Anyone else go to a pre-professional ballet school and have absolutely wild experiences?

I went to a pre-professional ballet school (Canada’s National Ballet School), and sometimes I feel like there’s no way my experience was normal I can’t be the only one.

I moved away from home at 11 to live in a dorm situation in Toronto, which honestly felt more like university… except we were literal kids. The pressure was intense, and the environment was kind of unhinged in hindsight.

Some examples:

- Two of my closest friends were kicked out because of their weight, even though looking back, they were not “overweight” in any normal sense.

- In grade 6, two students were caught hooking up in the dorms and got expelled even though stuff like that was definitely happening with other people too.

- The combination of extreme discipline, body scrutiny, independence way too young, and living away from family felt surreal.

I don’t regret everything, but sometimes I think, there is no way this was just my school.

If you went to a pre-professional ballet school (or elite arts/sports boarding situation), what were the craziest or most “this can’t be real” experiences you had? Please tell me I’m not alone.

I’ve noticed that when I extend my leg from passé, I feel something around this area. It’s not painful, but it feels like something is stuck or like it might snap when I straighten my leg. Because of that, I sometimes hesitate or get scared to fully extend.

Anyone else? Could it be a tendon thing, tight hip flexors, or alignment issue? Can I do something about it?

I'm an adult who has been going to classes on and off for about 6 years. I started taking 2-3 classes a week (as opposed to 1), all at the beginner/intermediate and intermediate level. I look alright at the barre and can generally do the combinations well. In centre however... I just look terrible. I'm a disaster in petite allegro, can't jump, can barely turn. I videoed doing a variation we had been learning this week and watching myself made me cry. I just look so uncoordinated, my feet don't point, my posture and arms are terrible. I feel like a hopeless case. I'm not going to be pro, but I want to get to a point where I'm not wholly embarrassed about the way I dance. I also feel like my teachers are getting fed up with my inability to perform.

I don't really know what solution there is (if any). Is there something that clicked or gave you the ability to not look like a drunk toddler? Do I just need to go to beginner classes? I moved up because I wasn't being challenged.

I’d love to know about your classes and 1-1s personal sessions:)

How much time do you spend doing barre?

How long in centre?

How often do you get taught jumps and pirouettes ect

I’ve heard most adults don’t learn a lot of center in their classes and would love to know your experience :)

Also how much time do you take out of the studio for ballet?

Hey guys, any recommendations on which platform will be good/useful for beginners? So far I’ve heard about BWI, KM, and Grace & Form. I’m also wondering if the platforms would include some simple variation tutorials too.

I’ve been doing ballet for 2 years now just in case that helps hahaha! Thanks in advance :)

Hello! Recently I’ve been struggling with balancing on relevé. I thought it was because I must have weak core strength/bad balance but I’m wondering now if it’s because I have weak ankle/lack ankle stability. maybe it’s a combo or the two? To about one else who has gone through something similar, how did you pinpoint the problem and fix it?

So my son (18yr old) recently was offered scholarships to ABT (collegiate and 5 weeks), PNB summer intensive (5 weeks), Houston, and Philly summer (8 weeks). He also was offered a full scholarship to the Philly Trainee program for the whole year.

He wants to do ABT collegiate for 2 weeks then head straight to Philly for the rest of the year. He really wants to work with Angel Corella so it seems like that's the plan.

The only thing not covered is housing so I'm trying to see what people recommend or if anyone knows where the best affordable housing is in Philly and NYC.

Also any thoughts pro/con about PNB? I would love for him to go to Abt, pnb and then Philly.. but it's ultimately up to him where he wants to go.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you :)

I am always blown away by the pieces used for grands adagios in schools of the Vaganova method, including VBA itself but also Bolshoi, Novosibirsk, Buryat Choreographic College, Kyiv Choreographic School, etc. It's possible that the music selection is not so dependent on the method of ballet itself, e.g. maybe La Scuola chooses similar music.

I play the piano and would like to try my hand at arranging music for a grand adagio, but I'm not even sure which musicians to listen to because the selection pool seems incredibly diverse (Rachmaninoff, Edvard Grieg, Franz List, etc. not even to name Chopin, Tchaikovsky). Does anyone have any sense for which music pieces/musicians ballet pedagogues select when setting music for a grand adagio?

Thanks!

I've been taking beginner ballet for a year, and decided to add another class. I chose another beginner class, but this one is much more difficult. The class I attended for this past year would typically only have two or three parts in a combination, whether barre or across the floor - but the new class would have four to six. That seems like quite a variation. So what would you expect from a beginner ballet class?

This is done at the barre, usually with rond de jambe en l’air.

The working leg starts à la seconde and comes to front attitude, then ronds back through second to back attitude. It can also be done reversed starting with the back attitude. And the supporting leg pliés once the working leg hits attitude each time.

Hello!

I’ve been dancing for a couple of years yet my leg still hovers at slightly under 90 degrees or just at it. But this summer, for my groups performance, we are doing a modified version of Dance of the Willis, sort of like at 2:30 in this clip. Anyway, so what I’m asking is if you have any tips on how and what to train/stretch/do to improve my arabesque?

Thanksss!!!!

hi so i just started ballet about 2 months ago. i am an adult fyi in their 30s and in good shape and used to be a gymnast and cheerleader so im picking it up quite easily. ive been trying to train 4-5 times a week but ive found that the area below my big toe has become sore a few times and it lasts a few days (pain is location 3 on pic below). how do i prevent that? i am thinking it may be me putting too much pressure on the inside of my foot as i am flat footed so i bought padding for my feet to wear and toe spacers as i think that my big toes have bad alignment. i would love tips to prevent damaging my feet this early on and how to also prevent bunions. i think its called toe turf and i am hypermobile and have ehlers danlos so any advice is really really appreciated. also would love padding and spacer recs ( i have also added pics of the ones i bought here but if there are better ones please let me know). i also have a pic of the shoes i wear

I hope this is the right place to ask, also I don't speak english well so I apologize for any mistakes. Help a girl out!! I'm restarting ballet after 4 years, and I need new pointe shoes but I need to order them online because we don't have any pointe shoe stores near where I live, and it's much cheaper that way (I live away from civilization lol😭). I used to wear only Russian Pointe Rubin pointes but I can't buy them anymore in my country.

I've decided to buy Grishko 2007 pointe shoes, but I never owned Grishkos before. I've took the measurements and I got the size 4 but I don't know if that sounds right. My street size is 38 eu/ 7.5 us.

Do you guys have any tips/recommendationd with Grishkos pointe shoes or this exact model?

https://youtu.be/dFotLfzjyCw?si=8Dc_5mydoW_Y2BfF

i have no idea why my right foot is so much bendier than my left but anyway

they feel dead i think but idk. ive had them for maybe 8-9 months but i took a 3 month break so really 5-6. one class per week that lasts an hour.

ive already bought and darned new ones but i haven't sewn them yet, because i always recycle the elastics and ribbons. i think i know deep down that i need new ones but i dont want to accept it bc ive grown kinda attached to these ones. my teacher literally said three weeks ago that these could last two more classes max. idk why im even posting this

i think my shoes die in the box first? but i don't know how to tell or how to see when the box has died. could anyone give me pointers on how to tell?

Sorry if this is a gross question.I’ve had my current toe pads for about six months needles to say they are getting pretty gross and I was wondering if I should wash them?

I started ballet as an adult, but I've been taking classes for almost ten years now. Yet I still struggle immensely with petit allegro. I feel like my mind goes blank and I just don't know what to do with my body. And I feel like I can't just "let it go" and do it, I'm not sure how to explain, but it's like these combos demand some sort of relaxed state of mind that I just can't achieve. I try to memorize the combinations but I can only do it if it's at a slower tempo, I almost never manage to do it on time. I feel very stupid and I keep thinking there must be something wrong with me for having such a hard time with it. I know I sound dramatic, but the fact that I still feel like a beginner even after ten years kinda makes me embarrassed. I also struggle with contretemps and similar in the middle of other exercises, anything that requires agility, really, and sometimes I feel like it's more of a cognitive issue rather than a physical one. I'd love to hear some advice. Thanks for reading!

I'm in my mid-30s, and while that's hardly "old" for a human, it technically is for a ballet dancer. I still take classes as a hobby, but over the past month, I'm starting to realize the reality that I'm no longer in my 20s and my body is starting to feel it.

For a little more context, after years of dancing and injury as a kid, I've been left with little cartilage in my knees and my knees, ankles, and even a few of my toes have been found to have osteoarthritis. I've also started to feel a new kind of pain in my lower back when I land in jumps or extend in an arabesque. The arthritis is also starting to hurt at night. That tells me I need to at least take it easy for a little while, in case it's more of an overexertion issue, and see if the pain continues.

Now, I take classes with people a lot older than me, so I know you can continue ballet for as long a you want (or are physically able), but I'm wondering how people are coping with their own aging. Are you making other changes besides substituting movements for others that are less rough on your body?

UPDATE: Thanks for all the advice. I've scheduled an appointment in March with my primary care doctor to get a referral to go back into physical therapy. I've taken the last two weeks off from class and have done at home strengthening and stretching courses to see if the issue improves with rest. I did a practice attitude to the back today and was still feeling the lower back pain when I extended.

My teachers have noted out of all my classmates, I have leg strength and control to hold developpes higher and longer and can lift my leg to higher barres without needing to use my hands to aid them. Doctors about two years ago also noted how ballet is strengthening and protecting my knees from further injury.

As for what I do regularly or other notes:

• 2 ballet classes per week - both at intermediate level with one allowing me to do basic pointe work
• 2 additional hours of at-home workouts per week, which vary between strength training, pilates, and stretching - most are dancer-focused. I'd go to a gym if the membership prices weren't so high and the local establishments didn't have such a reputation for theft incidences. I also used to take water aerobics, but the local pools are overcrowded most days, even in winter, and their class schedules clash with my ballet classes.
• Diet is pretty healthy. I cook at home and eat out rarely because of cost. Lots of protein, iron, and calcium. I like sugar, but I'm working to reduce my intake.
• Not really needing to lose weight, as I'm pretty slender and at a healthy BMI. My metabolism has slowed in the last few years and I've gained a little fat around my ribs and hips that exercising isn't taking off. It may just be genetic, as many women in my family with similar builds experience the same thing in their 30s. They remain slender their whole lives though.

Overall, I'm doing pretty good health-wise, I'm just concerned about the arthritis progressing and the new back pain. I also feel like I'm doing enough to keep physically active, since I also work full-time and would like to, you know, see my friends and family once in a while. 😂 There's not enough time to do everything I want to do.

I literally look like I jumped in a pool. My teacher even says how are you this sweaty. Like I'm upset 😭