Location: Center
Combination: Preparation jumps for petit allegro
Step: The full combination involved some eight counts of straight up-and-down jumps (first first fifth x2, or changement x8), then jump to second, jump to fifth, jump to fourth, double/triple pirouette, land fifth, entre chat quatre.
Doing a double gives you a count to prepare, or a count to land in fifth after, but doing a triple felt better for me, timing-wise.
Challenge: Landing the fourth position jump in such a way that you are prepared to immediately pirouette out of it.
Success?: Yes! And it was fabulous, because I had just had a horrific pirouette exercise--the floor was too slippery for me to maintain my turnout through the whole preparation. Anyway, I put some water on my heels and bottom of the toes (closest to the arch) before this combination and went for the triple, and actually nailed it on both sides. So that was cool.
Tip: Technique, technique, technique... whenever I physically and mentally engage my technique, and experience drastic improvements, I just laugh at myself for not having engaged it in the first place. I actually remember to do turnout and core before pirouettes now.
- Be soft and supported in the plié, not tense because you're anticipating going back up for the pirouette.
-
Remember all those tendu-temps liés through fourth and having the
right sized fourth position, with your weight in the middle, immediately.
- Support through the core and pelvis. Because why not? It'll make sure you don't collapse in the plié and lose that lovely buoyancy. And it'll hold you together in your turn. Just all kinds of good things.
- "Use the music." It works for me, but might not for everybody. Don't panic that you don't have time to slip slowly into the preparation and wiggle around getting it just right. Pull out all the stops (technique-wise) and spot with the music. If your technique isn't reliably there at speed, never fear! Keep dancing and working at it. It'll come.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Pointe shoes: Hard shank? Soft shank? Part II: Dancing
The continuation of the eternal debate.
In my last post, I addressed the foot issue, and how shank strength depends on if you need extra stiffness to prevent yourself from going too far over and overly stressing muscles/tendons/ligaments, or if you need less resistance to compensate for a naturally less flexible foot and/or ankle. In this section, I'm going to talk about the second half of the list.
1. Do you have high, flexible arches that are prone to falling over the pointe? Or do you have an ankle that makes a straight line and a moderate arch (like mine)? Or do you have inflexible ankle that doesn't go fully vertical, and a tendency to not get over the box? (I imagine you could have combination flexible arch/inflexible ankle, but I have to admit I have not met many folks like this.)
2. Do you have strong feet, or weak feet? Strong ankles, or weak ankles? Often, but not always, natural flexibility and natural strength are in inverse relation.
3. Are you tall? Broad? Heavy? Tiny?
4. Do you have strong or weak hips, quads, and core?
5. What are you trying to do in your shoe? Fast relevés that you need to pop up for? Hops on pointe? A soft adagio? Long balances? Jumps? Repeated pirouettes? Les Sylphides? (That's the ballet that always comes up when people mention wanting a softer shoe...)
6. How badly do you not want to buy another pair of shoes in two days? (This, and this blog in general, applies to amateurs, not professionals, of course!)
Last time, I talked about strength in the feet and ankles. However, you need far more than just strong feet and ankles to dance en pointe.
While I do not recommend getting a harder shank and box in order to just "sit" en pointe instead of actually engaging, each dancer newly en pointe will have to find where their shoes are hard enough to enable them to dance, but soft enough to ensure proper technique and development.
Here's the description of Aspirations:
Bloch's Aspiration is built for students. This pointe shoe features a harder, more supportive box that assists the beginner. Its full shank is designed to flex at the "three-quarter" position.
The harder, more supportive box and full shank are helpful for balances, I've found. That is, once you're up on the shoe, it holds you up. On a new shoe, I have actually been able to disengage through the hip, core, leg--actually all the way down into the ankle and foot--and still balance on the shoe (on one foot, no less). I don't actually like this. It makes it hard to roll down, on top of the obvious damage this would do to my technique. However, if you don't actually have those muscles, this is a helpful feature.
I'm not saying that everybody should go out and buy hard boxes and shanks so they don't have to strengthen their technique and muscle tone! However, people max out their strength at different ranges. New students are still developing these muscles. Why would you get a shoe that you can't do anything on at all?
The balancing point plays into point 5, which is "What are you trying to do with your shoes?" Here's a list of things I like to do with various shoes:
1. New, hard: strengthening two-footed elevé, working feet through each stage of the rise.
2. Fairly hard, but not new: hops on pointe, bouncy relevés where I don't have as much time to plié, bourrés, if I were to ever do a lot of partner work with long balances, probably this hardness until I developed the requisite strength to go down to number 3.
3. Middling, still with some resistance on the demi pointe: things with a lot of piqués, pirouettes, more "flashy" choreography that may be combined with smoother relevés, bourrés
4. Soft shank with smooth roll-through in demi pointe: things with a lot of relevés, things with lots of jumps (two bonuses: quiet, and less resistance going into the jump), fouettés, softer or Romantic choreography
5. Approaching dead: strengthening ankles, hip, quads, core with relevés and one-footed elevés; easy rehearsal
Giselle is an interesting challenge because of the infamous hops on pointe combined with the obviously delicate choreography. That's when you just go shopping for stronger legs and ankles.
My favorite shank strength is 4, with 3 close behind. At 4 I've also finally gotten rid of that hard box that comes with the Aspirations XD
If you poll the interwebs, you'll find very similar preferences among dancers. Here's what Paloma Herrera of the beautiful feet says. Here's what a bunch of dancers on a forum say.
Since I'm somewhat paranoid, and since I don't dance en pointe enough to kill shoes immediately, I have gotten into the habit of wearing shoes until they're just a little bit too hard for the role I want, calomining them (did you know that there are matte pointe shoes available??), and wearing them once or twice again to make sure they're where I want, and then "rinsing and repeating." That way I always have two or three pairs of shoes I could potentially wear for a performance, just in case something dreadful happens to one.
It helps that Aspirations are cheap, and I can get three pairs at once and wear them all until they're where I want them. In fact, I've just gotten one pair to number 3 on the above list. I'm going to finish sewing the next pair and start wearing them.
Finally, there's the issue of how pointe shoes can cost anywhere from 40 to 100 dollars per pair. If you're not a professional, you don't have a shoe allowance. Remember the quote that I opened with? The one that said that Blochs are for beginners because they break in so fast? Well... if you can afford new shoes every week/day, that's not really a problem! If your combination of flexibility, strength, and dancing works best with a soft shank, that's awesome... except that shoes die. And then you go roll around in the bathtubs gold coins that you receive as a dancer and buy new shoes with whatever sticks--oh wait, that's right, there are no bathtubs of gold.
Professionals with their shoe allowances and strong feet and glorious technique can break in their shoes right where they want them, wear lovely soft shoes, and kill them in a day. But alas, we students and amateurs cannot afford this luxury.
Which is why Gaynor Mindens are supposed to be excellent (albeit pricy). The theory is that they start at one shank strength and STAY THERE. You don't have to get super hard shanks; Gaynor Mindens are offered through I think five levels of shank strength, from extra hard to nearly dead. But instead of going from nearly to dead to six feet under in one class, they will stay at nearly dead.
There's actually a girl at my studio that has strong (but not flexible) feet and ankles, is taller, and average weight (for normal humans, not dancers). I think she likes hard shanks because they don't die as fast on her, but if that weren't an issue, I think she would do better in a medium to softer shank.
~*~
So, there you have it. Very strong feet, ankles, core, and technique... hell, everything... hold up the dancer, and require less support from the shoe. However, we are not these people. Or these people. Or these people. Nor are we rolling in money. That's okay! Do the best and safest with what you have.
In my last post, I addressed the foot issue, and how shank strength depends on if you need extra stiffness to prevent yourself from going too far over and overly stressing muscles/tendons/ligaments, or if you need less resistance to compensate for a naturally less flexible foot and/or ankle. In this section, I'm going to talk about the second half of the list.
1. Do you have high, flexible arches that are prone to falling over the pointe? Or do you have an ankle that makes a straight line and a moderate arch (like mine)? Or do you have inflexible ankle that doesn't go fully vertical, and a tendency to not get over the box? (I imagine you could have combination flexible arch/inflexible ankle, but I have to admit I have not met many folks like this.)
2. Do you have strong feet, or weak feet? Strong ankles, or weak ankles? Often, but not always, natural flexibility and natural strength are in inverse relation.
3. Are you tall? Broad? Heavy? Tiny?
4. Do you have strong or weak hips, quads, and core?
5. What are you trying to do in your shoe? Fast relevés that you need to pop up for? Hops on pointe? A soft adagio? Long balances? Jumps? Repeated pirouettes? Les Sylphides? (That's the ballet that always comes up when people mention wanting a softer shoe...)
6. How badly do you not want to buy another pair of shoes in two days? (This, and this blog in general, applies to amateurs, not professionals, of course!)
Last time, I talked about strength in the feet and ankles. However, you need far more than just strong feet and ankles to dance en pointe.
While I do not recommend getting a harder shank and box in order to just "sit" en pointe instead of actually engaging, each dancer newly en pointe will have to find where their shoes are hard enough to enable them to dance, but soft enough to ensure proper technique and development.
Here's the description of Aspirations:
Bloch's Aspiration is built for students. This pointe shoe features a harder, more supportive box that assists the beginner. Its full shank is designed to flex at the "three-quarter" position.
The harder, more supportive box and full shank are helpful for balances, I've found. That is, once you're up on the shoe, it holds you up. On a new shoe, I have actually been able to disengage through the hip, core, leg--actually all the way down into the ankle and foot--and still balance on the shoe (on one foot, no less). I don't actually like this. It makes it hard to roll down, on top of the obvious damage this would do to my technique. However, if you don't actually have those muscles, this is a helpful feature.
I'm not saying that everybody should go out and buy hard boxes and shanks so they don't have to strengthen their technique and muscle tone! However, people max out their strength at different ranges. New students are still developing these muscles. Why would you get a shoe that you can't do anything on at all?
~*~
The balancing point plays into point 5, which is "What are you trying to do with your shoes?" Here's a list of things I like to do with various shoes:
1. New, hard: strengthening two-footed elevé, working feet through each stage of the rise.
2. Fairly hard, but not new: hops on pointe, bouncy relevés where I don't have as much time to plié, bourrés, if I were to ever do a lot of partner work with long balances, probably this hardness until I developed the requisite strength to go down to number 3.
3. Middling, still with some resistance on the demi pointe: things with a lot of piqués, pirouettes, more "flashy" choreography that may be combined with smoother relevés, bourrés
4. Soft shank with smooth roll-through in demi pointe: things with a lot of relevés, things with lots of jumps (two bonuses: quiet, and less resistance going into the jump), fouettés, softer or Romantic choreography
5. Approaching dead: strengthening ankles, hip, quads, core with relevés and one-footed elevés; easy rehearsal
Giselle is an interesting challenge because of the infamous hops on pointe combined with the obviously delicate choreography. That's when you just go shopping for stronger legs and ankles.
My favorite shank strength is 4, with 3 close behind. At 4 I've also finally gotten rid of that hard box that comes with the Aspirations XD
If you poll the interwebs, you'll find very similar preferences among dancers. Here's what Paloma Herrera of the beautiful feet says. Here's what a bunch of dancers on a forum say.
Since I'm somewhat paranoid, and since I don't dance en pointe enough to kill shoes immediately, I have gotten into the habit of wearing shoes until they're just a little bit too hard for the role I want, calomining them (did you know that there are matte pointe shoes available??), and wearing them once or twice again to make sure they're where I want, and then "rinsing and repeating." That way I always have two or three pairs of shoes I could potentially wear for a performance, just in case something dreadful happens to one.
It helps that Aspirations are cheap, and I can get three pairs at once and wear them all until they're where I want them. In fact, I've just gotten one pair to number 3 on the above list. I'm going to finish sewing the next pair and start wearing them.
~*~
Finally, there's the issue of how pointe shoes can cost anywhere from 40 to 100 dollars per pair. If you're not a professional, you don't have a shoe allowance. Remember the quote that I opened with? The one that said that Blochs are for beginners because they break in so fast? Well... if you can afford new shoes every week/day, that's not really a problem! If your combination of flexibility, strength, and dancing works best with a soft shank, that's awesome... except that shoes die. And then you go roll around in the bathtubs gold coins that you receive as a dancer and buy new shoes with whatever sticks--oh wait, that's right, there are no bathtubs of gold.
Professionals with their shoe allowances and strong feet and glorious technique can break in their shoes right where they want them, wear lovely soft shoes, and kill them in a day. But alas, we students and amateurs cannot afford this luxury.
Which is why Gaynor Mindens are supposed to be excellent (albeit pricy). The theory is that they start at one shank strength and STAY THERE. You don't have to get super hard shanks; Gaynor Mindens are offered through I think five levels of shank strength, from extra hard to nearly dead. But instead of going from nearly to dead to six feet under in one class, they will stay at nearly dead.
There's actually a girl at my studio that has strong (but not flexible) feet and ankles, is taller, and average weight (for normal humans, not dancers). I think she likes hard shanks because they don't die as fast on her, but if that weren't an issue, I think she would do better in a medium to softer shank.
~*~
So, there you have it. Very strong feet, ankles, core, and technique... hell, everything... hold up the dancer, and require less support from the shoe. However, we are not these people. Or these people. Or these people. Nor are we rolling in money. That's okay! Do the best and safest with what you have.
Monday, March 2, 2015
Challenge of the week: Feb 23rd, 2015
Location: Barre, or with a partner, or if you're really awesome, just in the center. En pointe is an additional challenge.
Combination: Frappés and petits battements, originally
Step: This is actually at the end, where you face diagonally into the barre, on full relevé, and start your petits battements with the inside leg. Find your balance (== let go of the barre) while still beating. Hold balance. End petits battements with leg in coup de pied back. On your balance, lift your leg to full attitude back, and your arms en haut (en couronne, fifth position, etc.).
If you're really cool, developpé attitude leg back, close fifth (still on relevé and on your balance) and turn back away from the diagonal, and open your other leg a la seconde, along with your arms.
Challenge: Not falling on your face! lol
- You really find out if you're doing petit battements with your hip or your knee.
- You really find out where on your hip you're placed when changing poses.
Success?: Doing all balance pose switches on my balance is actually a challenge I set to myself, not one that is required in the class. In class we are not required to do the entire sequence on your balance (you only find your balance when already in attitude). I'm pretty good at this one, though not entirely consistent. I am nearing 100% consistency when the right leg is the supporting leg. Meanwhile, the left hip is still not as strong at pulling UP. Of course.
When I started engaging my core more, my "hit" percentage went up drastically. I finally understood how, rather counter-intuitively, it's your core and abs that actually help you lift your leg up to the attitude. And I can feel the engagement every time I do it properly. And then, because this is a fairly taxing balance to maintain even in technique shoes, I admire the dancers in the Rose Adagio and Don Q pas de deux even more (Paloma Herrera and Angel Corella, ABT, PDD from DQ. Attitude at 1:38.)
Tip: As with everything ballet, the engagement is not a clench or a forced position. Engage your core, engage your hip.
I like doing very slow elevés up and down in first, second, and fifth and maintaining the lift in the hip and the engagement in the core. Doing these en pointe (in the center!), especially in first and second position, amplifies any weaknesses you may have in these areas. Most (non-professional, beginner, etc.) dancers fall backwards doing very slow elevés due to the core not being fully knit together (and sometimes ankles doing things they're not supposed to do).
Combination: Frappés and petits battements, originally
Step: This is actually at the end, where you face diagonally into the barre, on full relevé, and start your petits battements with the inside leg. Find your balance (== let go of the barre) while still beating. Hold balance. End petits battements with leg in coup de pied back. On your balance, lift your leg to full attitude back, and your arms en haut (en couronne, fifth position, etc.).
If you're really cool, developpé attitude leg back, close fifth (still on relevé and on your balance) and turn back away from the diagonal, and open your other leg a la seconde, along with your arms.
Challenge: Not falling on your face! lol
- You really find out if you're doing petit battements with your hip or your knee.
- You really find out where on your hip you're placed when changing poses.
Success?: Doing all balance pose switches on my balance is actually a challenge I set to myself, not one that is required in the class. In class we are not required to do the entire sequence on your balance (you only find your balance when already in attitude). I'm pretty good at this one, though not entirely consistent. I am nearing 100% consistency when the right leg is the supporting leg. Meanwhile, the left hip is still not as strong at pulling UP. Of course.
When I started engaging my core more, my "hit" percentage went up drastically. I finally understood how, rather counter-intuitively, it's your core and abs that actually help you lift your leg up to the attitude. And I can feel the engagement every time I do it properly. And then, because this is a fairly taxing balance to maintain even in technique shoes, I admire the dancers in the Rose Adagio and Don Q pas de deux even more (Paloma Herrera and Angel Corella, ABT, PDD from DQ. Attitude at 1:38.)
Tip: As with everything ballet, the engagement is not a clench or a forced position. Engage your core, engage your hip.
I like doing very slow elevés up and down in first, second, and fifth and maintaining the lift in the hip and the engagement in the core. Doing these en pointe (in the center!), especially in first and second position, amplifies any weaknesses you may have in these areas. Most (non-professional, beginner, etc.) dancers fall backwards doing very slow elevés due to the core not being fully knit together (and sometimes ankles doing things they're not supposed to do).
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Pointe shoes: Hard shank? Soft shank? Part I: Flexibility and strength
This is one of those topics that gets tossed around a lot. There are a lot of differing beliefs. For example:
"That's why Bloch shoes are for beginners. People with strong feet kill them too fast. You need hard shoes because your feet are strong."
This obviously suggests that hard shoes are for advanced dancers, and soft shoes are for beginners. But what about:
"Her feet were so strong that she didn't even need shoes to go en pointe. She would demonstrate for us when teaching and relevé all the way up in bare feet. It was so crazy!"
This statement is completely the opposite from the first--it suggests that dancers with very strong feet don't need support from the shoe at all. Then there's the now-pervasive argument about Gaynor Mindens:
"My studio doesn't allow Gaynor Mindens. They don't make you work because they hold you up."
"I knew a girl that wore Gaynor Mindens, and once she switched to a Grishko and she couldn't even get up on the shank."
Gaynor Mindens are tricky. I have some thoughts about them, but I'll save them for later. For now, I'm going to write about "traditional" shoes in hard and soft shanks. Is it true that strong dancers should get hard shanks? Or is a soft shoe the true hallmark of strong feet?
I have to admit, one of the reasons that I'm writing this is because I was (quietly) a little offended by the first statement, that Blochs are for beginners. I wear Bloch Aspirations. These are actually the shoe I've worn since my first (quickly killed) pair of pointe shoes, which were Gambas. I had a brief diversion into a pair of Gaynor Mindens, but they didn't fit quite right, so I ended up going back to Aspirations and am pretty happy with them. They're also cheap. So that's a bonus.
(My sister, on the other hand, never seemed to really find a shoe that she liked, and bounced around between lots of different shoes.)
I would not consider myself a beginner. But, recently I've uncovered a secret love of soft shoes. I like softer shoes because they let me really articulate through every millimeter of the relevé. I like softer shoes because I don't get thrown up to the top of the platform. I like softer shoes because when I'm jumping I don't sound like a grandfather clock being thrown down the stairs--and it takes FAR less effort to get the same height in softer shoes! I like balancing in softer shoes because I can consistently negotiate just where my weight is, instead of being encouraged in a certain direction by a harder shank. I just wish I could get my shoes to the perfect malleable wonderful softness and have them STAY there, instead of wearing out.
Also, here's the real reason I originally started looking into pointe shoe shanks: in high school, I had my hard shoe on my right (stronger) and my soft shoe on the left (weaker), but these days I have the soft shoe on my right, and the hard one on the left. The right foot just breaks the shoe in faster, so I don't have to do anything special (I actually used to soften up a shoe on my right foot and then switch sides).
When considering shank strength, there are multiple factors to consider. In Part I, I'm not going to talk about everything--I'm going to limit myself to the first three points, and how they apply to getting over the shoe properly.
1. Do you have high, flexible arches that are prone to falling over the pointe? Or do you have an ankle that makes a straight line and a moderate arch (like mine)? Or do you have inflexible ankle that doesn't go fully vertical, and a tendency to not get over the box? (I imagine you could have combination flexible arch/inflexible ankle, but I have to admit I have not met many folks like this.)
2. Do you have strong feet, or weak feet? Strong ankles, or weak ankles? Often, but not always, natural flexibility and natural strength are in inverse relation.
3. Are you tall? Broad? Heavy? Tiny?
4. Do you have strong or weak hips, quads, and core?
5. What are you trying to do in your shoe? Fast relevés that you need to pop up for? Hops on pointe? A soft adagio? Long balances? Jumps? Repeated pirouettes? Les Sylphides? (That's the ballet that always comes up when people mention wanting a softer shoe...)
6. How badly do you not want to buy another pair of shoes in two days? (This, and this blog in general, applies to amateurs, not professionals, of course!)
Getting over on the pointe is the most important thing, and is intimately paired with maintaining the proper position. They're the salt 'n' pepper of pointework. Or maybe the bread and butter.
There are three general categories: too far over, correctly over, and under. Let's consider point 1, foot/arch/ankle flexibility:
- Those ballet-blessed with high, flexible arches and ankles have wonderful lines, but a tendency to go too far over the box (risking injury).
- Those with middlingly flexible arches and ankles look less "idealistically" pretty, but have less of a tendency to fall over the box.
- Those with a less flexible ankle have the tendency to not get properly on top of the box (high risk for falling and skidding).
(I've seen this graphic floating around a lot--it's not mine! But I don't know its origin. Also, the over-the-box shoe is really unflattering...)
Basically, a hard shank lends its stiffness to the highly flexible foot, and a soft shank lends its flexibility to the less flexible foot. The shank is the equalizer. Those with high and flexible arches are often encouraged to go with a hard shank in order to lower the risk of going too far over and breaking important pieces of anatomy.
Let's continue to point 2: strength of foot.
- Stronger feet achieve the point; stronger ankles can maintain correct position;
- Weaker feet/ankles are lacking in these areas.
So, say you are completely blessed and have very strong, very flexible feet and ankles. You will likely still want a shank on the harder side, so you have a little more room for error, but strong technique and muscles will also prevent you from going too far over the shoe and, of course, breaking important pieces of anatomy. Or perhaps a higher vamp will help you stay in the shoe and over the box, and you can use a softer shank. Strong and flexible feet with weak ankles will almost certainly want a stronger shank to support the ankle and help maintain position.
On the other hand, say you are cursed with weak, inflexible feet and ankles. Not only will you have a hard time getting over the box at all, but maintaining the position will be difficult. My educated guess is that a medium shank would be best here---enough flexibility to encourage getting on top of the box, but enough support to be able to use the shoe to maintain the full point, as the ankle muscles are not yet available.
I don't want to do all the permutations, but the other two "extreme" cases are weak but flexible, for which I would definitely suggest a hard shank, since the muscles are not available to maintain correct position and the shoe is needed for support. Meanwhile, strong but inflexible would likely do better with a medium-soft to soft shank.
Point 3 actually doesn't really have much to do with achieving and maintaining position, except that you need strong feet relative to your build. I'm 5'8" and 140 pounds, and all else being equal, would do better with a harder shank than someone at 5'5" and 105 pounds, OR, I need much stronger feet. Just extra weight being on the dancer puts more stress on the shank. I've also seen very slender dancers (especially young, short ones) have a hard time getting the arch to show up in the shoe at all, just because there's nothing pressing down on the shoe.
These different factors explain why there are various thoughts that "hard shoes are for beginners" "soft shoes are for beginners" (but nobody says anything about the lonely, neglected medium shoe).
- For beginners with average to inflexible feet, it's easier to get over the box on a soft shank. Even if beginners are strong for technique class, they do not yet have the strength in the muscles required for pointe. (And, as I think I've mentioned before, pointework just amplifies all your flaws!) Thus, just getting up on the box at all is extremely difficult with a hard shoe--even if it'll hold you there when you do get up.
- On the other hand, lots of flexibility or more weakness in the ankles really does need a harder shank to avoid injury.
At the same time, some teachers require hard shanks for everyone. This covers the extra flexible people, and also puts new pointe feet through a boot camp (pointe camp?) of getting stronger--as long as the students are ACTUALLY working the shoe, and not just hanging out behind the full pointe. I'd be surprised if people recommended soft for all, since that puts the flexible people at risk.
I wish I could make a 3D table on here, with dimensions of flexibility, ankle strength, and foot strength, and figure out what each would need.
So, there you have it. Whatever you have to say about Gaynor Minden, their shank advice is spot on, though does not address the dancing part of the equation, which is what I will get to in Part II. There are also other discussions on forums that pick apart these issues. I'm really not making stuff up and throwing it out there because someone said soft shoes were for beginners!
"That's why Bloch shoes are for beginners. People with strong feet kill them too fast. You need hard shoes because your feet are strong."
This obviously suggests that hard shoes are for advanced dancers, and soft shoes are for beginners. But what about:
"Her feet were so strong that she didn't even need shoes to go en pointe. She would demonstrate for us when teaching and relevé all the way up in bare feet. It was so crazy!"
This statement is completely the opposite from the first--it suggests that dancers with very strong feet don't need support from the shoe at all. Then there's the now-pervasive argument about Gaynor Mindens:
"My studio doesn't allow Gaynor Mindens. They don't make you work because they hold you up."
"I knew a girl that wore Gaynor Mindens, and once she switched to a Grishko and she couldn't even get up on the shank."
Gaynor Mindens are tricky. I have some thoughts about them, but I'll save them for later. For now, I'm going to write about "traditional" shoes in hard and soft shanks. Is it true that strong dancers should get hard shanks? Or is a soft shoe the true hallmark of strong feet?
I have to admit, one of the reasons that I'm writing this is because I was (quietly) a little offended by the first statement, that Blochs are for beginners. I wear Bloch Aspirations. These are actually the shoe I've worn since my first (quickly killed) pair of pointe shoes, which were Gambas. I had a brief diversion into a pair of Gaynor Mindens, but they didn't fit quite right, so I ended up going back to Aspirations and am pretty happy with them. They're also cheap. So that's a bonus.
(My sister, on the other hand, never seemed to really find a shoe that she liked, and bounced around between lots of different shoes.)
I would not consider myself a beginner. But, recently I've uncovered a secret love of soft shoes. I like softer shoes because they let me really articulate through every millimeter of the relevé. I like softer shoes because I don't get thrown up to the top of the platform. I like softer shoes because when I'm jumping I don't sound like a grandfather clock being thrown down the stairs--and it takes FAR less effort to get the same height in softer shoes! I like balancing in softer shoes because I can consistently negotiate just where my weight is, instead of being encouraged in a certain direction by a harder shank. I just wish I could get my shoes to the perfect malleable wonderful softness and have them STAY there, instead of wearing out.
Also, here's the real reason I originally started looking into pointe shoe shanks: in high school, I had my hard shoe on my right (stronger) and my soft shoe on the left (weaker), but these days I have the soft shoe on my right, and the hard one on the left. The right foot just breaks the shoe in faster, so I don't have to do anything special (I actually used to soften up a shoe on my right foot and then switch sides).
~*~
When considering shank strength, there are multiple factors to consider. In Part I, I'm not going to talk about everything--I'm going to limit myself to the first three points, and how they apply to getting over the shoe properly.
1. Do you have high, flexible arches that are prone to falling over the pointe? Or do you have an ankle that makes a straight line and a moderate arch (like mine)? Or do you have inflexible ankle that doesn't go fully vertical, and a tendency to not get over the box? (I imagine you could have combination flexible arch/inflexible ankle, but I have to admit I have not met many folks like this.)
2. Do you have strong feet, or weak feet? Strong ankles, or weak ankles? Often, but not always, natural flexibility and natural strength are in inverse relation.
3. Are you tall? Broad? Heavy? Tiny?
4. Do you have strong or weak hips, quads, and core?
5. What are you trying to do in your shoe? Fast relevés that you need to pop up for? Hops on pointe? A soft adagio? Long balances? Jumps? Repeated pirouettes? Les Sylphides? (That's the ballet that always comes up when people mention wanting a softer shoe...)
6. How badly do you not want to buy another pair of shoes in two days? (This, and this blog in general, applies to amateurs, not professionals, of course!)
Getting over on the pointe is the most important thing, and is intimately paired with maintaining the proper position. They're the salt 'n' pepper of pointework. Or maybe the bread and butter.
There are three general categories: too far over, correctly over, and under. Let's consider point 1, foot/arch/ankle flexibility:
- Those ballet-blessed with high, flexible arches and ankles have wonderful lines, but a tendency to go too far over the box (risking injury).
- Those with middlingly flexible arches and ankles look less "idealistically" pretty, but have less of a tendency to fall over the box.
- Those with a less flexible ankle have the tendency to not get properly on top of the box (high risk for falling and skidding).
(I've seen this graphic floating around a lot--it's not mine! But I don't know its origin. Also, the over-the-box shoe is really unflattering...)
Basically, a hard shank lends its stiffness to the highly flexible foot, and a soft shank lends its flexibility to the less flexible foot. The shank is the equalizer. Those with high and flexible arches are often encouraged to go with a hard shank in order to lower the risk of going too far over and breaking important pieces of anatomy.
Let's continue to point 2: strength of foot.
- Stronger feet achieve the point; stronger ankles can maintain correct position;
- Weaker feet/ankles are lacking in these areas.
So, say you are completely blessed and have very strong, very flexible feet and ankles. You will likely still want a shank on the harder side, so you have a little more room for error, but strong technique and muscles will also prevent you from going too far over the shoe and, of course, breaking important pieces of anatomy. Or perhaps a higher vamp will help you stay in the shoe and over the box, and you can use a softer shank. Strong and flexible feet with weak ankles will almost certainly want a stronger shank to support the ankle and help maintain position.
On the other hand, say you are cursed with weak, inflexible feet and ankles. Not only will you have a hard time getting over the box at all, but maintaining the position will be difficult. My educated guess is that a medium shank would be best here---enough flexibility to encourage getting on top of the box, but enough support to be able to use the shoe to maintain the full point, as the ankle muscles are not yet available.
I don't want to do all the permutations, but the other two "extreme" cases are weak but flexible, for which I would definitely suggest a hard shank, since the muscles are not available to maintain correct position and the shoe is needed for support. Meanwhile, strong but inflexible would likely do better with a medium-soft to soft shank.
Point 3 actually doesn't really have much to do with achieving and maintaining position, except that you need strong feet relative to your build. I'm 5'8" and 140 pounds, and all else being equal, would do better with a harder shank than someone at 5'5" and 105 pounds, OR, I need much stronger feet. Just extra weight being on the dancer puts more stress on the shank. I've also seen very slender dancers (especially young, short ones) have a hard time getting the arch to show up in the shoe at all, just because there's nothing pressing down on the shoe.
~*~
These different factors explain why there are various thoughts that "hard shoes are for beginners" "soft shoes are for beginners" (but nobody says anything about the lonely, neglected medium shoe).
- For beginners with average to inflexible feet, it's easier to get over the box on a soft shank. Even if beginners are strong for technique class, they do not yet have the strength in the muscles required for pointe. (And, as I think I've mentioned before, pointework just amplifies all your flaws!) Thus, just getting up on the box at all is extremely difficult with a hard shoe--even if it'll hold you there when you do get up.
- On the other hand, lots of flexibility or more weakness in the ankles really does need a harder shank to avoid injury.
At the same time, some teachers require hard shanks for everyone. This covers the extra flexible people, and also puts new pointe feet through a boot camp (pointe camp?) of getting stronger--as long as the students are ACTUALLY working the shoe, and not just hanging out behind the full pointe. I'd be surprised if people recommended soft for all, since that puts the flexible people at risk.
I wish I could make a 3D table on here, with dimensions of flexibility, ankle strength, and foot strength, and figure out what each would need.
So, there you have it. Whatever you have to say about Gaynor Minden, their shank advice is spot on, though does not address the dancing part of the equation, which is what I will get to in Part II. There are also other discussions on forums that pick apart these issues. I'm really not making stuff up and throwing it out there because someone said soft shoes were for beginners!
Thursday, February 26, 2015
The British are coming!
The girls at my studio are abuzz because the Royal Ballet is coming to the US for a summer 2015 tour. They're performing in Washington DC (June 9-14), Chicago (June 18-21), and New York* (June 23-28). In the first two cities they're doing Don Q and in New York they're doing a bunch of other repertoire.
In some comment somewhere I saw that someone apparently really, really didn't want the RB to perform Alice. I have to say, I really don't understand not liking the RB production of Alice in Wonderland! When you have tapping...
And this pas de deux...
Though personally, I like the pas de deux better with Lauren Cuthbertson and Sergei Polunin. It's not quite as technically smooth (partner-wise) but it feels more genuine. And softer? Younger? More innocent and Alice-like? But, still, I do really like that pas. How can you hate Alice?!
The summer in New York is just full of ballet. In addition to the Royal Ballet tour, ABT has an amazing lineup for June. La Bayadère, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and Cinderella. Swan Lake and Cinderella are in the same time period as the Royal Ballet tour if you want to pack full a week in NYC! ABT also happens to be saying good-bye to a couple of my favorite dancers: Xiomara Reyes and Paloma Herrera.
My parents may or may not be coming to visit me/NYC around that time (their last visit to NYC was disappointing, because their companions didn't want to walk around much), so hopefully some ballet will be in our trip.
*Look, I've fallen into the very NYS habit of calling New York City "New York." When I first got here, I was always slightly annoyed by people calling NYC "New York." "Where are you going for break?" "New York." ("But you're already HERE!!")
In some comment somewhere I saw that someone apparently really, really didn't want the RB to perform Alice. I have to say, I really don't understand not liking the RB production of Alice in Wonderland! When you have tapping...
And this pas de deux...
Though personally, I like the pas de deux better with Lauren Cuthbertson and Sergei Polunin. It's not quite as technically smooth (partner-wise) but it feels more genuine. And softer? Younger? More innocent and Alice-like? But, still, I do really like that pas. How can you hate Alice?!
The summer in New York is just full of ballet. In addition to the Royal Ballet tour, ABT has an amazing lineup for June. La Bayadère, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and Cinderella. Swan Lake and Cinderella are in the same time period as the Royal Ballet tour if you want to pack full a week in NYC! ABT also happens to be saying good-bye to a couple of my favorite dancers: Xiomara Reyes and Paloma Herrera.
My parents may or may not be coming to visit me/NYC around that time (their last visit to NYC was disappointing, because their companions didn't want to walk around much), so hopefully some ballet will be in our trip.
*Look, I've fallen into the very NYS habit of calling New York City "New York." When I first got here, I was always slightly annoyed by people calling NYC "New York." "Where are you going for break?" "New York." ("But you're already HERE!!")
Monday, February 23, 2015
Challenge of the week: February 16th, 2015
Location: From the corner
Combination: Corner turns (en pointe, but I'm sure that's not what makes this difficult--in fact, it may be easier en pointe than in technique shoes)
Step: Piqué en dedans (single), piqué en dedans (single), double piqué turn en dedans with arms on the hips, taking up the same amount of time for this double as you did for both of the singles combined.
I'm pretty sure the arms on the hips don't really matter either, but it does bring your "circle" inward and make it harder to turn slowly---like when you're on the twirly chair as a kid and you spin around really fast when you bring your legs in?
Challenge: Stopping your turning momentum just enough to take up the full four (three, not counting the final plié) counts for two pirouettes without stopping it SO much that you don't get around. It also helps if you alter the timing a little. Usually for double piqué en dedans, the timing is to get AROUND right away. USUALLY, the combination is single, single, double, single, and the challenge is getting your back around fast enough to do both turns before the 7, 8. In this case, you almost have to piqué without turning, and then using your balance, spot, turnout, back, etc. to get around.
Success?: It took me a couple of runs on both sides before I was able to consistently get it (to the right) and mostly get it (to the left).
Tip: A. use your plié; B. do NOT let your turnout fail in the takeoff. Nailing the turnout will help you both balance and time the "body pirouette." C. Timing thusly (counting a fast 8, rather than a 1 and 2 and):
1 pique pirouette 2 plie, 3 pique pirouette 4 plie, 5 pique 6 pirouette 7 pirouette 8 plie
In the "5 pique" it is kind of a slow half-turn, or at least it is the way I'm doing it. I got this method to work on the left side (though not as consistently as on the right), so it can't be something I'm just "ramming through" on my strong side.
Combination: Corner turns (en pointe, but I'm sure that's not what makes this difficult--in fact, it may be easier en pointe than in technique shoes)
Step: Piqué en dedans (single), piqué en dedans (single), double piqué turn en dedans with arms on the hips, taking up the same amount of time for this double as you did for both of the singles combined.
I'm pretty sure the arms on the hips don't really matter either, but it does bring your "circle" inward and make it harder to turn slowly---like when you're on the twirly chair as a kid and you spin around really fast when you bring your legs in?
Challenge: Stopping your turning momentum just enough to take up the full four (three, not counting the final plié) counts for two pirouettes without stopping it SO much that you don't get around. It also helps if you alter the timing a little. Usually for double piqué en dedans, the timing is to get AROUND right away. USUALLY, the combination is single, single, double, single, and the challenge is getting your back around fast enough to do both turns before the 7, 8. In this case, you almost have to piqué without turning, and then using your balance, spot, turnout, back, etc. to get around.
Success?: It took me a couple of runs on both sides before I was able to consistently get it (to the right) and mostly get it (to the left).
Tip: A. use your plié; B. do NOT let your turnout fail in the takeoff. Nailing the turnout will help you both balance and time the "body pirouette." C. Timing thusly (counting a fast 8, rather than a 1 and 2 and):
1 pique pirouette 2 plie, 3 pique pirouette 4 plie, 5 pique 6 pirouette 7 pirouette 8 plie
In the "5 pique" it is kind of a slow half-turn, or at least it is the way I'm doing it. I got this method to work on the left side (though not as consistently as on the right), so it can't be something I'm just "ramming through" on my strong side.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Challenge of the week: February 9th, 2015
I'm going to start a "challenge of the week." The classes I take with the company usually have one truly difficult thing (for me... lol) per week, which THEY all work on all week and then I come in on Fridays and am the one flapping around. The Saturday class usually goes better, haha.
I actually want to give one from two weeks ago, because it's the one that made me want to do this.
Location: Center
Combination: Adagio
Step: Sousu in croise, arms a la seconde. Slow port de bras forward while on full demi (or 3/4, whatever your studio calls it) point, moving arms to fifth as normal at the bottom. Come back up.
Challenge: Holding your glutes and quads firm enough to balance while changing your center of gravity quite drastically. Coming back up is much harder, though I'm not sure if that is due to the fact that your muscles are tired, or because it's merely the switch in momentum/direction.
Success?: We did the adagio twice on Friday and twice on Saturday. I got it the second time on Saturday on both sides. The first time on Saturday I made it down but had to fling myself back up instead of doing it slowly.
Tip: Keep your eyes focused more or less as you would for a penche. That is, in a straight line out, or perhaps a little above where a straight line from your eyes would be. At the barre, we normally do pdbras with our face turned to the side, but that just makes it unreasonably difficult.
I actually want to give one from two weeks ago, because it's the one that made me want to do this.
Location: Center
Combination: Adagio
Step: Sousu in croise, arms a la seconde. Slow port de bras forward while on full demi (or 3/4, whatever your studio calls it) point, moving arms to fifth as normal at the bottom. Come back up.
Challenge: Holding your glutes and quads firm enough to balance while changing your center of gravity quite drastically. Coming back up is much harder, though I'm not sure if that is due to the fact that your muscles are tired, or because it's merely the switch in momentum/direction.
Success?: We did the adagio twice on Friday and twice on Saturday. I got it the second time on Saturday on both sides. The first time on Saturday I made it down but had to fling myself back up instead of doing it slowly.
Tip: Keep your eyes focused more or less as you would for a penche. That is, in a straight line out, or perhaps a little above where a straight line from your eyes would be. At the barre, we normally do pdbras with our face turned to the side, but that just makes it unreasonably difficult.
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