ohballet

Me in class when my teacher makes us leap

That's great! Usually you have to take about 7-9 years before you start pointe. However, that typically for someone who starts around the age of 3 or 4, and has to build up the strength in their ankles (and entire body) to be able to stand on pointe around 10-12 years old. Since you are older, you may not have to wait quite as long to build up the strength, especially if you are an active person already. But there is a lot of work required to be able to stand on pointe. It is a privilege that has to be earned. So, don't expect to be asked to start pointe classes after a couple months of taking ballet. It's a long term strengthening process. The best advice I can give you is to go in with an open mind, be attentive, and work hard. It might be overwhelming at first, but it'll be completely worth it if you love ballet. Hopefully this helped!

I think you should really weigh the pros and cons of quitting/sticking with ballet. Ask yourself if there are things you can change to make you enjoy ballet again? Is it your studio, an injury, peers, teachers, etc.? Is it is stressing you out so bad that it's negatively effecting other areas of your life? Do you feel like you can overcome whatever stresses that you feel about ballet to come out stronger? Just ask yourself the important questions, and be honest with yourself. Discussing it with another person in an unbiased conversation will also help you come to a decision. I can't really tell you whether to quit or not because that is ultimately your decision. Hopefully this helped, and I'm sure whatever you choose will be the right path for you :)

thank you so so much! your blog is awesome too :)

Everyone take a couple minutes and check out his blog! His paintings are amazing and all ballet inspired!!! I absolutely adore them, thank you so much for sharing :) keep up the good work!

Thanks so much! Irish is actually so much fun but crazy hard! I can imagine it must be tough on her knees, it's super bad to land any jump on a straight knee. But that's awesome you might be starting ballet soon!

If you're willing to put in the effort I say go for it! The time you took off isn't too long, and I'm sure once you start to take classes again you're body will remember a lot of the movements. It's hard to give yourself class at home but you can do some basic things like barre exercises, and even stretching just so you won't be jumping back in so suddenly. Good luck!

Don't even worry about who's on triples and what not! Doing really solid pirouettes is a long term process. I've always struggled with pirouettes, but just focusing on myself and finding my own ways to improve has helped me the most. So keep with it and even if you're not a "natural turner" doesn't mean you can't learn how to be!

Stretching on the barre might be a little better just because you can relax more into the stretch and take your time to find alignment. Also if you lay on your back and if you stretch your leg while it's parallel across to the opposite shoulder it will eventually help your flexibility a lot even though it'll be really tight at first. Remember not to force anything and stretch in correct alignment!

ily too thank you :)

Haha that was clever :) thanks so much!

Hahaha that's horrific. I've definitely had some pipe cleaner costumes in my past but that's just awful!