a small gripe *arg*

[Guest Lizuca]

I hate complaining on my very first post, but I wanted some other dancers' opinions. I'm a college student who was taking ballet classes at school, both for credit (phsyical education) and recreation. Now school is out for the summer and I just enrolled at a pretty nice dance school in the area so that I can keep in shape for the summer. Last fall, my college dance teacher offered a pointe class and allowed me to go on pointe, but in the spring semester she dropped the class becuase of lack of time. The new school says I'm not strong enough to be on pointe. I know that they're probably right because I've only studied about a year and a half at school and a little bit when I was about 10 and that my technique needs some work. After seeing the classes at this studio, I now know how behind I am. And even though I know that now I can work at going on pointe the right way, it's SO frustrating! Why would a college dance teacher- in a college where no one is going to be a professional dancer- risk harming students by allowing them to go on pointe if they're not ready?

 

Sorry for the gripe, I'm just kind of angry at getting my pointe shoes only to have them taken away again.

[Guest BBNButterscotch]

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that, however rest assured that it will be better for you in the long run, and it is a sign that your new teacher is knowledgeble and cares about your safety. I've found that a lot of teachers, especially high school and college teachers, don't really understand how to judge whether or not someone is ready for pointe work. I've had a lot of students come into my classes at my school and our teacher has taken them off pointe because they were put on too early. Just work hard, especially on strengthening exercises and I'm sure you'll be back on pointe in no time.

 

PS: Age or whether or not you want to go pro has really nothing to do with it. I'm 20, I went on pointe at 18 and although I have no goal to be pro, I do plan to become as proficient at ballet as I can and become a member of my studio's small company.

[Victoria Leigh]

If ballet is taught in the PE dept. of your college, it is somewhat unlikely that you have a professional ballet teacher. Anyone teaching in that area of higher education must have a degree, and there are no professional performing or teacher training qualifications, to my knowledge. While there may be some colleges with qualified teachers of ballet in the PE dept., one cannot depend on it. I would suggest taking your ballet in a separate school, if there is a decent one in the town where the college is located.