teacher friend told me not to let my pointe teacher break the shanks, and I should let my feet do the work. Also, professionals can afford to break in four pairs a day, whereas I´m lucky if I can afford as much in a year! Unlike Megan Fairchild, principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, who in this video demonstrates the importance of The Perfect Fit. She also wears a different pair for rehearsals, class and performances. It´s scary to think that pointe shoes can die in the middle of a performance! Ouch!

However, after struggling in Madame´s pointe class I did ask her if she happened to have her carpet-cutter handy, and she promptly offered to snap my shoes. But I must have looked too apprehensive to Madame, because she told me to do the footwork anyway. Come to think of it, I´m not sure TMT shanks can be three-quartered like a traditional paste shoe..? I know that first times in new shoes are hard on everyone, and that the burning hot coals under my feet must have been the result of still-too-snug shoes. Still, when I filmed myself (back home, with laptop cam) doing relevés in seconde, it was not a pretty sight! 

I wonder which sauce goes with pointe shoes..

We will see if I can still improve my relationship with my new Serenades. After all, we have had only one real date so far. It is still too soon for the "let´s just be friends -talk". If we don´t get along after the third time, we can call it quits. And come next pay-check, I will check out another shop I just discovered. They do not employ a professional fitter, but carry the models I would like to try: Bloch Heritage, B-Morph and Balance European. Maybe there will be a match yet that is at least a little closer to heaven!

Must Find Perfect Pointe Shoes!

Wore my pink tights today, which I never ever do unless bribed or forced. You see, pink tights give me turkey legs, which is just not as flattering as you might think. But when my friend asked me to come along for her pointe shoe fitting, I figured I could do both: give moral support and try out a pair or two myself. Hence the thunder-thigh inducing tights. Now, I have to admit that I´m being self-deprecating here, as my thighs are perfectly fine in the real world. They are also strong enough to squeeze orange juice, an image that has stuck with me ever since Madame told us to squeeze our abductors until we feel "The Pain"! It makes me crave a cold drink of Tropicana every time..

Back to the pointe shoe fitting: It was a busy saturday, and the shop seriously understaffed, but we were lucky enough to be first in line. The salesperson was very nice and helpful, despite the rush. My friend E is an advanced dancer with good solid technique, awesome big jumps and quadruple pirouettes (!). She is also very tall for a ballet dancer, which means that the shoe has to support more weight. Oh, and she has not been seriously on pointe for almost ten years. So I was a bit curious when the fitter asked my friend to go straight away up on pointe in seconde, which is really difficult to do in new shoes!

Luckily she switched her tactic after that and asked E to just relevé in parallel position. It made it easier to see whether the soles were properly aligned or not. But they were not: shoe after shoe, no perfect fit in sight. Either they were too wide, or too narrow or too short or too long, or a size was sold out or a more suitable model missing. So frustrating! One pair of Repettos finally made the short-list, and were laid aside. If the one other shop has nothing better to offer, my friend will have to settle for just "okay".

I did not fare any better. Although I did tell the salesperson that I wanted to try some pairs just because it happened to be convenient, and that I would be back again later. Still, after I gave her my specifics: size 38 or 5 (European/UK), short toes = short vamp, wide forefoot, low(ish) insteps, high arches and soft-medium shank, pre-arched preferably - she had only two models for me to try on. Both of which were totally wrong. Nor did the Grishko Elites fit, or any Freeds or Gambas or Repettos. I asked if I could try Bloch Morphs (with TMT shank), but the shop only carried narrow models like Suprima, Serenade and Axis. Again, so frustrating! I know Bloch Morph / Heritage / Balance European (left picture) could be just right for me, but where to shop? Obviously I cannot buy shoes online without knowing my precise size first!

I guess I have to use my back-up plan and ask my teachers for help. I´m not entirely convinced that the salesperson pulled out all her aces, since it was really busy and she was clearly under some stress. It made me feel all self-conscious and doubtful again. I mean, if I have supposedly "nice feet", there should be a pair of suitable pointe shoes out there, right? Next time I hope to bring my own expert with me, someone who knows both my feet and technique (or lack thereof). Also, I wonder if Madame would let me try out her shoes again. The new pair of Blochs (custom made, no less) she brought in a week ago was almost perfect, the right length and width and so comfortable - only the vamp was a bit too high ( I would not have known). I know perfect pointe shoes are the holy grail of ballet, and to obtain a pair of my own, I will do anything short of selling my soul. Heck, I would even wear the dreaded pink tights to class. Just dare me!

Check out this cool video of pointe shoes in the making:

1000 Minutes On Pointe!

Just did the math: since starting pointe this August, I have had 17 x 60 min classes, totaling about 1000 minutes spent on pointe. Yay! And I´ve learned a thing or two:

• Pointe shoes need to be professionally fitted. I bought mine 10 years ago without supervision. I did not know at the time that the shanks are too long, which is why there´s way too much bagginess at the heel. Not pretty. Also, the box of the right foot is too narrow, twisting the shank away from underneath the foot. It´s not that they are impossible to dance with, but why make things any harder? (New pointe shoes are already on my Christmas wish-list.)

• Breaking in pointe shoes is serious business. I used the technique described by Lisa Howell, but my teacher took steps a little further and showed me how to actually break the shank at its 3/4 length (under the heel). This works for my feet. Other feet might need something else.

• Pointe shoes are not Uggs. You can pad and tape as much as you like, but discomfort and pain are inevitable. Even when shoes have been properly fitted. But you will get used to it. I use old-fashioned lamb´s wool, though many prefer gel-tips and Ouch Pouches. Also, special blister band-aid helps.

• Pointe shoes are not clogs either. You still need to articulate your feet, be able to roll through demi-pointe and go over the box.

• Going over the box (without falling over) is a big deal. Also, you cannot sit in your shoes, but must pull up at all times.

• You can´t fake pointe technique. No way. When knees need be stretched, they really have to be. Do not go up on pointe with lax knees. Also, heels must be forwarded at all times. Maintaining proper turn-out on pointe is even more crucial than it is in soft shoes.

• Single leg relevés with passé retirés are fun to do in soft shoes. With pointe shoes, and up on full relevé? Not so much.. But I´m getting there, albeit very slowly. 

• Pointe is not for sissies. In fact is the most difficult physical activity I´ve ever attempted to do. This includes slacklining (a form of tightrope walking), which I did way back in college. Not kidding!

Here´s an inspirational clip from Don Quichotte, with danseuse étoile Dorothee Gilbert of Paris Opera Ballet. She is absolutely amazing!