Her current company is fabulous and allows dancers to wear whatever suits their needs :) Though many schools are brand loyal, most ballet companies actually allow their dancers to wear a variety of brands and models.

I can’t believe she advanced that far with the shoes that fit that poorly!

Wow! She really went a long time dancing in the wrong ill- fitting shoes for her!! Amazing how well she did performing in shoes that weren't fitted for her shape of foot. I'm glad that she came to The Pointe Shoppe and found a pair of shoes that fit her foot well and now she can easily get en pointe!

@@lindypierce3766 Right? Just imagine she was that good with the wrong shoes, how much better will she be with proper shoes?

Same. I actually stopped dancing when I got en pointe because it was so painful

I have problems getting regular shoes wide enough with enough space for my super high arch and thin ankles. As a child in England Clark’s shoes would sometimes make me a pair as back then they had advertised a promise that they could fit every child’s feet. Now in my 40s and only one company make wide enough shoes for me. Cosyfeet are amazing I would have loved to be a ballerina but couldn’t even get the children’s ballet shoes to fit! Used to go up several sizes and stuff the toe with lambs wool!

Omg you ladies definitely had it worse 😭❤️

Same here! I lasted on pointe for about 6 months. The bulge of my foot out of the box was downright comical. And as a kid my patent leather tap shoes would have to put on the "stretcher" for a week for me to able to fit into them. Online ordering where I could actually try regular shoes in an E or even wider width truly did change my life.

💯. When I danced 🩰 growing up I was only allowed to use one brand , and I was in junior company. I am not sure if those in the advance levels were allowed to use a different brands. Glad to see this information being given out. I wish this youtube channel existed when I was growing up.

When I started pointe work (Italy, around year 2000) we were not only put in just one brand, but even in just one model of that brand! Obviously there were availability/supply problems then, but now with a lot more models per brand, international online sellers, global shippings and even online fitting services schools and companies have absolutely NO EXCUSE for putting dancers in the wrong shoes. Just IMHO

I agree with all you are saying expect contemporary dance being a career limit. The oldest dancers still making a lot of money are contemporary, they have on record the longest careers and space to use there style in multiple ways. It’s also less boring and allows for more personally creativity. From a contemporary dancer

Better yet their teachers should pick up on the fact that the dancer isn't getting over thier shoe despite having both the strength and flexibilty and then recommend they go for a new pointe shoe fitting that helps solve the problem like Josephine does.

You ARE the target audience. How old is too old ? I know a lady who started ballet and got onto point at 60!! Even without pointe you can pirouette! You should video your diaries and try local classes

@@bambooprincess3495 it’s not unethical. you can start ballet whenever you want.

There’s lots of us, Becki, that were told that lie. You don’t have to have a “perfect” body for ballet, or dance in general. If you have a body, or any % of it…then you CAN dance (ballet or anything) because Dance comes from the heart & spirit!! Applause to you- keep dancing!!🤩

Don't let what anyone says to get to you! There are ballet classes out there for adult dancers. Try taking a look into those classes. Maybe they can help you.

This is an old comment, but I was told the same thing when I auditioned for a ballet school attached to a major company. My torso was too long. My legs too short. I was flexible and had turnout and was able to mimic very well and also had great jumps and turns from my training in gymnastics so they said they would “allow me” to train with them but not to expect to be a pro and that I needed to lose 15 pounds minimum (at 10 years old!). I was so sad my mom didn’t let me join but I had a decent run in gymnastics and enjoyed it. Now I’m 40. I took drop in ballet classes from 22-25 and loved it but quit cause I had to move. At 40 I started ballet again and have a private coach who has helped me unlearn all my bad habits from my time doing drop in classes with little corrections. I am able to do pique turns on pointe now! I’ve been dancing about a year and I assumed I would be at the barre doing pointe the whole time. I thought maybe in 2 years I could maybe do a turn. 8 months after starting pointe (I have had to change shoes so much, finally have the right ones with a very low vamp) I can do a single en dedan, and en de hour en pointe as well as pique turns! They are not perfect but my leg is straight and I’m over the box! It’s insane because I was told by several people that no shoe would help me and no amount of training would help cause I have limited range of motion in my ankles. I just rested when I felt I needed and pushed myself took tech class and recorded myself to see my errors. Asked my personal one on one coach to teach me all the things kids are taught that adult students don’t get taught. I took group classes in person and online. My first 4 months I was not en pointe and when I got the go ahead I started with one on one lessons en pointe in person to be sure I was safe and not risking injury. I am tempted to send the naysayers videos of myself now en pointe. I am like a completely different dancer in these shoes! It’s possible. 100% anything is possible. In some cases yes it’s not anatomically possible but patience is the main ingredient. Don’t push too hard. The combination of taking my group pointe class at least 2x a week even when I was feeling low and sad about my ability, taking technique class also at least 3 x a week (some weeks I was taking 5-7 tech classes! I am more relaxed now lol) doing at home exercises my mentor gave me to strengthen my feet, core, improve turnout strength everything needed to be stronger lol AND also the gentle stretching pointe work naturally gave my feet is what helped me get over my box and helped me get from being pretty bad technique wise to shocking people who had not seen me dance in 6 months. My posture ability, memory lines everything was so much better. I had three ladies and the teacher of a beginner tech ballet class for adults (the very first in person one I attended when coming back after 15 years) come up to me to ask HOW I managed to improve so much in 7 months. When I explained they were flabbergasted. Private lessons and more technique classes (not with the teacher they worshipped). They all took private lessons with her and had not progressed over 3 years. She didn’t believe adults could do much as beginners and she also isn’t a great teacher sadly. I explained I sought out a teacher who doesn’t say what is wrong but tells the student the solution and how to perform the step perfectly. I said I was taking zoom classes to supplement but only high quality ones where the teacher has a giant screen and is only teaching zoom students. One lady tried the zoom class I recommended and hated it. Kept complaining that the teacher was not easy to see, was too fast, said she was a bad teacher cause she wears all black?! I can see her just fine. So can her other students. I was pretty offended at the hate toward my mentor who is an in demand teacher who works with pros and pre pros and is exceptionally talented at dance and teaching. She is a former principal and danced at many major companies and is so talented as a teacher that she has companies like ABT trying to entice her to work with their professional dancers. She worked as a pro with famous teachers like Monica Mason, and Suzanne Farrell , also legends from the Bolshoi and teachers from The Kirov! like they are some of the most amazing teachers, and she toured all over and danced for 30 years! I was dumbfounded. The reason came out by accident from her after I carefully was asking questions . She hated not knowing everything! If a move was done and she had never seen it she would be angry She hated how she felt like everyone was so flexible.. I was like wait how are you seeing other dancers you don’t have the teacher pinned? I was like-you should have the teacher pinned. Not the other students 🙃🤦‍♀️ she felt insecure like they were judging her. Because that’s is EXACTLY what she does. She lives her life that way and assumes others are the same. It’s hard to improve in ballet if you spend the whole class looking at other students. When we are in classs if I get any correction (which I am happy to get-I pay for correction! ) She smirks and laughs behind her hand. I feel sad for her. She doesn’t want to improve. She just wants to be in a class where she is the best. I wondered for a while why she would make a face when I would show up to an in person class. Especially since it is a class put together for her and other adults who wanted a good class in person. I made sure it was at a time we all could attend and worked with the owner of a new studio. The owner is a very good teacher. At least she now takes private lessons with the good teacher and she has improved. She only enjoys private lessons and small groups because she is so insecure. She is still angry at me for suggesting the zoom classes! They would help her if she could discard her ego. I just have to deal with her assuming I am like her. She is insecure but also very judgmental. She pays too much attention to others during class and compares herself. She hates not being the the best at everything so she gets angry when new people show up and when I attend class. I simply have put in more time! She takes one tech class a week and one private. I was taking multiple classes a day and now at least 4 weekly. I am recovering from a bad illness unrelated to dance. Anyway! Never giving up on finding the shoe for me is also what helped me succeed! And the right teacher! I don’t have delusions of being a performer I just am so happy it’s like my inner child is so overjoyed to be dancing and improving. My next goal is to get secure enough and good enough technique wise to perform a variation en pointe. Not for an audience, just for me! I can do a variation and dance in a studio alone and record it or at home either way I just love ballet. I hope you try and whatever goal you have whether it’s just to dance and learn or to get en pointe one day that you achieve it!

She knows more about biomechanics than most doctors, honestly.

@@SobrietyandSolace To be fair, it's not something that most doctors need to know. We can't possibly know everything about everything.

I would have loved to have seen you fit her, because she must have been sooooo excited to finally have gotten a shoe that allowed her to get over her box! The improvements were monumental, so it would have been so satisfying to see her reaction! Still, this was VERY informative. Thank you for sharing it!

oh, oh, alterrrrnatively, you can do it. with me on video somehow. I just sense a very... my becoming batty from ferngully about entrusting myself to someone else already. there's a scene when he mumbles from inside his blanket "whyyyy do I not believe you."

That's horrible to force everyone into one type of shoe

Forcing everyone into the same shoe sounds horrible! I'm a figure skater and I wear a boot that is a "you love it, or you hate it" brand. I'm in the "love it" category, it's the best boot I've ever worn and it fixed so many of the problems that my old boots were causing me. But I can't imagine forcing it onto everyone since the people for who it doesn't work for REALLY struggle in it. Or forcing me to continue to skate in my old boots just because my coach liked the brand better. That'd be absurd!

i went to obt the summer it hit 113° in portland…our freeds all melted

@@paulavargas792 OMG, that’s terrible! The paste is so fragile though. I’ve heard of people storing them in freezers.

@@Ailieorz With the Freed maker system, which is a huge headache btw, they are different, but there are still core properties of Freeds that don’t make them suitable for all dancers.

Congratulations! 💕💕

Congrats!!! ❤️🩰🥳🎊🎉

CONGRATS ❤❤❤

Try finding a different studio if you can, don’t just quit! Pointe shoes are a lot of fun and definitely worth it. I hope you can get on pointe soon

@@GraceTaylor1900 The issue is there's not another studio in my town. The ones in the towns near me are too far away, and too expensive. No one can drive me there

@@averageloner Aw dang i’m sorry, that really sucks

Is it possible to talk to different teachers in your studio? Maybe even talk to the director if you feel comfortable with it? Get your parents involved as well, they might be able to talk to your teacher / director better. Good luck, I hope you'll be able to get en pointe soon!

@@AndreaBetarani Thank you. Unfortunately there's only one ballet teacher at my studio, and if my parents talked to her about it, I'm pretty sure she would say my feet "just aren't ready yet". So I quitting, even though I hate to stop dancing

God knows what company this is, it's shameful.

I was thinking, "Bless her heart for dancing in those shoes for whatever time she did."

Plenty of people start doing ballet as adults. By "too old to start ballet," what I suspect people mean is "too old to start ballet if your aim is to become a professional ballerina," but the vast majority of people who dance aren't going to end up doing that anyway. If you just want to do it for fun and exercise then you are not too old by DECADES - some people who do ballet as a hobby start in their 50s and 60s!

Yes the after is gorgeous!!!

She has a few videos about male customers, but I'm not sure if she has an videos on Muslim customers

That’s cool

i know

So you see

what happens in the dark alwasy comes to light

You’re living under a rock Russian pointe shoes are made by singular human beings not all Russian people want to kill Ukrainians

Don't bring politics to ballet. If someone needs Grishko or Russian Pointe because it's the best fit, cutting the shoe supply won't work for the poor girl.

Once a dancer, always a dancer! 🥰💖

Am also in my early 60’s and danced as a child but had shoes back then I was supposed to “grow into” too large and my feet stopped growing so never fit right. I bought a pair of capezio’s on Mercari thinking I could just dance around my kitchen with no one watching (as the song goes) but even the widest weren’t wide enough. Gave them away. Maybe next year!