Warming Up

Hey guys, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, just been forgetting to, been so busy. I passed my exams :) With one point from Highly Commended D: Nooo!
But that's not the point of this post, the point (Get it pointe! Haha, no it's not about Pointe.) of this post is warming up, some girls think, yeah I'll run around for a bit do some starjumps, 3 stretches and I'll be fine. Yeah, it's enough... NO! IT'S NOT ENOUGH! (Hence, demon voice)
It's definetly not enough, this will cause you to get injuries.
You must be careful with things like this, many girls under work themselves, they don't warm up enough but some girls just over work their whole body and this is over warming themselves up. It's so unecessary and just plain hurts!

Some good ideas to warm up are:
- Run around or jog for 5/10 minutes before class
- 20 starjumps
- 20 push-ups (can be girl push-ups)
- Your stretching routine (search up some good ones on youtube, or I'll create a post on stretching later on)

I know this is a really short post, but they are just some ideas :)
I'll try to post for often. Well, signing off now.

What to Know/Wear ; First Lesson

If your about to have your first ballet lesson, you may be a little nervous.
That's an understatement, you may be freaking out, or you could be calm.

What to wear:

• If you have a dress code, follow to that or...
• Wear a leotard in the colour of black or pink or a common ballet colour
• Wear your hair all pulled back in a neat, acceptable bun
• See your studio and ask about what shoes to buy, you may need to buy canvas or leather, split sole or full sole. If you have no particular shoe you have to buy, buy a leather full sole as it's great for beginners and strengthens the foot and arch. Canvas and split sole are for more advanced dancers.
• If accepted or your feeling a bit insecure, you might want to wear a ballet skirt

What to know:

1st position:
Both hands in front (en avant ; on-uh-vont) and heels both together facing horiziontally.
2nd position: Both arms stretched out, elbows facing up (if you can) and feet shoulder width apart.
3rd position:
Left arm up (en haut; on-oh) and right arm out, left leg crossed over in front. The left heel against the right foot's arch.
4th position:
Arms the same except the right arm has come in front (en avant) and the feet are the same except move the front foot forward a bit.
5th position:
Both arms up (en haut) and heel to toe.

PERGSET
P - Plie ; to bend ; plee-ay
E - Etendre ; to stretch ; also said as tendu ; eh-ton-drew ; ton-dew
R - Releve ; to rise ; rell-eh-vay
G - Glissade ; to glide ; glee-sahd
S - Saute ; to jump ; sore-tay
E - Elance ; to dart ; eh-lan-say (with an english accent on the lan)
T - Tourne ; to turn ; tore-nay
 Also, before I go, remember always get your shoes fitted at a dance store.

Injury

Yay, sore ankle from plies. I wonder how that happened :P
R.I.C.E. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
Currently at ice stage. Now my old injury hurts again. Jees, I'm on a roll tonight.

Should I ask if I am Ready for Pointe?

One thing in ballet that a girl certainly always wants to know is 'Am I ready for Pointe?' or 'When will I go En Pointe?' The girl will always have that question on her mind until she gets En Pointe. But another question these girls may want answered is should they ask their teacher if they are ready? It seems like a very daunting, scary even embaressing task for a girl to ask her teacher.

They may feel that their teacher will think they are not mature enough, impatient or 'not ready.'

This makes the girl feel even more under pressure than she already is.

Unless your at a decently high level in ballet and or everyone around you in your grade is en pointe, then there is no need to be worried, even no need to ask. But if your friends are in your grade and just bumping up onto pointe around you or your at a quite high of a level then you should probably ask, especially if it's worrying you. When you come out to ask don't go ahead and cut out all of the waiting, patience and maturity and ask "Why aren't I En Pointe?" don't cut the cake! Ask with maturity, "It seems everyone around me is En Pointe, I'm wondering why I'm not, am I doing something wrong?" if she/he says you are not ready then ask, "What can I do to improve myself?" then they will think your mind is ready but your body may not, this may even lead to going en pointe sooner than you might've expected.

Good luck to all the girls out there!

Breaking Down a Pointe Shoe

A pointe shoe, is sometimes known as a toe shoe or a ballerina slipper.

It is the tool ballerina's use to dance on their toes. This shoe enables the girls to look like they're dancing effortlessly but when really it takes alot of strength, skill and practise to do so.

 

The platform is the section of the shoe that you dance on. You should try to get as far over onto it as possible. The vamp is the top of the box which covers the toes. It can be found on the front of the shoe. The pleats are the area between the shank and the platform which helps support the toes and add a decorative beauty to the shoe. A shank is a leather sole made to support the arch. The drawstring, similar to in a ballet slipper, tightens to fit the shoe to the foot like a glove or a second layer of skin. In children's drawings it can be seen to be tied in a bow, in ballet girls tuck it under the front of the shoe, towards the toes. The side wing also known as side quarters or a quarter panel fit snuggly to the foot.

 

The ribbons and sometimes the elastic is sewn into the inside of the side quarters. The side quarters are connected to the front half of the shoe which origionally looked like a small 'v'. The binding essentially holds the shoe together and helps it for better. The toe box is a very important piece of the pointe shoe, it is what the dancer balances on when she glides across the floor, it is made out of cotton, fabric, burlap and paste, it is merely a papier mache`. The ribbons and elastic hold the shoe onto the foot by the lower ankles, keeping the shoe from slipping off the heel while she is dancing. 

Information reworded from: http://members.tripod.com/animal_lover70/id11.html

Ballet Dictionary

Dictionary found from:

http://primaprincessa.com/ballet-dictionary/

Press ctrl + F to find.

 

Adagio: A series of very slow movements performed together to look graceful and effortless, floating. It can also mean the beginning of a pas de deux dance where a man and woman dance together, performing slow lifts, turns, and other supported steps.

 

Air, en l’: Movement that is made in the air, like a rond de jambe en l’air.

Allegro: Quick moving steps, often containing jumps, performed to a quick tempo of music.

Allongé: To stretch, to elongate, usually referring to stretching and straightening a leg or arm.

Arabesque: When one stands on one leg with the other leg extended straight back.

Arabesque en l’aire: Arabesque where the back leg is lifted and parallel to the floor.

Arabesque penchee: Arabeque where the back leg is lifted as high as posible while the upper body is tilted forward to help the dancer maintain her balance.

Arriére: A step that is performed backwards, en arriere.

Assemble: Means to bring together. It is a step where the working foot slides against the ground before swinging it up into the air, as the other leg pushes off the ground then landing in fifth position.

Attitude: The working leg is raised, bent from the knee at an angle of 90 degrees and turned out so that the knee is at the same level as the foot. This position can be done from the front, side, or back.

Attitude devant: The leg is in attitude in the front of the body

Attitude derrière: The leg is in attitude in the back of the body.

Avant: Means forward, en avant is any step moving forward.

Balancé: a series of steps that swing in a balancing motion, often several together.

Ballerina: a female ballet dancer.

Ballet: A classical dance form characterized by formalized steps and technique.

Ballet Slippers: shoes worn for ballet.

Ballet: A dance where a choreographer has created movements for the performers with a musical accompaniment, usually on stage with costumes, lighting, and scenery.

Barre: A long, rounded piece of wood attached to the walls of a ballet studio (or on free standing supports) that dancers hold onto for support during “barre exercises”

Battement: A French term meaning “kick.”

Battement Frappes: A movement in which the dancer begins in fifth position with her left hand on the barre and her right foot wrapped in front of her left ankle bone. She brushes her right foot down so the ball of her foot strikes the floor. Next she points her right foot hard and snaps her right knee straight, lifting her leg up into the air a few inches. She finishes by bending her right knee and setting her foot down behind her left ankle and then wrapping it at the anklebone.

Battement Tendu: an exercise in which the leg is extended to the front, side or back and generally repeated several times. When the leg is fully extended, the knee should be straight with the foot pointed.

B+ Pose: The dancer stands on either foot with other leg behind her. The rear leg is slightly bent and placed behind the standing foot with knees touching. The big toe on the back leg touches the floor.

Bourreé: A step performed in releve where one leg pulls the other leg to close both in a tight 5th position in a series of tiny and quick steps either in place or moving.

Bourreé, pas de: a series of three steps linked together, for example step up on the right leg, step side on the left leg, close the right leg to 5th position front.

Brisé: Quick moving step where the feet and legs beat together in a jump from 5th position to 5th position while traveling either forward or backwards.

Center Work: Exercises performed in the in the center of the room without any support of the barre.

Changé: Mean to change.

Changement: A small jump in 5th position, changing legs legs from front to back.

Chassé: A movement where one foot moves forward and the other quickly follows behind, chasing it.

Choreographer: An artist who creates dances by arranging steps to music.

Choreography: The way in which dance steps are combined to create a visual expression of the music.

Circle Time: The beginning of a Creative Movement class during which the teacher greets the students and lets them know what they will be doing in class.

Composer: A person who writes music.

Corps de ballet: Dancers in a ballet company that perform the group dances as opposed to

solo parts.

Costume: An outfit which is worn onstage in order to portray a character.

Coupé: A sharp movement where the foot quickly moves off the floor and circles the ankle in either the front or the back. Mean to cut.

Creative Movement: Class A class for young dancers that encourages free and creative movement to music.

Croisé: A position in which the dancer’s legs appear crossed to the audience.

Dedans, en: A turn inwards.

Dehors, en: A turn outwards.

Demi-Plié: A half bend of the knees.

Demi-pointes: Rising up to the ball of your foot, not on full point of the toe shoes. Means half point.

Developpé: A movement in which a dancer stands in fifth position and holds the barre for support. The dancer slides one leg up the side of the other to the knee and then extends her leg as her arms are raised. The leg is held still for a moment and then lowered.

Dress Rehersal: A final run through in costume of a ballet before it is performed for an

audience.

Écarté: A position in which the dancer’s body faces one corner of the room with her leg pointed to the other corner and her arms in fourth position, with her head looking behind the

raised arm.

Échappé: A French term that means “to escape.” A movement in which the feet move in a level

manner from a closed to an open postion.

Échappé Sauté: A jump in which the dancers springs from fifth position and lands in demi-plie

with the feet opened in second position, then springs into the air again and closes the legs

back to fifth position, landing in demi-plie.

Effacé: A directional term where one leg is either front or back, moving to the side.

Enchainment: The linking together of steps.

Échappe Relévé: The dancer demi-pliés in fifth postion then springs quickly up into second or fourth position on pointe or demi-pointe. The dancer then reverses the movement and brings the legs back into fifth position demi-plié.

Effacé: A position in which the legs look open or uncrossed to the audience.

Enchaînement: The linking together several dance movements.

En face: A position in which the dancer’s arms and legs are held in any position and her body completely faces the front of the room.

Fermé: To close.

Fifth Position Arms: A position in which the arms are lifted over the head. The arms are rounded, with the elbows lightly bent, and the hands are held close together but without the fingers touching.

Fifth Position Legs: A position in which one foot is placed in front of the other, with both feet touching and the toes of each foot lined up with the heel of the other.

First Position Arms: A position in which the arms are curved in front of the body and held as if they are forming a circle.

First Position Legs: A position in which the balls of the feet are turned out completely so that the heels touch each other and the feet face outward, trying to form a straight line.

Fouetté: A whipping movement on one leg while changing the hip and upper body direction.

Fourth Position Arms: A position in which the left arm is held forward and rounded at the same height as the chest, and the right arm is raised above the head and slightly rounded.

Fourth Position Legs: A position in which the feet are placed as in fifth position but they are separated by the length of one foot.

Frappé: To strike or hit, quick action of the leg and foot.

Glissade: A gliding step that moves the dancer across the floor and links other ballet steps together. The dancer begins in fifth position with her right foot in front. She demi-plies and then slides her left foot out across the floor into second positon. She jumps slightly off of the right foot and lands on her left foot, and the right foot moves into fifth position.

Grand Battement: A French word meaning “Big Kick.” The dancer begins in either first position or fifth position with her left arm on the barre. She slides her right foot into tendu front and raises her right leg up as high as possible in a turned out position. She then lowers her leg, bringing it back to first or fifth position.

Grand Jeté en Avant: A large, horizontal jump in which the dancer splits her legs while jumping in the air and then lands on one foot.

Grand Plié: A full bend of the knees . The heels are lifted when the full bend is reached (except in the second position, where they remain on the floor) and are then pushed back down to the

floor as the dancer passes through a demi-plie and straightens the knees.

Jete: A French term meaning “to throw.”

Melody: A pleasing arrangement of sounds within a piece of music

Musicality: Musical sensitivity.

Pantomime: A set of gestures used in ballet to tell a story, explain events, or indicate specific ideas or feelings.

Pas de Chat: A movement starting in fifth position, in which the dancer looks in the direction she is moving. The dancer lifts her back foot to her calf and plies on the front leg. Then she jumps into the air, picking up both legs at once underneath her body and pointing both feet toward each other. She lands on one bent leg with her other leg pointing to the mid-shin and finishes in fifth position.

Pas de deux: A dance performed by two people.

Passé: Passé refers to both a position and a movement. As a position, one leg is turned out and bent at the knee with the foot placed in front or in back of the other knee. As a movement, the working foot—the foot that is moving—slides up the front of the standing leg until the toe reaches the knee and then the foot passes to the back of the knee and slides back down to fifth position.

Pianist: Someone who plays the piano.

Pirouette: A turn or a spin around on one leg done on pointe or on demi-point.

Plié: An exercise in which the dancer bends her knees and then straightens them.

Pointe Shoes: A type of ballet shoe used by advanced dancers that has special reinforcements in the toe and sole so that a ballerina can stand on her toes while dancing.

Pointe Work: Dancing that occurs on the tips of the toes. This is performed in pointe shoes.

Positions: There are five basic feet positions in ballet and there are also five basic arm positions.

Posture: How one hold’s one’s body.

Prepatortory position: premiere en bas A starting point pose to get your body ready, or prepared. The preparatory position is the beginning pose used to start and end a floor combination. To reach this position, hold your back straight and your head high, relax your arms in front of you, slightly away from your body. Both arms should be rounded like you are holding a beach ball, with your fingers close together but not touching.

Props: Items used during a performance to help tell a story.

Relévé: A movement in which the dancer rises to demi pointe or pointe. The dancer begins in first or fifth position and smoothly lifts both of her heels as far off the floor as she can. When she reaches the balls of her feet, she slowly goes back down and ends again in first or fifth position.

Ronds de Jambe à Terre: The movement of the leg in a circular pattern.. The dancer begins in first position with her left hand on the barre and tendus her right foot to the front, then traces the pattern of a circle as she moves her leg to the side, to the back, and then back to first position.

Ronds de Jambe (en Dedans): A version of the Ronds de Jambe in which the foot does the reverse movements, starting with tendu back.

Rosin: A crumbly powder that turns white and rough when the dancer steps into it. Rosin makes ballet shoes less slippery and safer for difficult and dangerous pointe work.

Sauté: Sauté means “to hop” in French. This term is added to the name of a step to indicate that the step is performed while jumping.

Saute Passé: A passé while jumping. The dancer jumps up on one leg. The foot of the other leg passes up the front of the straight leg until it reaches the knee and then slides down the back of the leg and lands on two feet.

Second position (en seconde) Arms: In second position arms, the arms are opened to one’s sides with the elbows slightly rounded as in first position.

Second position (en seconde) Legs: In second position for the feet, the balls of both feet are turned out completely, with the heels separated by the length of one foot. This is similar to first position, but the feet are spread apart.

Stage Makeup: Makeup used by performers, which serves to accentuate the features of a performer on a brightly lit stage.

Sur le coup de pied: In this position, the working foot is wrapped around the ankle of the other leg. Sur le coup de pied means “on the neck of the foot” in French.

Sous-Sus: In this position the dancer relevés in a tight fifth position, with one foot almost on top of the other foot. The feet are touching and the ankles are crossed with the dancer on pointe or demi-pointe.

School of American Ballet (SAB): The official academy of the New York City Ballet, founded in 1934 by the famous choreographer, George Balanchine, and patron of the arts, Lincoln Kirstein. SAB is located in New York City at Lincoln Center.

Spotting: A technique used by dancers to keep themselves from getting dizzy when turning.

Soubresaut: Soubresaut is French for “sudden leap”. This is a jump in which the dancer both takes off from and lands in fifth position with the legs tightly crossed and feet pointed in the air.

Tempo: The speed or pace of a piece of music.

Third Postion Arms: A position in which the arms are curved as in first position and raised a little above and forward of the head.

Third Position Legs: A position in which one foot is placed in front of the other foot. The heel of the front foot should touch the middle of the back foot.

Tour en L’Aire: A jump, which involves a complete 360 degree turn or multiple turns in midair. The dancer starts in fifth position. He demi-pliés and pushes off the floor into the air and makes a complete turn (or two) before landing on the floor in fifth position demi-plié, .

Turnout: The turning out of the legs and feet from the hips . With perfect turnout, a dancer’s feet point in opposite directions from each other to form a straight line, with the heels touching.

Waltz: Music or a dance performed in counts of three with a strong accent on the first beat.

Wardrobe Mistress: The person that alters costumes to fit each dancer, and cares for them in every way.

Dictionary found from:

http://primaprincessa.com/ballet-dictionary/

Press ctrl + F to find.

How Pointe Shoes are made

Or you can watch the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzB1yY2397E&feature=related

All pointe shoes are handmade. They first sew the shoes exterior with three pieces of satin, (the machine that cuts these pieces slices enough to make four pairs!) for each piece that it cut they also provide a cotton lining the same size to protect the dancer's feet from getting irritated. What they are making now looks like a 'v' and is called the vamp. This is the front half the of the shoe. The seamstress attatches two other pieces one on each side called the quarter panel, these make the back half of the shoe when sewn together. She sews the ends of the bigger 'v' together making a heel seam which is reinforced with rayon ribbon.

To make the drawstring, rayon ribbon and the elastic drawstring are both threaded through a special machine that sews it on but at the same time overlaps the ribbon encasing the drawstring inside, the drawstring and ribbon are cut off so the ribbon can be sewed down the the drawstring left to be fitted and cut by the dancer. They put the satin ontop of a wooden form and check the sizing, the height of the vamp must be exact by an eighth of an inch if it's even slightly off the top of the shoe will push and cut into the dancer's foot.

The shoemaker nails the cotton lining to an insole made of ridgid cardboard that is impued with plastic for support and flexibility to keep the dancer up en pointe. The shoemaker cuts off the excess satin and cotton and glues the lining to the insole making neat and delicate pleats. Once the glue has dried the shoemaker removes the nails and uses a razor to practically shave off the tops of the lining so the base is smooth. They pull back the satin and start to sculpt the toe box. They soften up a piece of rosin coated cotton with water and apply it on top of the cotton lining. They paper mache` the toe box using fabric and paste. Next the shoemaker saturates two layers of burlap sack (potato sack) and applies it on top of the fabric. The final layer that is applied to create the toe box the shoemaker applies a piece of pure cotton.

The toe box is then wrapped in plastic, they use a hammer to square off the front of the box, then the box is pressed onto a piece of marble to make it completely flat. They use a right angle ruler to vertify that the toe box is completely square otherwise the dancer will fall over.
After it has dried for 24 hours they glue the lining over making once again delicate pleats.

They apply a foam filler to even out the shoes underside as there's much fabric on top of the shoe but where the cardboard can be seen there is less fabric and material. They then coat it with high strength vinyl glue. They apply the same glue to a sole and leave both to air dry.

24 hours later they apply them to a heater set to 200 degrees fahrenheight, this reactivates the glue in approximately thirty seconds. They apply the sole then put the shoe in a press for 15 seconds to solidify the bond. Then the shoe is removed from the form, the outter sole is made from suede, a material that has just the exact amount of grip, non-slip but still enables the dancer to glide smoothly across the floor. Then they glue in a white suede sock liner, it is made to cushion the dancer's foot also keeping the dancer from slipping forward while en pointe.

Or you can watch the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzB1yY2397E&feature=related