Follow-up on the Adult Pointe Workshop at TSWB

It took five days after I posted the announcement of the Adult Pointe Workshop before I gave in and registered. Last night I attended the two-hour workshop, taught by Dr. Miriam Graham and Patrick Wenning of Restore Motion LLC, a group of practitioners providing physical therapy services. It is also the "official physical therapy provider for students of The Washington School of Ballet."

Miriam Graham, PT, DPT, MBA

Patrick Wenning, MPT, CIMT

Adult Pointe Workshop at TWSB

Apparently The Washington School of Ballet is attempting to do their Adult Pointe program right: in preparation for the class later this month they're offering a workshop for prospective adult pointe students with two physical therapists. This sounds like an excellent idea to me!

This workshop is only 10 days from now, so don't delay!

Here's their write-up:

Ready? Set? POINTE! Workshop: Navigating Pointe Shoes as an Adult Dancer

This workshop, presented by physical therapists Dr. Miriam Graham and Patrick Wenning of Restore Motion, is part lecture, part movement study. More than an exercise class, the workshop will teach students about their individual anatomy so they can work with their body type for greater success when wearing or considering pointe shoes. The first half of the workshop will focus on strength training for the feet and ankles; the second half will focus on anatomy, the musculoskeletal system, and hone in on risk factors and areas to consider when working in or considering pointe shoes as an adult dancer.
This workshop will not include pointe shoe wearing. If students own pointe shoes, they are welcome to bring their shoes should they wish to ask questions regarding the shoes. All students who have an interest in learning more about the mechanics of pointe shoes and foot/ankle strengthening are welcome to attend.

This workshop is scheduled for Friday, January 17th, 7:00PM to 9:00PM, at "The Joe" studios on Wisconsin Ave. The cost is $45.

Unfortunately I've been unable to find any mention of this workshop on the Washington School of Ballet website. The instructions in the email announcement I received reads:

To enroll in a workshop or a full series class, login to your adult student account or create a new student account. Once logged in, select the "TWSB for Adults" tab, then "Adult Programs" from the drop down list.
Click "Enroll Now" for the workshop you would like to attend.

I can't claim to be that knowledgeable about pointe work, having never tried it, but as a former Emergency Medical Tech I know a fair bit about injuries. The short version is it's better to prevent an injury than to recover from one. If you're interested in pointe work I would strongly encourage you to sign up for this workshop. You might even find me sitting in on this one!

Adult Pointe classes in DC

In June of 2017 I had a conversation with one of my classmates about her interest in pointe work. I asked her where she had found an adult pointe class, and she told me she couldn't find one in the area. That seemed absurd but it was true. No one offered a formal pointe class for adults.

I have a bit of a "fixer" personality: when I see something wrong I get an urge to fix it. This seemed like something that needed to be fixed so I tried to find an instructor who wanted to teach an adult pointe class and a ballet school to host it. At one point I thought I was close to making it happen, but after six months I gave up. You can follow that saga by reading my postings labeled "adult pointe class".

Yesterday morning I learned that The School of The Washington Ballet is hosting an adult pointe class Saturdays, January 25-February 15, 2020 | 2:00-3:15PM at "The Joe" in Northwest Washington DC.

Here's their write-up:

Our new pointe class series, with Amanda Melrose-Smith, is perfect for adults at an advanced beginner/intermediate level of ballet with some experience dancing en pointe. This pointe class will guide students through exercises to continue and progress their pointe work. The majority of each class will be spent at the barre before moving to center work for the last 15-30 minutes of class. Any level student is welcome to take this class. Those without or minimal pointe experience are welcome to join this class in ballet flat shoes to work on strengthening the feet and ankles.

If pointe shoes are to be worn, they must be fully sewn with ribbons and elastic prior to the start of class. For the safety of our adult students, the use of pointe shoes is at the instructor’s discretion.

To find the class description and the link to enroll, go to their Adult Programs page, click on "Special Programming" and scroll down to the "Series Classes" section at the bottom.

I have no idea whether this will be repeated, so don't wait. If you're in the DC area and are interested in pointe work, sign up for this class!

I wish I could take credit for this class. I did talk to their director of adult classes about hosting such a class, but after more than two years I suspect it's more a matter of interested students asking for one.

If anyone who reads my blog goes to this class, please let me know what you think and any details you'd like to share.

Oh my aching...!!

I went back to class this morning after a week off. It wasn't my idea to be off this long, but I couldn't find an appropriate class due to the holidays. I knew the result would be that this class would be harder than usual, but I didn't expect it to be like this.

Before I start ranting, I'll mention that our instructor was not wearing pointe shoes today.  She didn't arrive as early as she normally does and thus didn't get much of a chance to warm up before class, and we actually started on time for a change. This was a very full class, with 29 students by the time the last of the stragglers came in. Three of the students were wearing pointe shoes at barre -- two continuing through center -- though one of them was a school company member proudly wearing her Nutcracker Cast T-shirt.

I had an interesting conversation with a couple of the students about the difficulty level of this class. They've been taking the Advanced Beginner class that starts a bit earlier, and they believe that this Beginner II class is more technically challenging. I haven't taken that Advanced Beginner class, but it echoes my own opinion that this ain't no Beginner II class. I suspect that sentiment is also shared by the two newbies in this class who clearly didn't realize what they'd gotten themselves into, though they bravely tried to keep up as best they could.

Now on to the ranting...

Conversations en Pointe

In the dressing room before Saturday morning's class I bumped into a man who I used to see at the school regularly, but hadn't seen in well over a year. He said he'd intended to take the Advanced Beginner class that started at 10am, but had arrived late and decided to take the Beginner II class instead. Apparently we've been in the school at the same time quite a bit, but he's been in class when I arrive and I've been in class when he left.

As has become her habit since at least September, our instructor was in the hallway warming up wearing pointe shoes. I once asked if she'd bought new shoes and she said they were a half-dead pair that she'd pulled out of the school's hand-me-down bin one day. I'd half-jokingly asked her when she was going to start teaching class wearing them, and she'd laughed and said "Never!"

Apparently "never" arrived Saturday morning.

Adult Pointe class is a bust

After avoiding the topic for a few weeks, I asked Susan if she was going to pursue holding an adult pointe class at Joy of Motion this spring. She says that JoM doesn't really want to hold an adult pointe class.

She asked whether I'd had any luck at Md School of Dance. I told her that Kim Parmer didn't want to teach any additional classes, and that Mané wasn't interested in teaching an adult pointe class. I said that they might be willing to host the class if she wanted to teach it, but she didn't jump at the opportunity.

I asked Susan what adult students who wanted to learn pointe ab initio should do. She suggested that anyone in that situation should pick out a beginner-level class and ask the instructor if it'd be okay to take class, or at least barre, wearing pointe shoes. Of course, that's pretty much what people are doing now.

If there is a bright side to this, it's that there is heightened awareness of the interest. You'll still need permission, which you would have needed to do anyway—and let's face it, some people are not physically prepared for pointe work—but you're unlikely to get the death glare for asking. There are at least three or four students in Susan's Beginner II classes at MYB who take barre in pointe shoes, and one or two often do the entire class. There are two in pointe shoes in Mané's Thursday night class at MSD, one who just started. So you wouldn't be the only one. However, both instructors suggest talking to them before investing in pointe shoes.

Help me, Obi-Wan, you're my only hope

This posting is nothing but me venting, mostly about the adult pointe class debacle. If this interests you, by all means proceed. If not, you've only yourself to blame.

Pointes all over

When I arrived for class this morning, Susan and one of my classmates were in the hallway limbering up in pointe shoes. Apparently this has become a regular thing with Susan before class.

The Big Tease

This evening I arrived early for class to make sure I had time to warm up first. As I was stretching in the hallway I heard Susan come out to do the same. When I turned around to say hello she was wearing pointe shoes and doing relevés. I've been taking classes from Susan for several years now and I've never seen her in pointe shoes before. Was this a sign that she'd decided to commit to teaching the beginner pointe class?

Some people don't know when to quit

Some years back I was taking classes at the American Dance Institute. This started as a ballet school, then shifted focus to sponsoring new dance works. In 2015 they decided to stop offering classes altogether. In 2016 they rebranded themselves "The Lumberyard" (no, I don't get it either), closed up shop in this area and moved to New York.

A couple of weeks ago I discovered where many of the refugees from ADI ended up: the Maryland School of Dance. Their adult program is pretty sparse, but it does have a "Beginner/Intermediate" ballet class Thursday evenings, and I know the instructor from classes at ADI. I've been looking for a class Thursday nights, and the only one available at MYB is an Advanced Beginner class which is more of a challenge than I'm looking for at the moment.

I'd thought about going to this class last Thursday, but when I got to work I realized I'd left my dance gear at home. This evening I had a conflicting appointment, but that got canceled at the last minute. Since I'd already planned on leaving work earlier than usual I had time to drive home, change, and get to MSD early enough to check out the place. There are several studios, though some have small columns in them. The floors are synthetic over plywood (I'm not sure if they qualify as "sprung" floors or not) that are reasonably comfortable to dance on. When I arrived there were two different children's classes in progress, one of which was their Pointe I class and the other their Pointe II class. Interesting to watch!

There were several folk in the Adult class that I recognized; one or two from ADI, and one from MYB. Unlike the classes at MYB, which vary from a dozen to as many as 25, this was a class of 7 or 8. I chose an unfortunate place at the barre which had me facing away from everyone else during the first side of each exercise, and of course I was unfamiliar with the exercises. This meant I botched bits of most of them as I tried to remember the sequences. I'm also still kinda tight from class Tuesday resulting in a bit of cramping in my calf muscles, though that actually got better as the class went on. Overall I'd put this on par with the difficulty of the Sunday Beginner II class at MYB, and much easier than Susan's Beginner 2.75 classes. The students ranged from two or three who were clearly much better than the rest down to a few who struggled with basic steps. I'm still not doing double pirouettes, but I fit nicely just below the top few. Maybe this is a way for me to get three classes a week without having to flail in the Advanced Beginner classes.

Speaking of pointe classes... I spoke with Susan after class Tuesday evening. Apparently Joy of Motion is pretty insistent that a series class needs to run 13 weeks, and she isn't sure she wants to commit to a 13-week series. I'm feeling like I really can't encourage her any further without becoming really annoying. It's really up to her, so if y'all want this class to happen you should probably talk with her yourselves.

Adult Pointe: complications

I asked Susan for clarification re acquiring pointe shoes. She says anyone planning to attend this class should show up for the first class with pointe shoes in hand.

Pointe shoes really need professional fitting, and the fitters get really busy around the start of a new semester when all the kids need new shoes. Also stocks get depleted. From what I've observed while I've been shopping for dance gear, getting fitted for pointe shoes is not something you'll dash in and get done in a few minutes. Schedule yourself some time.

So... if you're serious about taking this class and you don't already have well-fitted pointe shoes, it might be a good idea to start your search soon.


That's the good news. The bad news is a few hiccups have developed:

Adult Pointe: Almost time to ante up

After a couple weeks away, I got back to class yesterday. I didn't get there as early as I would have liked, and as I passed Susan on my way into the studio I asked if she'd settled on a day and time for the Adult Pointe class. She said said she really was too busy to teach yet another class -- she's already teaching four days a week on top of her full-time job. I expressed disappointment and went to find my place at the barre and start warming up.

Coincidentally I was sharing the barre with one of the women who regularly takes class en pointe, and I said that Susan seemed to have dropped the idea of a pointe class. She said she understood, as she was pretty busy herself. In the middle of this conversation Susan walked toward the corner of the studio where I was standing and started speaking. At first I didn't think she was speaking to me, but as my brain tuned in I realized she was saying that Thursday was the only day she could schedule the class, and she'd submit a class request at Joy of Motion when she was there Monday. Wow!

So all you folks (and friends of you folks) who wanted an adult pointe class, listen up! This class is on the verge of happening. Here's a summary to date:

Adult Pointe classes in Bethesda: Who is seriously interested?

I had another chat with my instructor tonight about an adult pointe class. She's willing to teach one, IF there is serious interest. Are you folk interested enough to make this happen?

Here are the key points Susan and I discussed:

More thoughts on Adult Pointe classes

First my activity log...

I've been very good about going to class recently (though not so good at updating this blog). Last Saturday I left home for class at my normal time but got stuck in terrible traffic due to road repairs and didn't arrive at the studio until far too late. I opted to eat lunch first, then take the Stretch class in the afternoon. Wow, did that hurt! Clearly it's like ballet: take it on a regular basis, or don't take it at all.

Tuesday's class was the first in a long while where I didn't feel the need to sit out a section to recover. Not even the jumps. I'm going to claw my way back to taking 3-4 classes a week if it kills me. ;-)

Now on to the topic at hand...

Adults on Pointe

I had a conversation with one of the other students in my class Tuesday night. She was wearing pointe shoes and was getting advice from someone with more experience on the best way to tie her ribbons. I asked her how long she'd been on pointe and she answered that she'd just started.