starting pointe again

[Guest tamecookie]

hey i am a freshman in college and i am taking a dance class next semester. i have danced for 14 years, 6 of them on pointe and i am taking a pointe class starting in january.

what i am concerned about is that i might not be prepared for the class physically. i am wondering what kinds of things i should do to prepare my body for dance again?

also i have lost 20 lbs since i last danced ... is this going to affect my dancing? hopefully for the better!

ahh and last but not least. i only have 15 minutes in between calculus and dance to get to dance, put on shoes, and warm up. are there any warm ups that i should be SURE to do so that i don't injure myself that won't take up a lot of time?

 

thanks so much!!!

[Victoria Leigh]

Hello tamecookie, welcome to Ballet Talk for Dancers!

 

I'm glad to hear that you are going back into dance, after doing it for so many years, however, I really don't think that starting with a pointe class is a terrific idea. You need regular technique classes to be working on pointe. One should not be dancing in pointe shoes at all, no matter how much previous training, if it is not a very regular thing, with several classes a week. And, if you have been out of ballet for a while, you really need to start in technique shoes, not pointe shoes.

[Guest tamecookie]

I have been out since June, which personally I don't feel is a long enough time to lose my technique....maybe I'm wrong.

[Victoria Leigh]

Well, hopefully not, however 5 months is 5 months, and it might take just a little while to get back into the shape you were in before.

[Guest tamecookie]

Actually I don't think I was in good shape at all. Like I said, I lost a bunch of weight [healthy way - eating well and working out] so i figure i'm probably more equipped to dance now? thanks for your input.