Simply put, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan is a dazzling performer. We couldn’t take our eyes off of her when she danced the lead pas de deux from “Rubies” during an online company performance in October. In Pointe‘s March/April digital cover story, PNB artistic director Peter Boal describes the 23-year-old corps member as having a “go-for-broke presence, […]
Q: I’m sinking into my pointe shoes. I’ve tried different shoes and nothing is working. I used to have high arches, but they seem to be less flexible these days. Is this why I’m sinking? A: I actually believe pronation could be the cause of your sinking. Pronation happens when dancers turn out their feet […]
At Michigan Ballet Academy, artistic director Irina Vassileni meets with a group of eager young students and their parents. She holds a shiny new pair of pointe shoes in one hand and an old, worn pair in the other. “I show them all the details, inside and out, and how working on pointe for hours […]
Q: A student’s parents insist their daughter is strong enough for pointe, but our ballet teacher says she’s not ready. They want to take her to another studio that promised they’d put her on pointe. What should I do? A: Throughout the years, we’ve found it’s better to lose a student than to give in […]
Your feet may not be the envy of your studio, but having inflexible feet and ankles isn’t all bad. Master pointe shoe fitter Josephine Lee walks us through the pros and cons.
No two pairs of pointe shoes are the same, from their shanks to their boxes, their color to their shine. To make an array of shoes more uniform or to get them to a shade closer to your skin tone, dance teachers might ask that you “pancake” your pointe shoes before going onstage. But what […]
Looking for your next audition shoe? Shot at and in collaboration with Broadway Dance Center, Só Dança has launched a new collection of shoes working with some pretty famous faces of the musical theater world! Offered in two different styles and either 2.5″ or 3″ heels, top industry professionals are loving how versatile and supportive […]
If you’re looking to find new teaching jobs or just expand your reach as a teacher, look no further than your Instagram account. Developing a digital voice that connects with studios and dancers is an easy (and cost-free) strategy to boost your profile. “Instagram has definitely shined a spotlight on my gifts as a teacher,” […]
Wearing ballet slippers with satin ribbons attached, young girls practice relevé facing the barre, while Martha Goodman of Atlanta Ballet’s Centre for Dance Education makes adjustments. She sees that each child has proper placement before moving on to the next exercise. “Everything should be clean, neat and correct,” she says. Students must complete a full […]