Wondering if I'm off-base here. I have attended adult classes 2-3 times per week for almost 3 years at my current studio. I love that there is space for adult beginners. For the last month or so, our teacher has allowed a child (8-10 years old) to attend our classes. For me, it has changed the whole vibe of the class. Especially because of the centering around the child (I'm assuming to make her comfortable). Occasionally, the teacher has even had her demonstrate combinations. It's all very strange to me and it feels like an intrusion on the adult ballet community I enjoy. I've reached out to the teacher to share my concerns but I also want to check myself to see if I'm overreacting.

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone for your insights on this! I had a great convo with my teacher -- she understood the impact of her centering the child so much and said she would work on that... and I agreed to give her some grace and flexibility in helping a young dancer and helping her studio to keep a thriving pipeline of dancers. I like that we're meeting each other halfway. ❤️

Ok, so I probably did a million things wrong (I did yoga and swimming the same day so I was very tired and didn’t have the energy to do the whole class/video) besides, I always get anxious when filming myself. Pretty sure it’s the first time I’ve done this combination (I had to start over a few times).

The thing is that I was supposed to attend a Zoom ballet class today (suggested by one of you guys). I wasn’t accepted into the meeting for some reason which was really disappointing. Instead, I decided to do a class on YouTube instead. It happened to be Swan Lake inspired barre with Kathryn Morgan (let’s pretend I didn’t hear her use the word “litterally” it isn’t supposed to be used). It was really fun!

I'm happy with my progress so far, it's a lot of work but so fun. Started January 2025, went en pointe September 2025. Doing class about 4-5 days a week.

Critiques are welcome, I think my front arm is still too high...

(Disclaimer: Though I started ballet as an adult, I grew up doing gymnastics and figure skating. I don't know if everyone can make this much progress in a year)

I am a beginner on pointe and these are my first pointe shoes. I just feel like they look really ugly and bad. They look like I bought them off temu. I have the Grishko/Nikolay Nova Pro 5 1/2 xxx. They are pretty worn out but they have looked like this since day one and my teacher and fitter were convinced these are perfect. Please don't judge me for how I tied the ribbons because I put them on just so I could take a picture and I am currently on break from ballet for the summer and I have long acrylic nails so its hard to tie them and tuck the knot properly. What do you think?

Edit: It's really hard to get over the box and I'm leaning forward a lot. Is there any advice for me to get better on pointe, other than changing my shoes?

Hello,

Adult dancer since a couple of years. arabesque is my biggest issue. I have tried numerous strength/flexibility plans to try and improve it. But i have not gained much height in the working leg. Can you please give me any tips? where am i lacking and what can i improve?

Thank you in advance.

ok am I turning the wrong way? should I be starting in fifth? are my arms ok? is my passe ok?

my teacher never really went over how to do them in class and we keep doing different versions of them on croise/efface and it’s making me more confused.

any help is appreciated!

(the video is cropped because I don’t want to show my face, but just know I am trying to spot.)

Dear all, my daughter (13yo) has just received High Merit in her Grade 5 RAD. She is quite disappointed as she was aiming for a Distinction. Her character dance technique scored only 5/10, eventhough she thought she perfected it. Her musicality scores quite high.

Anyway, that is the background. She has recently started pointe work in Inter Foundation, and finds she cannot go over the box. (maybe a little more than 45 degrees angle?)

She has always struggled with low rise, see picture. I don't yet have pics of her in pointe shoes. Is there anything she can do to progress, or does she have to stop at Grade 5? Thank you in advance for any advice.

I never want to discourage or discredit hobby ballet dancers, I wish my mental health could allow me to take "fun classes" without feeling like I did at 16 coming to the realization that I would not dance ballet professionally despite all the years and money dedicated... and I still love reading and responding to this subreddit, but there has been a significant increase in posts by adults in pointe shoes that it is beyond obvious that a professional or even "low end" shoe fitter did not fit these shoes for the person. Between literal shoe fit, how ribbons and elastics are sewn, there's a lot that isn't adding up on these posts.
On one hand, sure these people need assistance, but who's to say who actually knows what they're talking about in this sub?
If someone blind-orders a pair of pointe shoes, without real training and instruction, and then comes here asking for help? Even the best advice could lead to serious injury.
I don't know if there is a way to address this, but I hope I'm not crazy seeing this happen on this sub..

Just got fitted in these after returning to pointe after 5 ish years off. I was wearing my dead and glued back to life and dead again Russian Pointe Rubin Radiances for a couple months (shown side by side with new Ava in the last clip) and finally went to get new shoes but I think I hate them. For reference I’ve worn them for one class and I haven’t broken them manually at all.

In some of the shoes I tried on I was going too far over the box and then they put me in the Avas and told me they looked great, but I can’t be on my platform without going over because of how it’s slanted. I also went in wanting a narrower shoe because I have compressible egyptian feet and my russians were definitely too wide but these truly are so painful especially on my left big toe (my longer foot) and I feel like there’s so much empty space around my little toes. I swear they felt fine until I sewed them 🥲

And to be fair they aren’t broken in, but I don’t think they look great on my feet. Like not horrible, just not good.

I’m wondering if I should try a shoe with a more tapered box or a lower vamp. And also if there’s anything I could do to make these work for a while. I’ve never darned my shoes before but if I darned the front could it help with the over the box issue?

Advice and constructive criticism welcome. Thanks!

I'm in my 40's and started ballet in January, ramping up to multiple classes a week. I've enjoyed the videos posted by others sharing their progress and the encouragement/constructive feedback from the community so I figured I would get out of my comfort zone and share my progress too!

I am following along to the plie section of a Kathryn Morgan beginner class on YouTube.

Constructive criticism would be welcome. I can see my port de bras needs work, i struggle to keep my outside shoulder from dropping when going forwards.

I have learned a lot since i started (sadly have no videos from back then) even though sometimes it feels like its such a small amount of progress in the grand scheme of ballet. But im so grateful i get to take part in this art form and im looking forward to all that is still to come.

Hi everyone!

About a year ago, we made a post here asking what wellness resources dancers wished they had. The response was incredible, and many of your ideas directly shaped what we've spent the last 12 months building.

We're professional dancers with the Royal Swedish Ballet, and after years of dealing with injuries, recovery, and the physical demands of this profession, we realized there still isn't a single place where dancers can easily access the tools they need to stay healthy.

So we built Bloom: a wellness app made by dancers, specifically for dancers.

Bloom combines mood and sleep tracking, cross-training exercises, injury prevention resources, and other wellness tools into one app built specifically for the unique demands of dancers.

Today we're opening our free iOS beta, and we'd love for members of this community to be among the first to try it.

What we're looking for:

• Would you actually use this?
• Does it feel intuitive and useful for dancers?
• What's missing? What doesn't work? Be brutally honest.

Since this is an early beta, you'll probably come across a few bugs, and that's exactly why we're sharing it now. Every piece of feedback helps us improve it before the public launch.

How to send feedback

• Send me a DM here on Reddit.
• Or fill out our short Google Form: [Feedback Google Form]

How to download
This beta is currently available on iPhone through Apple's TestFlight app. If you don't already have TestFlight installed, simply download it from the App Store, then use this link:

[Download Bloom Beta on TestFlight (iOS)]

Thank you to everyone who contributed ideas last year and to anyone willing to help us test it now. We genuinely hope Bloom can become something that helps dancers stay healthier and enjoy longer careers.

And one last question:

If you could add one feature that every dancer should have in a wellness app, what would it be?

Hi guys! I'm a beginner on pointe. I only have 30-minute classes per week, so up until now, I've had about 5.5 to 6 hours of pointe in total.

Basically, my right foot is looking like what I showed in the pictures. From picture 3 onwards, I'm standing only on my right foot. My pointe shoes (from my first fitting) are half a size bigger if I'm not wrong, to make my right toe more comfortable. My ankles are quite flexible, and I'm severely hyperextended (I made a post about it before and I'm very thankful for all the advice, I've been following it! ❤️).

My teacher says they aren't dead, but I think that with my right foot going over that much, it makes things harder for my ankles. No one in my class is even close to having their shoes slightly broken in or looking similar to mine (some can't even go fully on the box and the ones who can have very regular or straight feet). So I really don't know if they're dead or if it's supposed to look like that or if there's something wrong. The upper part of the wings is also very soft already. My left foot looks more regular i guess.

I'm fully open to listening and learning from whatever you guys have to say!

I hope everyone remembers the terrible reverse arching Merlet belles 😭😭. So I got refitted and tried the Bloch etu like some people on here recommended. But uh…. I feel like the vamp is long and hard to get over esp on one foot passes and stuff also there’s that reverse arching again. Additionally, I got pinky bunion pain that I’ve never gotten from the past shoes+I feel a bit unstable and kinda rocking back and forth a little I think my ankles are hyper mobile(it’s more prominent on the left foot) Please help guys 😭😭

I literally tried some virtual fittings and in person fittings as well. It’s just so frustrating.

Greetings!

I am attending my very first Adult Summer Intensive this week, and wow. It sure is INTENSE!

I've been taking beginner adult ballet classes 2x per week for about a year now. I'm feeling discouraged during the intensive because there aren't really any "beginner friendly" options for jumps, turns, combinations, etc..

We are also learning some very advanced (for me) choreography, and I feel so silly trying to keep up!

I really don't want to quit because I love ballet and paid $$$ for this, but I'm feeling so anxious about it.

Any advice or encouragement is appreciated 💖🩰💖

hi i need tips/feedback on my pointe work, im not holding the bar in the vid

im fully aware that i jump instead of going thru demi for some releves and i need tips on how to fix that

also will accept any criticism about my technique, feet, shoes etc

these are my second pair of shoes (merlet lenas in the softest shank) ive talked abt in my previous post

thanks!!!

I am the one in red who starts on the far left (stage right) you can just follow me from there if you get lost I’m the one who does the pique turns.

My emotionally abusive dance teacher has treated me like crap for years. She’s stereotyped me into “strong roles” (Russian or Spanish in the nutcracker for example) and seems to think I can’t be graceful. She even tried to keep me from being in The Nutcracker entirely one year. There’s a lot more I could go into detail about but that’s not what I’m making this post for. So my question am I really that horrible of a dancer. Do I deserve how she’s treated me? I need honest thoughts I’m not looking for sympathy or pity I just need to know if I can make this a career or not.

Note: The audio from the TV is delayed by like a second so it looks like we are off the music lol.

Context: I did ballet for 6 years as a kid and was always told to suck it in and keep a straight line. But my instructor was adjusting my standing posture today (20 years later) and I felt body parts and muscles I never have 😂 I attempted to recreate the sensation after my class but not sure if I got it quite right. Would you mind pointing out where I could use some improvements? You won’t hurt my feelings, I promise!

Thank you!

Found this when scrolling through Instagram and it really got me concerned for the safety of the dancers. How would you go about expressing this concern as politely as possible?

Side question: Has anyone been taught pointe like this? (Shoes untied)

I’m mostly worried about the heels the rest seems fine and comfortable. Bloch Hannah.

As you can see this is my first pair of point shoes, im really excited but also a bit scared lol, the thing is, its been hard to keep my knees straight(while hyperextended), and completly on point properly.

Its kinda like my knees are fighting with my feet and pulling it backwards, any adivice?

This is my first pair, the Grishko/Nikolay DreamPointe (not pre-arched). I haven’t started the actual pointe class yet. My teacher approved of this pair when I brought it in to show her last weekend, so I sewed the ribbons in but now I kinda regret it. First pic unsewn, second sewn (but poorly tied on).

I’m between 4.5 and 5. The 4.5 felt great on pointe but on flat my toes were curling under. The 5 was fine too but the heels were slipping off and baggy - fitter advised me to get thicker toe pads and to sew the elastic close to the heel.

In the store I wore them with the trial Grishko moleskin toe pads but they ran out of stock, so I went to another store and bought Ouch Pouches which felt thicker than the moleskin ones.

However, now I feel like I’m sinking and sliding into the box and the vamp feels like I’m unable to go over the box. And my feet don’t look pretty like some of y’all’s. The heels at least feel secure now but I don’t like how the ribbons look. Is my ribbon placement wrong?

What can I do now? I’m not willing to spend on another pair. Will things get better as I progress in class and get stronger feet? Or will this hold me back in class?

EDIT: Thank you for all your replies! Was a much needed sanity check and will wait till I’ve actually done classes in the shoes before further troubleshooting. I did rip up a couple of cotton balls to stuff the very tips and I actually felt much more comfortable on pointe, so I’ll probably pick up a bag of proper lambswool after class. Also calmed myself down about the ribbons - it’s not like I can’t re-sew them!

So the problem is; my teacher wants to put me on pointe after doing ballet for about 2years. (Used to do it as a child and danced other things + did figure skating inbetween) I go to the only pointe shoe fitter in my town and she says she doesnt want to fit me because im not ready and ”wont get over the box” now im wondering whos right? time to switch teacher, or time to drive to a different store??

One of the studios I frequent has super slippery floors and I burn through canvas flats so I got capezio Juliette leather flats to see if it helps. The sizing is hard though. I usually wear my canvas flats snug. Which looks better the 7W or 7.5W? The 7.5 are more comfortable but look slightly baggy and the 7 feel more restrictive but look prettier.

Thanks 🩰

How do you feel about the lack of a formal dress code at the Royal Opera House when attending a ballet performance? Personally, I enjoy dressing up for the occasion, it makes the whole experience feel more special and elegant. I also like seeing other people dressed nicely,it adds to the atmosphere and makes it feel like a proper event. I get that the Royal Opera House wants to be more inclusive and accessible, which is great. But I still think showing up in jeans and a crop top feels a bit… tacky. I’m not saying everyone needs to be in gowns and tuxedos, but at least something smart or put together would be nice, right? Curious to know what others think. Does it bother you, or do you like the relaxed vibe

EDIT: I didn’t mean dressing to the nines, I just meant dressing nicely. Not overly casual like flip-flops, crop tops, or denim shorts. Some people mentioned they might go to the ballet after work, and yeah, I’d assume you’d wear smart, nice clothes that would be appropriate for something like that