Saturday, May 14, 2011

THE RITUAL

I'm busy with dress rehearsals this weekend so this is a quick post.

If any of you saw "Black Swan" or other ballet movies, you may be familiar with the ritual ballerinas have ahead of a performance:  namely, preparing the pointe shoes.




A soft and a hard pair of pointe shoes drying out
I ordered another pair in a different shape to try out too



Every dancer has their own ritual.  Mine consists of having several pairs of shoes, with different "feels" for different choreography.  I like a hard shoe with lots of support if I am dancing on pointe a lot (endless bourres!).  For a lot of jumps, my preference is a soft, very broken-in shoe.  We mash up the shoes until they feel right.  Then we sew the elastics and ribbons on.  Lastly, which is what you see here, I put clear nail polish at the ends of the ribbons to prevent fraying (some burn the edges, but I'm a little afraid of pyrotechnics).  You see the shoes drying out here.

I imagine that athletes have a similar ritual when preparing for a meet or competition.  Are any of you athletes or performers?  What are your experiences?


Art work by a local, Bay Area artist.  I thought it was an interesting, nearly disturbing, contrast to have the edgy mixed media alongside the satin shoes.  

7 comments:

  1. yes i have seen black swan and save the last dance movies and few other's with ballet in them..and i told you before i love dancing..to watch it ofcourse.
    http://flysongbird.blogspot.com

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  2. how cool!
    good luck with the show & reheasals :)))
    xo Diana

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  3. Love the shot. The clear nail varnish tip will come in useful for other things. I am not an athlete nor do I have any rituals for anything I do I dont think...maybe a bit of a neat freak as far as my photography equipment is concerned I like it to be packed away in a very specific way - I feel it will last a lot longer if cared for properly. Xxxx

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  4. I am totally not an athlete nor a performer but I like your beautiful photo and I like to learn about dance : i did not imagine that a dancer could have several shoes adapted to different kinds of ballet!

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  5. Love love the shot.

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  6. Fashionistable: given how expensive photography equipment is concerned, your meticulous care sounds appropriate. My old camera from years ago was ruined because we lost the lens cap. Taking pictures on sandy beaches and dusty horse rides finally gave my old photos a permanent grainy finish!

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  7. WOW, I am so impressed about this hot!!!Love it!
    http://chiccastyle.blogspot.com/

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Dear Fellow Aesthetes, I love hearing your thoughts. I think the other readers find them valuable too! Much love xxx

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