Last night I actually saw my teacher wearing pointe shoes! It was pretty astounding. Usually you won't catch ballet teachers within a mile of a pointe shoe, regardless of the class they are teaching. In fact, I could have sworn I once heard her say she wouldn't be caught dead in them (I believe the exact words were "wild horses could not drag me back in to pointe shoes") but there she was! Also: girlfriend straight up uses scotch tape on her toes. That ranks up there with folded up cheap paper towels, which I have also seen.
While she and the pointe students (I am the only person on flat in that class, now. Don't I just feel special) were all sitting on the lobby floor putting on their shoes I was standing alertly in the corner, absorbing their ribbon-tying instructions on the not-even-at-all sly. She looked at me and said "aw, RPrin. Do you feel left out?" and I was like "naw, naw. It's all good. I am learning from you guys" and she mentioned that she did not want to put me en pointe while I am still working at the theater (the season ends next month, and I go back to maybe-sorta earning a living from home for the next nine months) because it would be "a recipe for disaster". I wonder, do I really seem that harried and out of it right now? I mean, I AM harried and out of it, because I have to tube feed a cat at 6am and midnight every day. But STILL. I like to think I present an image of having my shit together.
It makes me think of one of my favorite songs (which, holy crap, we are staging at work this Summer. I am pretty excited.) I try to live the dream, man:
Obviously I am not doing such a great job of it.
to the scotch tape: its so weird because i think im the only girl who doesnt use something weird in my class. i use the ouch pouches and some squishy silicon spacers/pinky pads. the other girls use blue painters tape, Kleenex, scotch tape, paper towel, cotton balls (not lambs wool... cotton balls) scraps of fabric, cut up socks... and im all, yeah, im just going to be buying things from a dance store... i see my teacher in her pointe shoes all the time... even when she isnt teaching pointe :)
ReplyDeleteIsn't there some fancy toe tape that is actually just overpriced painter's tape? Whatever gets you through the class, I guess.
DeletePS: my local drug store sells ouch pouches, spacers, gel tips, etc in with the regular insoles and such.
:) yup the target and cvs by me do too, (including lambs wool) ive gotten them there too when the dance store i frequent was closed, and i misplaced mine.
Deletehmmm maybe? (about the tape) i dont use tape, maybe im missing something lol! yup agreed, whatever gets you through!
I get horrible blisters in regular shoes so I use bandage tape when I wear certain (impractical) shoes or when I know I'm going to be doing a lot of walking. I feel like toe tape is going to be a standard item in my dance bag, too.
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