Pointe shoes

The short interview with Lauren Anderson is so inspiring that gives me an insight into passion and success as well as motivates me to persist in following my dream. Anderson’s story of her career as a principal ballerina seems quite simple and typical as she started early at seven, soon became a principal dancer of Houston Ballet, and then now is giving back to the society by teaching ballet to children of “underserved” community. However, I believe behind that story are all strenuous efforts…

Although dance does not come to mind first in regards to rigorous sport, it is truly a highly demanding activity on the physical body. Many begin dancing at age four or five, ahead of them a long career of repetitive practices for endurance, lower extremity strength, and extreme flexibility. Thus, dancers are prime candidates for overuse injuries, especially as age increases. The foot complex is the most frequently injured body part in dance, as seen through studies claiming its comprising of…

skirts made of light, fluttery tulle that were meant to enhance the perspective of lightness and grace in the dancer. In the Romantic Movement, pointe work, the technique of standing on one’s toes with special shoes, was created by Filippo Taglioni to “emphasize his daughter’s [Marie Taglioni] otherworldly lightness and insubstantiality” (ccs.neu.edu). Pointe work grew popular throughout Europe, and soon became the classic “norm” for any ballerina’s practice. Unfortunately, over time, the…

This pain will also make it hard to do everyday activities. Improper alignment of the kneecaps can also cause this pain. Usually, this pain is caused by the following: overuse, improper training, or change in footwear, such as going from flats to pointe shoes. Also, patellofemoral pain syndrome is caused when the calfs and quads are not as strong as they should be. So, this puts a lot of weight on the knees. This condition can be healed by reducing activity, and by doing physical…

I’m not built for ballet. My frame is well suited for soccer and other sports that involve strong legs. But I love ballet. At young age, I excelled at swimming and was even offered a spot on the local team but it wasn’t for me. I joined soccer but the schedule was grueling. I still wanted ballet. One day my mom was walking by the store Fat Albert and turned into the wrong door. That wrong turn changed my life. My mom had accidentally walked into the dance studio that became my second home…

the oldest dance styles and, while it tells a story, there is no speaking, singing or any other words to be said. You portray a story through very complex movements that take a lifetime of practice to get perfectly. You wear specific shoes so that you can go on pointe and, while sometimes you get a main part and play a character, you could also be part of a main group of ballerinas who dance to set the theme. The most important part of ballet is technique, and there is little room for personal…

all the way up to 2017. In 1920 the ‘famous’ dance type was ballet. Ballet is an artistic dance form performed using precise and highly formalized set steps and gestures. It is characterized by light, graceful, fluid movements and the use of pointe shoes. Dancing ballet was…

Author Lailah Gifty Akita once said, “You have to look closely to see clearly.” This assertion resembles the nature of both the visual and performing arts. In order for one to see the depths of any piece of art, one must assess it carefully. Examining Henri Matisse’s painting, Vase, Bottle, and Fruit, Van Halen’s song “Jump,” and Swan Lake, they appear to be three distinctly different pieces of art, however analyzing these pieces thoroughly, one can see the many similarities between the three.…

Lighting The lights are the first thing the audience experience in this piece, then comes sound and movement. From the begging the lighting design was unique in the since that there was emphasis on the curtains. There were lights shining directly on the wings drapes. They were simply horizontal lines stacking straight up. The choice to have the lights show up first gave the audience time to take in the lights and create their own idea of what the lights represented. There were two sets/types of…

did not always portray his dancers as the delicate, graceful figures we see in music boxes. Instead, he chose to paint them in a more realistic manner. A large amount of his paintings and drawings focus on simple things, like a dancer tying her pointe shoes or even relaxing with her hands on her hips. Degas gives us a peek into…