Slipping en pointe

[Guest merrylegs]

lately i've felt very discouraged to do piques(sp?) and arabesque from side to side. this is because when ever i step out when trying to releve up into my arabesque i slip and get really scared. do you have any suggestions on what i should do to keep from getting scared?

[Victoria Leigh]

Merrylegs, this is not a pointe SHOE question, but a technique question, so, I moved your post here.

 

The reason one would slip, unless of course the floor is really bad, would be that one's weight is too far behind their legs and feet! When you piqué (especially), and relevé to arabesque or any other position, your body weight must be leading, not your legs!

[ABT Wannabe]

Yes, as Ms. Leigh said, stay over your leg! It really helps! Also, you could try using rosin on your shoes if they are slippery.

 

 

ABTWANNABE

[angel_lissa_91]

I agree! Rosin really helps from sliding.

[Victoria Leigh]

Resin should not, however, be needed on a Marley floor. If you are working on a wood floor, then it is probably needed.

[ABT Wannabe]

Oh :-/ I use rosin in my studio all the time and the floors are Marley. I wonder if I should be doing that...

[Victoria Leigh]

If the Marley floor is properly maintained, it really should not require any resin. But, if your teachers put resin out for the dancers to use, then there must be a need for it on this particular Marley.

 

Actually, I have experienced very slippery Marley, but only in places where it is laid over a cement, or unsprung, floor, or, if the flooring around the Marley is waxed wood. The wax gets on the shoes, then the Marley becomes slippery. Oh, and yes, I guess there is some Marley that is made more for modern dance, because the floor on the stage at Ailey in NY is VERY slippery Marley It was not good at all for pointe work.

[ABT Wannabe]

Oh okay. My teachers put out a rosin box for our use, so the floor must be kind of slippery. Thank you!

 

~ABTWANNABE

[DewDrop5392]

At my school, our studios are marked whether or not we are allowed to use resin on the marley. We also have different marley in our different studois.

[toedancer]

For another thing to prevent slipping, you could darn your shoes.

[Dance_Scholar_London]

I thought rosin does destroy Marley or am I wrong? Many studios in London indicate that Marley floor studios cannot be entered with shoes that have been used in a rosin studio.

[Victoria Leigh]

Resin will destroy Marley, and should not be used. If the Marley is slippery, it's either laid on the wrong side, or needs some kind of special treatment in washing it. Perhaps they are using some product that makes it slippery.

 

I still say the most important thing in preventing slipping is to work correctly. It happens mostly in piqué moves, and this is because the dancer leads out with the foot and does not push from the supporting leg and move the body weight forward over the piqué foot.