1.Need wide Satin Slippers + 2.When did you know?

[Guest clickhere]

Shoes

 

My dd is in her first year of ballet, doing the RAD syllabus. She watched a portion of the primary video of the RAD program and the girls had satin shoes. Naturally, she wanted satin shoes (oh so pretty)

 

Anyway...the shoes we ended up with were Capezios (we ordered online). The only problem is there is no give like the leather shoes so they weren't wide enough for her feet. Does anyone know of anywhere that sells satin shoes in a wide width?

 

When did you know...

 

That for your daughter, ballet was going to be an all consuming passion, at least through high school? I know all most girls love to be pretty and wear ballet slippers and dance. And...I know that most girls burn out and quit eventually when things get "hard".

 

I know my daughter is only 7 (actually turned 7 today) but already I am getting the idea this ballet "thing" may be a long haul event. Really, I was innocent when I signed my daughter up. I didn't take ballet as a child. I just signed her up for a fun summer class with a teenage teacher at an art school. She did ballet while my other kids took art class (ha ha in the same room at the same time). Then by October it was real class with a RAD instructor (now 2x a week). The first thing her teachers said when they saw her was, "what a beautiful face". Now she has beautiful ballet feet and natural flexiblity (as soon as she even knew WHAT splits were, she could do them both ways). This child lives, dreams and breathes ballet.

 

I know it is a hard road to travel, hard on the body, hard on the finances, hard on the family (driving, and as she gets older evenings taken up by ballet class) so I'm definately won't be pushing her. (it'll be more like, "Oh, you want to quit, gee that's too bad, I guess we'll take all the money we would have spent on ballet and put a down payment on a house").

 

But really, I wouldn't push or force her to quit either. When I was little I was on swim team in the first town I lived in, we move when I was 9 to a town that didn't even have a swimming pool (a big lake, no need for a pool). I spent the rest of my school years wishing I could be on swim team again.

 

It's just sometime I think, "oh brother, what have I gotten us into." I worry about putting so much time into just one of my children. I know as the others get older they will have their own things (she is the oldest), but it still feels out of balance right now!

 

Just sharing I guess.

[Victoria Leigh]

Welcome to Ballet Talk for Dancers, and their parents, clickhere. Thank you for sharing your story, and it does sound like you have one who could end up becoming serious about this crazy little world of ballet

 

However, a word of caution at the moment....even seemingly little things like satin shoes might be just a bit "over the top" for a 7 year old! Unless all of the girls in her class are wearing them, I would suggest that she wait until she is ready for pointe shoes to get the pretty pink satin.

[Mel Johnson]

Hi, clickhere and welcome to the Moms and Dads' forums here at Ballet Talk on Ballet Alert! Online!

 

I believe Capezio has discountinued its satin ballet shoe line, but Freed of London still makes them. They only have three widths, narrow, medium and wide. Try this link:

 

http://www.freedusa.com/ballet/2_2b_ballet.html

 

Also, welcome to the wonderful world of parenting the child involved in out-of-the-home activities! Sharing is good.

[Mel Johnson]

A further websearch reveals, as I suspected, that Gamba also makes soft satin ballet shoes in a wider range of sizes:

 

http://www.gambadance.com/ballet/danzinas/dsfs.html

 

Your challenge is to find a dealer who sells them!

[LadyR]

[Guest BalletAuthor]

Post deleted by moderator

[Mel Johnson]

Actually, this is more a matter of "dress fad" in the RAD in the United Kingdom than a widespread phenomenon. During the "pink years" in the curriculum (RAD parents know what I'm talking about), the little girls have been taking to wearing satin shoes. But soon, the "big girl" syndrome takes over and the little girls want to wear what "the big girls"(dressed in burgundy) wear (leather or canvas), and the satin shoes go by the wayside. They are not required for exams. Let's not overinterpret here.

 

The satin shoes are no better nor worse than leather or canvas shoes, and they are no longer nor shorter in being outgrown than the other materials. Neither are they more costly. It's harmless, let it go.

[dancindaughters]

Hello Clickhere and LadyR,

I have 2 daughters, ages 7 and 10. They both love ballet, and show some potential. I believe that a child who has a natural talent for dance will demonstrate their talent very early. Does this mean they will all become professionals? Of course not; interests change, bodies change, etc. But a good teacher can tell if even young child has natural musicality, co-ordination, rotation and if the child has at least a chance of having an appropriate body type. I do believe that a child who loves classical music, loves to move to music, practices with dedication, and brings joy to their audience does have a gift which should be nurtured. Continue to come here for support and encouragement. Don't allow other people to make you feel like a "pushy ballet mom" just because you are aware enough to notice your childs talent. Continue to monitor your child's enjoyment, seek good training, and don't make dance the only basis of your relationship, and everything will work out fine!

Sounds like you are doing a great job! Happy dancing!

 

BalletAuthor, did I misunderstand, or did you say that your son has danced from the age of ten until his current professional career, but it has all been work and none of it has been fun? That is very sad! Also that he does not enjoy classical music - to me that is what ballet is about. Like ladyR's daughter, I cannot listen to music WITHOUT choreographing! I also must disagree with your statement that "young girls are, as rule, VERY compliant" - have you even had a daughter? The girls I know are anything but compliant. My girls are very creative and they love to dance to express themselves; yes, they work hard to perfect their technique, but really dance is much more than just technique. Maybe when they are old enough to take daily dance classes, they will stop leaping and twirling around the house! Until then, I will enjoy the performances and keep the lamps out of harms way.

 

( for my little darlin's, and I 'd love em just the same if they never danced another step )

[Guest Vicarmac]

Boys are different than girls when it comes to some of this. I can see a very serious female ballet student still dancing around for fun maybe even in costume much more than a male. But it goes back to a different style of play that is often evident when they are younger too. Girls that had a passion for gymnastics would "play" gymnastics at home, it was "fun", for most it waned like dance does. But I know some that have scholarships now for whom it became more, but even after it in effect became their work, until they were past the age of pretend they would still "play" gymnastics at home with their friends.

And about dance, I mean girls that know it is work, work hard and are about 13 or 14! I have seen it and know that "fun" with girls can last past the infatuation stages of pre-ballet. And I am sure some of those boys did have fun even though it was work, it is more in interpreting "fun" if by fun it means playing and pretend it probably wasn't fun for them. But if fun means the passion to work hard and get somewhere with it once it was a serious pursuit then it was.

But I do agree not matter how strong the passion seems at 7 no matter what the facility seems to be it is no indicator what age 13 might bring. Yet many parent of a kid that does go on to become a professional (esp. if girls) will have the same early tale about their daughters passion, how they lived ate and drank ballet. So it makes it seem like that is an indicator of the future. But for every family room ballarina that makes it how many hang up the shoes by high school?

[dancemaven]

"When do you know?" I suspect it is when you get there.

 

My daughter started with a "joy of movement" class when she was 3 yrs old. She is now 14 and has never left the dance studio. She "lives" at the studio from 4:30 to 9:00 pretty much every school day and 9:00 to 4:00 on Saturdays. She dances in the kitchen, in parking lots, down hall ways, in cash register lines. Over the years, she has been immersed in travel soccer, oboe, children's journalism at the local paper, and creative writing classes, as well, as dabbled in other sports, such as softball and swimming. However, each fell by the wayside when a decision had to be made on where to spend the time she had. Dance as won out at every turn. (She has expressed a small loss recently about soccer, but it is only a wistful, fleeting thought). She has foregone slumber parties, birthday parties, school parties, and band trips---all because she did not want to miss a class and refused to ask permission to miss a rehearsal. I'd say she is quite passionate.

 

She will tell you she wants to be a professional. I and my husband have learned to accept that she may not pursue an academic degree the first time through college (I fervently hope she will eventually. Academically, she could chose to do anything!) But, I do believe the point in life is to be happy. And if dancing makes her happy, we will do what we can to help her achieve that goal. (But as she enters High School next fall, she will be expected to take four years of math and four years of science---and if we could just get her to agree not to drop the ball on the foreign language she's had every year in school since 2nd grade . . . .. but that one I may have to fold on. She wants to start over with French--the language of ballet).

 

Do I think she will make it to have her dream realized? I haven't a clue. I have watched her passion for other activities smolder, flare, wane, and be totally extinguished. Maybe that will happen to this one as she goes through High School and sees how much more she will sacrifice in her social life. She is very interested in Debate, but if it presented as extracurricular alone, she plans to choose her dance classes. I have seen kids from our studio passionate about dance go on to college dance programs, then change their majors to something entirely outside of dance, while others graduate the college programs and go on to dance professionally.

 

She has beautiful feet with those wobbly ankles, which she is working hard to strengthen. She is making significant progress, but those will most likely remain her "achilles heel" so to speak. If she should get injured . . . . Well, I try to impress upon her that she must prepare so that she has other opportunities that allow her to choose where else she wants to go if/when she can't dance. So many either don't get the opportunity to dance, or start and a fluke injury takes them out. An ACL here, a MCL there, etc.

 

So, for those who asked, "When do you know?" I'd say you can't know until she gets there. But, you can enjoy every second of her passion, in what ever form it takes, support her, but give her the freedom to choose whether to stay with it or move on. The girls in class with mopey faces, embarrassed movements, hung heads, and half-hearted attempts are neither experiencing the joy that dance can bring nor radiating that joy.

 

Despite having probably 10-12 girls in her level over the years, several of whom showed much promise, there are only three dedicated dancers left in her level. There is a fourth who claims to be very interested, but often cuts classes, is often injured and sits out for all or part of a class, and virtually never smiles in or out of class at the studio. Yet, on any given day her mother will talk alternately of how much her daughter enjoys dancing and then how she expects her daughter will be giving it up. It is very hard to discern the motivations involved. I suspect that a change to high school may provide more interesting extracurricular activities for this child.

[vagansmom]

I like Dance Maven's reply to "When do you know?"

I suspect it is when you get there.

 

There are loads of talented little kids that are passionate about ballet. As their parents, we love every minute of it. It's a glorious time in a family's life when a child has a passion AND a facility for something. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

 

There may or may not come a time when your daughter wants to give it up. Or when it becomes more work than play. It's so variable. All any of us can do is relate our experiences but the caution here is that we are the parents whose kids are still in the ballet world. There are far more parents of formerly dedicated, passionate students who've left ballet and they may tell a different story.

 

I think that, generally speaking, you KNOW your child's in it to stay if he or she gets past the first year in high school with just as much drive and commitment as before. And if the changes at puberty haven't interfered with a "ballet body". I've seen many kids at the pre-pro school begin to lose interest in ballet about that time. I've seen others who were the little "stars" go through a difficult puberty and lose their confidence, sometimes never to regain it. And that shows in their dancing.

 

Another time some students end up focusing elsewhere comes at junior year in high school. For many, even some whom we never thought would leave ballet, there's a pull towards college. It's usually because they see the handwriting on the wall; they know that something's changed about their bodies or their passion and willingness to have tunnel vision for ballet that makes it difficult for them to want to continue.

 

And then there's the possibility of injury! There are kids who seem as if everything's going their way but in high school they develop injuries that cause them to lose time and then focus. ALWAYS HAVE A BACKUP PLAN.

 

From my own experience as the mom of an 18 year old who spent 14 years at a pre-professional ballet school, what I know to be true is that the kids for whom ballet continues to be "play" for them all the way through the high school years, and who have the facility, the body type, the intelligence, the self-discipline and temperament will find a way to stay in the dance world, be it ballet or a peripheral field.

 

As a parent, make sure you enjoy the ride! At times the road is smooth and straight and you fly through it but at other times, it's bumpy and twisty. Respect the bumps; they make everyone stronger.

[TutuMaker]

Iwill only address the shoe issue here! Try www.dancewell.com, they are located in Great Brittian and carry Freed satin flat shoes. They are a reliable company and you can order the shoes directly through their site. I have ordered pointe shoes from them in the past and have only positive things to say about them! If they have the shoes in stock, you should recieve them in about 1 week.

[balletbooster]

Back to the satin shoes: I think Major Mel is right about this being a fashion trend among the younger dancers in Britain. When my daughter went to the Royal Ballet's Junior Summer School at age 12, most of the younger girls were sporting satin shoes at the performance. But, in my daughter's group, which was the oldest, there were very few. Most had switched to leather or canvas.

 

However, even at 12, my daughter was quite taken with them (or perhaps the novelty they presented to an American girl)! I did manage to resist the urge and got out of England without buying her a pair.

[Guest BalletAuthor]

Thank you Vicarmac and Vagansmom. You both did a far better job of explaining me than I did!

[Guest enjoyingtheride]

This is just about the satin slippers. I didn't even know they were made, and just before reading this today, I came across them in the Capezio dancewear site.

To me, they didn't appear as soft and flexible as a regular leather slipper. I wonder if the dancer can get a good point out of them at all.

 

The discussion about what the dancers think is stylish to wear is making me smile. At my DD's school, black is the color that all the lower levels wear. Colors are a priveledge earned. When she was at a brief SI last year, the younger girls had to wear the pastels and black was the priveledged color. Now, she didn't bring but two colors, and was allowed to wear the black since the AD knew that she didn't have a wardrobe in color, and wanted to spare us the expense. DD finally appreciated what she had so longed to be finished with...the black leo's were now something to enjoy!

 

You may find the satin slippers at...

http://www.capeziodance.com/catalog.html

Hope this helps!

 

They are described this way:

teknik® satin ballet

753 / 753C / 753T

753. Fine satin upper combined with a stitched suede leather sole. Cotton lining and socklining. Great for performance or wedding.

FITTING INFORMATION:

Adults begin with a shoe 2 sizes smaller than street shoe size.

Children begin with street shoe size.

AVAILABLE COLORS: PNK - Pink