Guest haylee Posted March 31, 2003 Report Share Posted March 31, 2003 When it comes to pointe at the barre i'm fine, I do do every excersie well. But as soon as we go into the centre I get scared and do turn on demi pointe. My teacher says it good and that I should do it en pointe, but I cant and get very scared. Is there anyway of overcoming this fear. Quote Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted March 31, 2003 Report Share Posted March 31, 2003 "Don't think, just do.";) There's actually a lot of wisdom in that little quote from Balanchine. Remember, you're only going about an inch higher on pointe than on a nice high demi-pointe, and the turn is, if anything, easier, because you experience less friction from the floor. Just go ahead and do them! Quote Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted March 31, 2003 Administrators Report Share Posted March 31, 2003 Haylee, I moved this to Adult Ballet Students because it's really a technique issue, not a shoe topic. Mr. Johnson is right on, of course With pointe work fear just holds you back, literally. When you are afraid of something you back away from it. With pointe work you must attack it! If you are now able to get all the way up on the pointes, correctly and without sickling on pointe (which you mentioned a long time ago in an earlier post), and you are strong enough to do solid relevés from two feet to one, and hopefully also one foot to the same foot, then you should be able to do pirouettes. This would also assume that you have good pirouettes on demi pointe! Keep your weight forward and don't hesitate at all, just go for it. What's the worst thing that can happen? A fall on the derrière can be embarrassing, but it won't hurt that much! ;) Quote Link to comment
Guest Giselle83 Posted April 2, 2003 Report Share Posted April 2, 2003 hello! I have a little 'pointe fear' too. We started practising double pirouettes last fall and that is very scary =) any good advice? Especially en dehors is scary! Do you HAVE to be able to do 3 turns demi pointe in order to do 2 turns en pointe? I just just started doing triples with 'better foot' (sorry this term, at least my teachers hates it cause there shouldnt be one!). Plus, I'm a rather slow turner, I like doing slow double pirouettes (demipointe!). Could that affect me having problems doing double turns en pointe? Should they be done really fast? Our teacher doesn't correct this kind of things much...she just seems to observe us and corrects if something is REALLY wrong. And well, my turnout is poor...I work so hard to make that passé as open as possible...but when I turn my supporting leg goes parallel... thanks for ANY advice! :-) Quote Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted April 3, 2003 Report Share Posted April 3, 2003 That's something that you often see among men, that turning parallel as you go up into relevé. Honestly, the only thing that will hold it will be effective use of all the turnout/rotation muscles you have, and practice a lot. Don't let yourself get away with it! If the supporting foot goes parallel, stop immediately. If you can do three pirouettes on demi-pointe, you certainly should be able to do two on full pointe! There's a lot less friction, and fast or slow shouldn't make much difference. Quote Link to comment
Guest karenfixe Posted April 3, 2003 Report Share Posted April 3, 2003 Ok, this question is for the pro's out here. I've been working on pointe for years now (about 6). I understand the concept of attack while either on pointe or flat, but foutte turns are what get me every time! I can do about 6-8 good turns to the right in soft shoes in the center and maybe 2 to the left. When it comes to pointe work, I can do clean single and double pirourettes (esp to the right). The only time I can muster some courage for foutte turns is at the barre! I can do balances, fouttes (pointe), petite allegro, etc in the center just fine. I guess the only time I feel slightly brave to attempt this turn is at the barre in new pointe shoes. Got any advice for a chicken like me? Quote Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted April 3, 2003 Report Share Posted April 3, 2003 If you're in the center, and it comes time for fouettés, just pretend that the barre is still there! If you find yourself flailing for support on the imaginary barre, then you know you've been too dependent on it. Quote Link to comment
Guest karenfixe Posted April 3, 2003 Report Share Posted April 3, 2003 Uh oh... Quote Link to comment
Guest piccolo Posted April 4, 2003 Report Share Posted April 4, 2003 Ask yourself: What is the worst thing that can happen to me when I go for this pirouette/fouette on pointe? (I.e. What am I afraid of?) Well, you could fall. Then what? Well, you get up, figure out what exactly made you fall and try again. Identify your fear, do things to minimize it, then go for it. The worst thing that can happen is not that bad. Quote Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted April 4, 2003 Report Share Posted April 4, 2003 Besides, if you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and immediately start analyzing what went wrong instead of wasting time being embarrassed, then you pick up the Karen Allen "Raiders of the Lost Ark" Award from your peers for "Best Work by a Smart, Tough Gal"! Quote Link to comment
Guest karenfixe Posted April 4, 2003 Report Share Posted April 4, 2003 Thanks for the vote of confidence Master Mel. I guess since last October, I've been a little more chicken than usual. I slipped doing a foutte jump and fell on my side. I bruised the ulnar nerve in my right elbow and had a gorgeous green bruise on my right cheekbone. The ER visit wasn't as bad (nothing broken) as the soreness the next day. ;) Oy vey... I am getting old. My plan is to continue losing weight (7 lbs so far) and when I'm at 15 lbs lost, I'm going back to pointe class. I think that pushing up to pointe and not falling off will be a LOT easier. Thanks y'all! Quote Link to comment
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