How long each day?

[Guest dance4life87]

Mrs. Leigh or Mr. Mel just curious, for your advanced ballet students, how long do you have them on pointe each day and how much of flat? Is it better to be dancing on pointe a lot more then flat?

[Mel Johnson]

Even for company-level classes, I prefer dancers to wear soft shoes for technique classes and pointe shoes for pointe classes. But just try to convince a professional dancer these days to do that!

 

At an advanced student level, I prefer that dancers get a single hour-and-a-half technique class, a single hour pointe class, then another hour or more of supplementary classes (pas de deux, variations, men's class, modern, jazz, whatever) plus any performance rehearsals that are pending. And that's every day except Sunday, as we all need time off.

[Guest dance4life87]

well if I take 4 and a half hours of ballet which I do on most days of the week, would you recommend maybe the first class flat and then the second two to be on pointe?

[Mel Johnson]

Are any of them dedicated pointe classes?

[Guest dance4life87]

what do you mean? Do you mean that they aren't really technique but more for pointe?

[Victoria Leigh]

Mr. Johnson has left for a while, so I will answer, as I do know what he means. He is talking about pointe classes, which are separate classes which follow technique classes. Many of us feel that this is the best way for dancers to train, meaning that they have a technique class each day, followed by a pointe class, or a pas de deux or variations class. Some also have a modern or a jazz class on some days. But the technique and pointe classes should comprise the major portion of the training, and be about two and a half hours a day. After that, there are often rehearsals, which might well mean additional pointe work, but that depends on how advanced the dancers are. Not every day has to be exactly the same in schedule, although the technique class should be a non-variable. That is first and foremost.

 

Some dancers do all of their technique classes in pointe shoes. Many do not. There are some of us who believe that it is best to do the first hour and a half or so in soft shoes, and then proceed to pointe work. However, pointe classes should also involve a lot of jumps and all kinds of center movement for the advanced dancer, not just relevés and piqués!

[Guest dance4life87]

well in the intermediate class there pointe only 2 days a week each for 20 minutes after a regular technique class. But for the advanced level there is usually an hour and a half of a regular class pointe shoes optional I guess, then there is different classes after them each day. for example after the advanced class one day there is a modern class after then on another day its a ballet class then variations after... so on for 5 days a week and then on another day i thinks its thursday, its the an extra long advanced class that is 2 and a half hours long instead of the usual 1 and a half instead of a separate class after. and the classes after the normal advanced classes are pointe but the first one pointe shoes is optional. am i making any sense at all?

[balletstar811]

Do auditions for companies require you to wear pointe shoes the whole time?

 

Also, I fear I do not get enough pointe in for the week, and that I'll never be ready for a professional level. We of course are not allowed to choose if we want to wear our pointe shoes for class- it's flat for technique and that is that. We are supposed to have pointe two times per week, one class is 30 minutes and the other is 45, and they both follow an hour and a half technique class. The problem is, my teachers almost always go over in ballet so we have like ten minutes of pointe. We do a few barre exercises, and then they say "that's all we have time for today, thank you!". And every time they say "we'll definately do more pointe next week" and we never do! What is to be done about this? Pray I move up to the next level soon??

[Mel Johnson]

I can certainly understand the difficulty teachers have in making a class come out right on time; I have trouble with it myself when I feel a class and I are "on a roll". But it's your duty now to say to your teachers, "We must have a better balance between technique and pointe." Then you can discuss your options from there.

 

D4, you've got to come up with a solution with your teacher as to how best to balance your pointework with grade-appropriate technique.

 

D811, professional dancers really don't HAVE to wear any particular kind of shoe to company auditions, but most of them wear pointe shoes, even if they're shot-to-pieces. For real pointework, they do change into serious pointe shoes, and jolly quick about it, too!;)