Pointe Work
Dancing Smart Newsletter
December 23, 2005
Announcements
No matter what your traditions are, the following quote seems fitting for this time of year. It's by an unknown author who said, "Serenity isn't freedom from the storm, but peace within the storm." Very fitting for this activity-filled time of year, yes?
I wish all of you the loveliest of holidays!
Question of the Week
I'm almost 13, and I'm in a non-competitive studio where I participate in two ballet classes, a jazz/tap and modern/lyrical class each week adding up to about 6 hours of dancing every week.
More than 3/4 of the girls in my class are already on pointe, but I'm not. My teacher tells me I need to be patient and strengthen my ankles and improve my turn out. She's a teacher that doesn't believe in putting girls on earlier than they're ready, but I've been working on my two "disabilities" for more than a year now and I haven't seen much improvement or hope of convincing my teacher. Though she probably has a better take on this than me, to me it seems that my ankles are fairly strong, and my turnout is closer to "good" than "bad".
But, I can't change my teacher's opinion. Advise besides the frog stretch and doing lots of upping and downing for my ankles?
~Madeline
Deb's Answer
Madeline, you are obviously a determined young woman who really wants to be involved with dance. That's wonderful! My first suggestion to you is not to describe your ankles and turnout as disabilities. It's hard to improve an aspect of your dancing when you feel negatively about it. So the first step is to say to yourself – this is where I am right now. I would encourage you to make note of when you are standing on the edge of a book or stairs doing your one-legged relevés when you get tired. That way you'll really know that your getting stronger as you are able to do more single leg relevés. (Single leg relevés are a wonderful way to increase the strength and stability of your ankles)
I would encourage you to do the same with your turnout. Have your teacher help you test your turnout, ideally at the end of a class period. Then work on stretching your turnout NOT by doing the frog stretch, which doesn't help your turnout, but does strain your knee - but rather doing another form of stretching such as the yoga stretch, or crossing one foot over the other knee and bringing your knee towards your chest as you are lying on the ground.
Your focus is to have a plan and assessment tools – hopefully ones that you can make with your teacher – to bring you closer to your goal of getting on pointe. It is great to have goals, but what we need more are plans to get us to those goals. We do that by creating a series of small step or activities that when done consistently, which will bring you closer to your goal.
I would encourage you to purchase my "Tune Up Your Turnout" Book, if you haven't already done so. In it, are pictures, diagrams and information that will help you understand if there you have any other patterns that are influencing your turnout, such as hyperextended knees, or an anteverted hip structure. The more information you can gather, the more specific your game plan can be. If you prefer DVD's, you could purchase my Turnout DVD, or the VHS copy of Turnout, which is currently on sale!
I applaud your teacher for being conscientious about when she allows students to begin pointe. Since she has pointed out your weak areas, ask her for specific suggestions on how to improve and state that you are willing to work on these areas outside of class.
Your passion and commitment will serve you well. Working on these two areas will not only hopefully allow you to begin pointe work, but make you a better dancer all around.
We're rooting for you!
Happy Holidays!
Deborah