Unsure on Pointe

[dancingsolo]

I have two studios in town, both of which I can't attend for various reasons. I've been taking classes at the university, and all I can find there is two ballet classes (one hour ten minutes each) and modern classes (one hour forty-five minutes each) every weekday. Unfortunately I can only take one modern class each Thursday and the two ballet classes. Both are not 'open' and both are taught by professionals. I also visit another city three hours away (visiting relatives) and take a private and then a two-hour class every three or four weeks.

This past summer I was in Germany and took a 90-minute class four times a week for three weeks. My teacher there put me en pointe then. I was almost thirteen.

I used to live in a large city with a pre-professional ballet school and I took there until we moved here when I was nine. The first teacher told my mom I shouldn't go en pointe until twelve or thirteen. When we moved here I took classes at one of the two studios in town, who put me en pointe the next year, right before I turned ten. My mom wasn't allowed to have any say in the matter, but she didn't want me to have those shoes. She told them 'no center for months' and three weeks later, I was pirouetting across the floor. After the end of the semester she took me back to the first studio, and the lady there told my mom I was completely not ready for pointe so I was taken off. My mom went back and tried to give the studio owners an article about why it's not safe to put people en pointe so young, and they told us to leave for good and even threatened us to stay away, or else.

I have always had good technique, besides my posture (which started after we moved) and the fact that my feet don't point well. In the old school I was one of two invited to join the pre-pro company, a subset of the professional company. Even after a year (ten to eleven) of not dancing, I didn't lose any technique.

I've been reading many threads on the topic of pointe readiness. I know you'll probably say to trust my teacher, but I'm not sure I can after what my past teachers have done. Should I just trust them, or should I take myself off pointe again? Sorry for the long post.

[Victoria Leigh]

dancingsolo, I'm a little confused about your training situation. First, are you taking two ballet classes a day every weekday, or just one day a week? Then, why are the ballet classes only an hour and ten minutes and the modern classes an hour and forty minutes? That sounds very strange to me. I'm sorry, but a student who is technically ready for pointe should be taking an absolute minimum of 3 technique classes, an hour and a half each, per week. Therefore, if you are only doing one day a week, you should not be in pointe shoes.

[dancingsolo]

Sorry. I am taking two ballet classes a week and one modern, so three total classes. The ballet and modern are run by different people and aren't affiliated. And the modern teacher has a heavy ballet emphasis and works with me personally (in a group setting). Each class is on a different day.

Edited December 10, 2010 by dancingsolo

[Victoria Leigh]

Okay, that is what I thought, but wanted to be sure. Two ballet classes a week are not enough, even if they were long enough, which they are not. I'm sorry.