For a french person, “plié” means both “folded” and “bent”. Of course, we understand the difference between the two meanings but we use the same word to describe two different situations. Anyway it might not be the case for every type of French people (because we don’t always come from France) but I only know that I personally use “plié” for “folded” and “bent”.
Right, because the root verb “plier” has the meanings of both “to fold” and “to bend”. I didn’t realize this would be confusing to Anglophones, because… isn’t folding basically just bending further/prettily?
I mean, we use the verbs to fold and to bend interchangeably sometimes, though there is a subtle difference. To fold is just not usually used in reference to the body unless you're talking about contortionists. 😅
I was gonna say! I didn't go through 9 years of "Ok classe pliez vos papiers...." for nothing. (do you conjugate when there's a possessive pronoun?? I Can't remember)
@@punkyv6560 if the possessive pronoun (which was “vos” in your sentence) is plural, yes you conjugate (the “vos” refers to the class and so to the students and since there are at least 15 people, it is plural and it conjugates) that’s why “papiers” and “pliez” are both in the plural form -> I don’t know if this was the explanation you needed but know that your sentence was good! I didn’t see any grammar mistake!
@@vortex-3653 You do not conjugate vos papiers with pliez due to the fact it is an imperatif sentence. (give an order) The verbe plier would be wriitten the same way with a singulat or plural accusatif. Pliez votre papier or pliez vos papiers even if you talk to one person (formal) or to a class... Hope it helps!
For those wondering about “six” positions, and why she was confused it’s because in ballet there are only five positions. But jazz dancers are taught six positions, the sixth being feet parallel to each other. 🥰
I did classical and was also taught the sixth. We never used it though, so I don't know why I learned about it 😂 I had a Russian ballet teacher as well, who was classically trained in Russia, so it wasn't to do with her background either. Maybe they taught it just in case some of us wanted to do jazz as well, idk.
I'm trained in RAD, six is though in ballet, more in a matter of "you need to know it exists" or if you are in prep (4 to 8 years old) or starting from zero. Usually applied to strech more.
The back thing is very real! I remember being so frustrated in ballet class back in the day bc I couldn’t get a middle split or a 90 degree arabesque no matter how hard I tried 😩 it was only recently (I’m in my 30s now) that a chiropractor worked with me on it and that’s helped with flexibility a lot as I still dance for fun. Hayley (and anyone else who’s dealing with this) should try ashtanga yoga - it’s doing wonders for me!
@@BirdyJ0 nobody ever advertised these interventions as “cure” but, only as pain management. 👍🏼 she only enumerated what helps with managing the struggle to help with others who’s alike. 🙂
@@BirdyJ0 agreed. I don’t think people understand this is a genetic condition people (including me) were born in which vertebrae fused improperly. These can never move people!!!!
I couldn’t move up or go to pointe bc of that so I had to quit or stay in the same class for the rest of my life until some miracle happened I had everything to be on point except a split which was so annoying to me to have spent all that money to get on pointe and then later find out I can’t even move up and get on pointe
My ballet program didn’t require a split, which I didn’t have. But it did require 4 ballet classes plus point. I was an older dancer (then a HS senior) and didn’t want to have zero social life, so never went on point and am STILL bitter.
The bone thing isn’t an injury. It’s genetic, or at least it is for me. A 90 degree is sort of possible, but not with correct technique. You kind of have to twist your hips and cheat it, which drives ballet teachers crazy.
It can also be due to an injury. Most are congenital which is why it took me 2 years to finally get my rheumatologist to realize that I wasn’t born with mine & it happened due to trauma in my adult life. And depending on the fusion you still won’t be able to get it to 90° even with improper technique. It also depends on how your pelvis is sitting & if that’s also affected due to the fusion or from another issue.
I believe that they are talking about a condition called sacralization of the lower lumbar vertebrae. It IS congenital, meaning that you are born with it. In this, one or more of the lowest lumbar vertebrae are fused to the sacrum (the back of the pelvis), limiting movement. It's usually painless, UNLESS, you want to perform activities that require increased mobility, like dance or gymnastics. (There's a correlating condition where the upper sacral vertebrae can be part of the mobile lumbar spine, making it unstable.)
@@drshelkie4153 While that condition is congenital, your sacrum can become fused due to injury. Someone said it wasn’t an injury & that it was genetic; I was just clarifying that that’s not always the case… I wasn’t even aware that I fractured my back, I just knew that I had an injury. Since I never had it checked out with imaging, my doctors didn’t realize there was a fracture & it healed incorrectly, fusing my L5 vertebrae to my sacrum.
Plié can mean folded, as in "J'ai plié des vêtements" "I folded clothes." But in the context of ballet, it's "bend". Google translate will never be as good as someone who is fluent in both languages. And for the fused bones in the back, yes that can happen. I know someone who was born with several fused vertebra.
yaaaaaa and just because there are two words for something in English doesn't mean there are two different words for them in another language. Just like how there can be multiple words for something that we only have one word for in english
@@new0news Exactly. Also depending on geographical location some things are not called the same. There are plenty videos comparing English in the USA/Canada/UK/Australia/etc. that demonstrate this. Coloured pencil/pencil crayons Sofa/couch/chesterfield Trainers/Sneakers/Runners/Running shoes And it's the same with French between France/Quebec, Spanish between Spain/Latin America or Portuguese between Portugal/Brazil. The meaning of some words can be so very different from location to location too and you have to be careful when using some. For example, in France "gosses" is slang for children, but in Quebec it's slang for testicles.
The decision I regret most in my life. Was quitting ballet THE YEAR BEFORE WE WERE SUPPOSED TO LEARN POINTE. The main reason I quit was because it was a different teacher and the new teacher really liked to blast the music extremely loud and I have very sensitive hearing. Tried moving to another studio, but it didn’t fit my learning style, they went extremely fast and I couldn’t comprehend what they were doing fast enough. It honestly made me hate ballet so I quit. 😞
I took a jazz and tap class in kindergarten and the sound of everyone else’s tap shoes running around the room when the teacher gave up two thirds of the way into class and said it was “free dance” was the worst thing my little senses had ever experienced. As an adult, I now know I am prone to migraines and have misophonia (including for random staccato sounds like snapping or, you guessed it, taps!) I don’t wish I continued dancing, though, because I also learned I have naturally lax joints and rheumatoid arthritis, and just existing and careful weight lifting is dangerous enough for me!
I quit about the same time. We had a visiting instructor from Russia and he said my legs were wonderful but I would never be a ballerina because of my large breasts. 😳
I wish I started sooner, I hated the style until recently due to how structured it is. Now it's helping me improve in all my other dance styles except hip-hop.
4:14 this is too relatable! I did 7 years of ballet training, and then I moved to hip-hop 2 years ago. My lower body is a mess, but my upper body is still there
RE: Spine fusion - it's probably a genetic bone deformity or lack of flexibility/insecure double jointedness in the hips, etc. Spinal fusion is usually a surgery performed for those with Spinal Cord Injuries but is being performed less and less these days because of the lack of mobility that inherently follows this procedure. I could, however, be completely wrong but I have a SCI and was a candidate for Spinal fusion before the doctors decided to do a Discectomy instead. I also have a friend who was born with an extra bone in her foot which made pointework impossible for her until she had surgery xx
They are definitely still performing it, especially for conditions like scoliosis. It is also possible for the vertebrae to fuse together as a natural process or as part of healing from trauma to the bones
Yep. I'm a nurse and I was going to post a comment about this, but you already took care of it. 👍 *You accidentally wrote "she has an extra bone in her food" and it cracked me up! For some reason when I mean to type "good" my phone sometimes ends up changing it to "food", making for some very strange sentences. "That looks so food!" "Thanks for the food advice!" "I hope you have food weather for your trip!"
One of my lumbar vertebrae fused to my sacrum in the womb. There’s nothing to be done about it-the fused vertebra probably isn’t even shaped like a lumbar vertebra any more-but it hasn’t had any effect on my life. Then again, I’m not a dancer, so demands that I lift my leg 90 degrees behind me are pretty rare.
howdy friends! 🤠 hope ya liked this one! for past react videos, lots of people have asked for them to be longer - so we gave it a try. what do you think?? preference on longer/shorter react vids? let us know!!
I adored this one! I love the longer vids, whether they’re more in depth about one subject, or quick assessments of many topics. Yayyyy for more of you! 💖💕
Actually saw that video a while ago and the "wood" thing was driving me nuts too. Also, it's so clear that the shank is so hard it's holding her up, that's why she was able to hold herself up, in my opinion. If she had been fitted in a softer shank to start out I'm just guessing she wouldn't have been able to get up at all after a few releves once the demi broke in since she didn't have experience training the strength of the foot from demi to full pointe.
I disagree. She was sinking and so ill fitted I doubt she benefitted from the strength of the shank. If a shank doesn’t hit my foot right, I just slide right on past it and it’s fairly useless to me. I actually find softer shanks more supportive cause they mold to my arch. Also when you weigh more as an adult, it’s much harder to be propped up entirely by a pointe shoe. Foot strength isn’t the only strength required and as an ex dancer, even if her specialty wasn’t ballet, she would have foot and ankle strength to draw on from muscle memory.
I don't know anything about ballet and have no idea why I watched this... I also didn't understand a thing you just said other than there is clearly no wood in pointe shoes haha. Was still fascinated by your explanation of why the shoes were doing most of the work. Thank you for the knowledge. ❤
@@JessieBanana I actually would cut my shanks in half because I have flat feet & it was the only way I could get support. A full shank was torture on my feet.
Yes, you can have a fused bone in the back. It could be that her sacrum and last lumbar vertebra never separated in development so it is just one bone. The opposite happens too where someone’s sacrum doesn’t fuse properly and they have 6 lumbar vertebra instead of 5 (and it can happen on just one side).
@@nmg6248 Maybe it's a difference in the degree of fusion (not in the medical field, so I don't know). Kind of like how multiple people can have the same illness to different degrees and all have individual experiences.
@@nmg6248 Depends on how & where it’s fused. She may have a full fusion where yours is only partly fused. Also other body mechanics come into play as well.
It can also fuse as a result from an accident or trauma. Mine partially fused when I was in my 30s when I unknowingly fractured my spine. Now I can’t arch back whatsoever & my leg in arabesque derrière is incredibly sad,
This is the first time I'm hearing this can cause issues with arabesque and wishing I would have known this back when I was first diagnosed. It would have made dancing in college so much more enjoyable. My sophomore year of high school is when they found out I have a "6th" vertebrae.
Yup I have somewhat the same problem. My lowest 3 vertebrae aren't properly aligned so I can't keep my leg at 90° and keep my torso (somewhat) upright at the same time. I've tried doing it while someone holds my leg up and then in try to straighten my upper body but all that does is lift me of the floor(it's kinda fun to try). So bodies and what they can and can't do are weird (and fun and interesting)
@@sj4iy she may be able to someday. tell her to look up Kyra Condie. she's an olympic rock climber with a spinal fusion from a surgery at 13. she inspires me everyday
I guess it's "fun and interesting" if you don't have an instructor getting frustrated with you because you physically can't do something and they think you're just not willing to try hard enough. :-/ People can seriously injure themselves trying to force their bodies to do what they can't, especially if the problem is skeletal.
@@rachrbonez1335 I personally don't like "inspiration" derived from watching people with disabilities do something I can't. They're people, doing what they want and need to do. It's not 'inspiring', it's normal. My daughter's situation is different from the rock climber's situation. If she wants to look up to someone, she should look up to herself and not another person she's never met. She's the only person she can rely on.
@@sj4iy I agree. I try to find things that I CAN do with my body and try to enjoy those to the fullest. (and sometimes feel a little joy when people with more able bodies struggle with them ;))
Yes the fused bones are definitely a thing! My mum was born with her sacrum and last lumbar vertebrae fused, so she also struggles with range of movement through her legs and hips
@@GaryTongue-to3pw buddy, I'm not British, but go off I guess lol besides language is descriptive not prescriptive; basically you knew what I meant even if you disagree with how I wrote it. Besides, if you really wanted to be a stickler for spelling/American-English, you should have corrected my use of the plural "vertebrae" when I was referring to the singular lumbar vertebra, but I guess you don't actually care either way and just needed to assert your own sense of dominance and superiority to a stranger online. Hmm. Sad.
@@EllenLouise19 I wish I could like this 10 times. Honestly I didn't even notice the "mum" and if I had, there'd be less than zero reason to get upset about it. Wow.
I can relate to this video deeply. I went into ballet before traditional school. I was just given my first pair of pointe shoes before having to move halfway across the US. Once moved, I was diagnosed with bad scoliosis, and needed a spinal fusion. Fast-forward 10 years. I now have a baby girl who wants to learn ballet, and wants me to go with her as I taught her the basics. She has no clue that she can do so much more than I. 🥰
Josephine You are a joy to watch whether you are fitting pointe shoes and giving us clear intelligent information or reacting to a TH-cam Video. The day is always made brighter by you. 건배
I can't believe how well she's doing on the pirouettes. This is my second year en pointe and my first year doing pirouettes en pointe and that is how I do them.
Former dancer here. I quit ballet in my preteens because I could never do the proper angle on an arabesque and I struggled with turnout. Turns out I have scoliosis in my lumbar spine and had an untreated broken tailbone as a kid. So yes, spinal problems can absolutely mess up your leg and foot posture!
My best friend broke my tail bone and I now live with chronic pain as it effected my sacrum but I had quit ballet by then. Hope you don’t suffer like I have.
I was a gymnast for 8 years and could never get my back leg up high enough either. When I had recurring pain and finally saw a doctor to get an X-ray, they found I had Bertolotti’s syndrome. Apparently one of my vertebrae had fused to my sacroiliac joint and I had a few stress fractures. From all the movements that forced me to bend my back and bring my leg up I had actually been repeatedly fracturing it and the bone would keep fusing again.
i don't watch dance content or haley pham either, but this was somehow in my recommended and i absolutely do not regret clicking on this video, love it!! (time to now binge more pointe shoe fitter reacts)
The fused bone in the back is SO real, in fact I have the exact same thing. I had no idea why my hips were unmovable in my 4 years of dance and I reached a point where teachers would push their full weight into my forward folds and I would not budge. My chiropractor enlightened me after I had stopped dancing that I have a Transitional Lumbosacral Segment, which basically means that there is a fusion between the sacral and lumbar vertebrae. This stops a certain amount of movement that should be happening in the lower spine/hip areas.
I love how you can tell the type of shoe just by looking at them! If you work in most types of health department it's similar to watching medical shows and yelling at them, when they do the wrong thing! Love the way you kept cringing and stopping to correct the "box", NOT being made of wood! And yeah, spinal fusion is a real thing!
As an ex dancer myself, she did real good for her first time on point...I used to do jazz, contemporary, modern, tap, & ballet, but never did point ballet...it was always an aspiration of mine, but I've been retired for over a decade or more and all my flexibility is gone-I promised myself imma get back into dancer shape and try to perform just one more time, maybe even try point ballet... I'm proud of her efforts for her first time...and ur commentary was informative, cause I didn't know that about the shoes at all... dancers that never did point ballet, we all think that there is wood block that u stand on in the bottom of the shoe...lol...thanks for the video.
This was so much fun to watch!!!!!! One of my New Years resolutions is to take drop in lessons at my local ballet studio and I’m binging adult beginner videos for confidence and more realistic expectations for what the hell I’m getting into after 10yrs lol. I could only hope to look this good and have such an awesome sense of humor 🥰
She really did a great job, especially for being out of dance for a while and never trying pointe before. I enjoyed watching your reaction; you mentioned all the areas that stood out to me when I watched her original video. On another note: I am so glad you said something about breaking in the shoe! My ballet teacher (this was between 1998 -2008) was very much against us breaking in pointe shoes (some bending and flexing was fine), and said if we had strong feet and good technique then we wouldn’t need to “break our shoes.” We were only allowed to break in a shoe if preparing for a performance. Since then, I watch most dancers attack their everyday pointe shoes as a common practice when getting a new pair - and I am always confused.
Yes! Spinal issues limiting range of motion is definitely a thing! I have scoliosis (my spine has a 42 degree curve) which causes my pelvis to be tilted and on an angle. That means that my arabesque and extension in general is COMPLETELY different between left and right. My hip flexors and hamstrings are actually different lengths at rest.
I could never get decent extension. Battement I could occasionally get to 90 degrees; arabesque nope; developpe forget about it. I found out as an adult that I have a mild congenital malformation where my kneecaps point slightly inward rather than straight forward and it explains so much!
Is watched that video of Haley and I'm guessing that's why this popped up for me...totally enjoyed watching it! Too cool & loved the explanations you gave. Thank you!
Love your videos!! As a newbie to ballet i was wondering if you could do a video explaining what different foot styles are? Like what is the difference between high /low profiles, when are toes considered short/long… it would be wonderful to see the differences compared side to side! MUCH THANKS!!
Yes! That would be a great way to help people like us to better understand each of the differences she mentions during fittings. I'm not even a dancer but I enjoy learning about random things, and Jo's got such a magnetic personality, so these videos are fun to watch.
As someone who speaks French as a second language it can mean bent or folded Ex: « J’ai plié le papier en demi » / Ex: “I folded/bent the paper in half” Either works
I don’t know anything about dance, but as a runner I am so impressed! I really enjoyed learning about the technical, because my ankles have also been a weakness of mine.
Would you ever want to fit someone who hasn’t been on pointe before, possibly someone who hasn’t danced a lot of ballet? I would find that really interesting. I love dance and I danced ballet for about a year. I fell in love with contemporary dance, but made sure I was still strengthening my ankles and feet. I have the worst feet but it would be great to see someone else who doesn’t have a lot of training try getting fitted. Unfortunately, I had to stop dancing because of money, but I know that dancers can dance at home and still grow up to be incredible dancers. I do however recommend and strongly encourage classes if people can afford it.
The feet are the most impressive part in ballet, but you have to pay attention to your entire body. The big cliché you'll find about ballet is how people are standing. Because it is first about balance. The turn out starts at the hips, for instance, not at the ankles. And the legs needs to be very straight, so much your knees want or should to disapear. I remember attending preparation shoes class. Basically we were doing relevés for an hour. So yeah, the calf muscle needs to be very strong. To get on pointes, you go from demi-pointe to pointe. Just like you would be seated on the floor with your toes touching the walls, and slide just doing relevé. Another way to get the feeling is with tennis shoes, toes nails trimmed.
On the arabesque/back flexibility point- I figured you’d find this anecdote interesting. I’m a former dancer with EDS so I was always “rubber band girl” even at my studio. Had wildly hypermobile hips and can do all sorts of party tricks with my arms and legs but my back… I always was baffled and frustrated by how relatively limited my back flexibility was by comparison and no amount of stretching was going to change that. There is obviously natural variation here but it was such a strange mash up with me. I knew other dancers who likely had EDS as well and similar levels of flexibility and all of them had far greater back flexibility than me. I don’t know to this day the full explanation or details of my situation but I did learn I have mild scoliosis in my lower back. I suspect dance training likely helped perhaps the scoliosis overall but for sure I think it helped mask it. Actually runs in my family to the extent I was the only member of my family without visible scoliosis. Now that I’m in my 30 and have a lot of health issues overall though- low bad and hip pain is a major issue and hence making the scoliosis discovery. It always felt like something was just off if I did a back bend or lifted my leg in arabesque. I would have to cheat to even reach 90 and lean a little further forward or shift my hip a little. So wild compared to how gorgeous and easy my extensions were to the front or side.
I have hEDS and always wondered what the percentage of dancers (and gymnasts too!) had eds! I wasn’t er… ✨graceful✨ enough for ballet so I played soccer 😂 My early 30s hit me hard too! I’m now known as ‘Gumby’ at PT!
Hey remember the hoopla regarding a black ballet dancer getting her fly matched shoe? These shoes all appear to look PINK. I don’t know anyone with that color. I’ve seen Shen YUN and they were absolutely amazing.
Yup its called a fused vertebrae, it's something you're usually born with and not due to injury, but sometimes if there is a sever injury to the spine and surgery is needed doctors may fuse the vertebrae limiting back extension
I'm not a dancer (I used to dance jazz and salsa as a hobby, but never ballet and never professionally). I always thought that the hard part of pointe was made out of plaster, but I would've never imagined someone could think it's made out of wood 🤷🏻♀️
Clueless people would think that. But that's why this clueless person didn't do a clueless thing going to professionals. Unfortunatly she encountered scam artist. She should never had found somebody willing to buy her pointes neither somebody whom would made her do those types of exercices, whit those shoes.
Omg I saw this in my recommended and I watched it right away! Haley is the wife of one of my favorite TH-camrs, Ryan Trahan!! Haley is so talented even after years
The toe box, is made from paper, cardboard and glue mixed together into a paste and layered.. Like paper Marche work.. But it sounds like wood when you knock on it.. But it's not a problem calling it wood.. Everybody doesn't have to know everything about everything ❤️😁
Yes, fused bones can be a congenital defect. Some people have it done later in life via surgery because the disk in between two vertebrae has to be taken out because it basically imploded. My stepsister had it done. Sometimes they can just cut out a portion of the disk and leave the bones alone. My brother had that done. I have disk issues but I am not letting a surgeon touch it. I can do traction to mitigate the issue.
JOSEPHINE! that Macarena confusion moment HAD ME CACKLING! I almost choked. I just got my first pair of Demi-pointe shoes the other day as an adult dancer. I've been watching your videos for a long time and hopefully can come for a fitting eventually. Love the content.
In terms of your question in around 7:49, Orthopaths like myself do our best to locate and loosen out all the tight spots. Depending on where her fused vertebrae is, If it's affecting her psoas muscle or some of her abductors then yeah. It's a thing
Literally the same thing happened to me. I went and got fitted for the first time and everything was great until I got home and tried them on again in class. The moment I tried them on they felt as if my toes were trying to get through a wall especially when I did pilé. Till this day, they still feel the same. What should I do? I’ve also been told that it’s supposed to hurt a lot but this is another level.
Fit shoes during the summer or on a day when it is not cold at least. Try picking a day when it is as warm outside the house as inside. Or warm up the feet before fitting.
Also, shop for shoes at the end of the day when your feet are swollen. You're a different size in the evening than you are in the morning. Take that into account.
It should hurt, but not like that and not days later !! Something must went wrong. I would advide you to see a physician. And may be find another teacher.
It's not supposed to hurt a lot. Yes, you feel it, and it can be painful, but it should be like walking around with a blister at most; painful, maybe, but manageable. It can get painful once you start dancing so much that you hurt your toes, but then it's the injuries that hurt, not the wearing of the shoes. I hope you've found better shoes by now!
In French, plié can mean creased, folded, bent. The French verb plier (pronounced essentially the same as plié) means "to fold." Given that some pointe shoes are made from paper mache and/or cardboard,and paper is made from wood, you could argue that some Pointe shoes "come from wood." Maybe. But that is my BIGGEST pet peeve. If you don't know what they are made from, you shouldn't be talking about them. Luna... how could you let us down by not fact checking her post before she put it up?
Yes there is a procedure called fusing for back injuries. It wait is actually a metal plate that holds two vitabrae together so your mobility goes down but that area has a lot less pressure so less pain Ideally
Especially in the cases of scoliosis and previous back injuries, it's super common to have metal components in the back fusing 2 vertebrae together to prevent further damage from slipped discs.
Yes Josephine it is real. My L5 is fused on one side to my iliac crest . Yup right to the top of my pelvis. Found this out after a car accident where I had to get x-rays repeatedly over a year. So no wonder I had trouble on one side that I never could correct no matter how hard I trained. I could get almost. Bit had to cheat by rotating slightly. Sucked.
Sorry do you mean your sacrum rather than your iliac crest? Your crests are the big round bits you feel at your waist when you prod and it would be very odd for a spine to be fused there because simply put your spinal cord would just be ??? Lol
That’s happened to me and after that FINANCIAL 🔥, I re-check a new pair-style of pointe shoes a few times before sewing. Also, unless you have super narrow tapered feet, you can usually pad out a shoe a little too big. A shoe too small though is unusable hell.
as someone who still suffers daily chronic pain from a back injury from over 24 years ago ... I can attest that there's surgeries that fuse vertebrae together, or put rods in your back... all to hopefully stabilize your lower back and reduce your pain... unfortunately more often than not your pain is worse afterwards and it wasn't worth having the surgery..
I was a gymnast for 6 years before spinal fusion surgery where 5 of my low back vertebrae were fused and theres no way my leg goes that high now sooooo i feel u girl
I used to teach dance, and even of I do not dance anymore, the feeling Is still insider my Spirit, and It Will Always be...I likes the video for both the professionality and easy way to explain all the steps of the processo the girl went through. And She was really good at🤗! I subscribed the channel because I like the way of speaking, so ...I am curious ti see next!🙂 Thank you🥳
it makes me so happy that you said to get the go ahead preferably from both your teacher AND physical therapist. my teacher gave me the go ahead but my pt said NO WAY. please check with a therapist if you’re wanting to go en pointe, some peoples foot structures literally aren’t capable of handling it (ex:my ankle ligaments aren’t) !!
I love ballerinas! So elegant and graceful. And yes bone fusions can happen down the spine and neck. I suppose it could happen anywhere. I recently found out one of my daughters have a fusion in her neck. The chiropractor said it could've been at birth or an injury that healed that way.
I have a spinal fusion. Yes you can do 90 degrees but it will feel tighter than before getting a spinal fusion. I would have do additional stretches but I haven’t tried going higher
I’ve been watching Haley’s video since long before she stopped dancing and even then, she did not enjoy ballet and it was her weakest dance style. But the pointe performance at the end was impressive considering it’s been 3 years since she was dancing constantly for competitions.
I have problems with my lower back, apparently some fusing, and I was never able to achieve 90 degrees plus. But I can still (at 66 yrs, do 180 degrees turn out)
Oh gosh that's going to be me! I was a ballerina until my senior year of college and haven't danced now for 6 years. I tried to show my children moves and I could feel my muscles were like what are you doing? We can't do this like we use to. Slow down. It was a little depressing! Flexibility gone as well. Sigh
So basically I said a lot of the same things Josephine said in terms of the performance and the “wood” 👀 I also got a notification in my inbox regarding that video and watched it. I appreciate that she was responsible with a disclaimer and other stuff. Anyway, keep up with the great videos Josephine! 🩰
I have the same thing, my left hip is fused to my sacrum. It was like that from birth. Thank you for having the same thoughts as I did watching this... IT'S NOT WOOD!
If she can do the splits & split with foot above head then why not 90* angle??? & yes I have heard of having to fuse vertebrae together & compressed vertebrae’s.
I have 3 fused back bones, which do harm my back, hip and knee’s. I done ballet until I was 14, point&all, could get my 90° but lost it after the pain was pretty bad! I now teach baby ballet!
I think she might be referring to Bertolotti syndrome, I have it as well. Its congenital and occurs when one of the lower transverse process creates like a pseudo joint kinda fusing to the pelvis. I have heard mixed feedback on whether or not it impedes movement or limits function from the GP, chiro and acupuncturist, I’m not certain what is right but I do find once it starts acting up which can kinda come out of nowhere, mine only started bothering me at 36, it’s a real pain and finding proper ways to manage the pain and regain function took months
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Could you explain why the shoes always need to be modified so much after being purchased? Wouldn't it make more sense for the point shoemakers to just make a shoe that already has ribbons sewn and front part broken and so on? It doesn't seem like these modifications differ from person to person (eg one would have to break it in one way and another one in a different way), so couldn't that be done during production?
I remember my teacher looking at the lenght but also the width of my feet. The rubbons aren't sewn for the same reasons. Pointes need to be customized, because our foot comes in all differents shapes. That's what I figured out. But I could be wrong. I have to admit I was too busy dealing with mine, to pay real attention to those questions. Also, just like stated in that video, you don't need to break your pointes if you're not a professional. If you have a few minutes to loose. It's from the Opéra national de Paris : The pointes secrets th-cam.com/video/sZoAx0rjqFI/w-d-xo.html
You can work slowly to make the bones defuse (? Idek if that’s the term). I was in physical therapy for it. It just takes a very long time depending on how long it’s been that way.
The bone fusing is definitely real. I fractured my back as an adult & I went from behind able to arch back & touch my head on the floor to not being able to arch at all. My back arabesque is totally shot now, especially on the side where it’s fused. Most fusions are congenital so she was probably born with it since she said she never could go above 45°, but if you have a fracture that doesn’t heal correctly (I didn’t realize I fractured mine so I didn’t get it checked) it can re-form & fuse as the bones start healing.
I just watched the original video posted by Haley (came up in my recommended list) then this video popped up straight after. I've seen a few of your videos and love your honesty. You don't praise people for being mediocre and aren't afraid to poke holes in their story. I'm surprised you didn't pick up on the incorrect terminology she uses at the barre (passé instead of rélevé retiré devant and derriere) as it drove me nuts when I watched the original. I only started pointe work for the first time at the age of 37 and my first pointe shoes never fitted properly (Bloch). The second pair I got from a different store in a different brand (Energetiks/Russian Pointe) and they fitted so much better. I'm still on my third pair as I don't wear them out very quickly and I keep having breaks from pointe for months or years at a time. Most recently I've been attending a teenage pointe class but have stopped going for logistical reasons. I still do their ballet exam class and there are times when, at the age of 47, I'm putting girls 1/3 my age to shame with basic abilities and leg height in grand battement, developé and arabesque even though I am by no means flexible. Also their basic knowledge is somewhat lacking. I've come full circle as, after attending a few other dance schools, my current teacher is also my original teacher from over 40 years ago, and the studio is owned by another of her former students whom I had danced alongside in concerts for many years but never formally met until a few years ago.
I'm in grade 4 and intermediate foundation (basically training for point) and I'm pretty proud that I recognised some of the bar exercises even if we do it on demipoint
It took me YEARS to find my perfect pointe shoe and I danced for 25 years lol (shout out to the Bloch B-Morph)… it’s so much trial and error, so I felt her pain 😅
Any suggestions on which brands carry shoes for large feet? I'm a street shoe size US 12.5 and I have a narrow foot (generally street shoe AA). I have tried on so many shoes and checked out so many websites and I can't find the right length/width combo.
The back thing is real! Especially in older ballerinas (27+) you find a lot of people have their sacrums fuse because of the way bone development works. If she wasn't able to do an arabesque before that happened, she'll never be able to get the range of motion required for a full 90° angle. Sometimes it can be corrected with surgery, but only in very rare cases, because it's the spine and if it's not necessary for the person to live and function a normal life, the doctors usually won't consider surgical options before other less invasive options. Most people have no issues with their bones fusing because they won't ever need to go into such a position, and the average age for it to happen is around 25-26 years old.
Yes it is if you blow a disc in your back the old way was to fuse your bone together. But recently with technology they put in a plastic disc in your back. So sweet for new medical technology 👍.
When I was around 5, I danced ballet for 2 years. I then tried out figure skating, hip hop and eventually swam competitively (8-9 years old). I am currently 13 years of age, and I have missed ballet ever since I've stopped. I suppose I didn't return to ballet, reason being I tried out other sports. I am not doing anything in particular at the moment, but I do have somewhat of a dancers figure, plus I am pretty flexible. I have been asked multiple times if I dance. I remain active as much as possible, I do participate regularly in athletic activities, for instance- I still swim a lot (not competitively), I often go out on to jogs. In addition I eat somewhat healthy, I consume tons of veggies, as well as fruits, white rice, cooked salmon, eggs, mushrooms as well as nuts, but that's just to name a few. I am quite fortunate to come from a family that is financially stable. And I am being supported no matter what. I have decent grades, I excell in mathematics and geography. I am also taking an advanced cyber course, and have just joined my school's national debate team. I have always fawned over ballet, and I have been missing it for the past years. My mother found a sufficient ballet school in the vicinity. I am thinking on trying it out once again, around April (by then I will officially be 14). What's more is that, if I will truly love the possible lessons (that I might try attending), then I want to do it seriously, and if possible have it as my career. Don't get me wrong I do adore ballet, however you will never know until you try it. Does anyone have any advice for me? Much obliged for reading this, relatively contradictory of a comment (English isn't my mother language, so hopefully I didn't make any grammar mistakes).
I did ballet around the same age as you and I hated it but as I grew older I actually began to understand it and I liked it. I’m 15 now and I just had my first ballet lesson and I love it. I’m thinking about joining other dance or maybe gymnastics to go with ballet. If you are thinking about doing ballet as a career you should probably start now because once you reach a certain age it becomes unlikely because the bones will have developed and it’s harder to mold and shape them. You still have a chance to become a professional. Especially considering the fact your are already flexible and you’ve been building lots of strength for years. I do encourage you to go ahead and do what you love. Good luck ☺️
I so wish I could do ballet, I did when I was little but as an 47 year old I don't think I could. I have an extra vertebrae on my tailbone that keeps me from doing even regular splits or back bends, so even if I did try I think it would be very difficult because of the vertebrae. Love your vids and I look forward to them all the time.
I did not start taking adult beginner ballet until I was 47. I have continued as it is excellent exercise. I really enjoy it, just have to have realistic expectations is all.
Hi yes. My spine is fused to my hip on the right side. Can't properly sit cross legged. My right leg keeps up. Unless I go to chiropractor weekly. I'm still flexible. My leg cant just raise that high
NO WAY NO WAY
OMG
Second!
My exact reaction😭
WE NEED A COLLAB
@@divaskindra4086 yes.
For a french person, “plié” means both “folded” and “bent”. Of course, we understand the difference between the two meanings but we use the same word to describe two different situations. Anyway it might not be the case for every type of French people (because we don’t always come from France) but I only know that I personally use “plié” for “folded” and “bent”.
Right, because the root verb “plier” has the meanings of both “to fold” and “to bend”. I didn’t realize this would be confusing to Anglophones, because… isn’t folding basically just bending further/prettily?
I mean, we use the verbs to fold and to bend interchangeably sometimes, though there is a subtle difference. To fold is just not usually used in reference to the body unless you're talking about contortionists. 😅
I was gonna say! I didn't go through 9 years of "Ok classe pliez vos papiers...." for nothing. (do you conjugate when there's a possessive pronoun?? I Can't remember)
@@punkyv6560 if the possessive pronoun (which was “vos” in your sentence) is plural, yes you conjugate (the “vos” refers to the class and so to the students and since there are at least 15 people, it is plural and it conjugates) that’s why “papiers” and “pliez” are both in the plural form -> I don’t know if this was the explanation you needed but know that your sentence was good! I didn’t see any grammar mistake!
@@vortex-3653 You do not conjugate vos papiers with pliez due to the fact it is an imperatif sentence. (give an order) The verbe plier would be wriitten the same way with a singulat or plural accusatif. Pliez votre papier or pliez vos papiers even if you talk to one person (formal) or to a class... Hope it helps!
For those wondering about “six” positions, and why she was confused it’s because in ballet there are only five positions. But jazz dancers are taught six positions, the sixth being feet parallel to each other. 🥰
I did classical and was also taught the sixth. We never used it though, so I don't know why I learned about it 😂 I had a Russian ballet teacher as well, who was classically trained in Russia, so it wasn't to do with her background either. Maybe they taught it just in case some of us wanted to do jazz as well, idk.
I'm trained in RAD, six is though in ballet, more in a matter of "you need to know it exists" or if you are in prep (4 to 8 years old) or starting from zero. Usually applied to strech more.
1st
2nd
3rd
Crossed 4th
Open 4th
5th
That is 6 positions
@@outside8312 i mean yeah for your arms but for your feet besides parallel (which would be your 6th) then there’s 5 main ones i think
@@alrxa_29no they’re right, that’s feet positions. Fourth ouverte and fourth croisé.
The back thing is very real! I remember being so frustrated in ballet class back in the day bc I couldn’t get a middle split or a 90 degree arabesque no matter how hard I tried 😩 it was only recently (I’m in my 30s now) that a chiropractor worked with me on it and that’s helped with flexibility a lot as I still dance for fun. Hayley (and anyone else who’s dealing with this) should try ashtanga yoga - it’s doing wonders for me!
No amount of stretching, yoga, or chiropractics will *ever* fix vertebrae that have fused into each other...
@@BirdyJ0 nobody ever advertised these interventions as “cure” but, only as pain management. 👍🏼 she only enumerated what helps with managing the struggle to help with others who’s alike. 🙂
@@BirdyJ0 agreed. I don’t think people understand this is a genetic condition people (including me) were born in which vertebrae fused improperly. These can never move people!!!!
I couldn’t move up or go to pointe bc of that so I had to quit or stay in the same class for the rest of my life until some miracle happened
I had everything to be on point except a split which was so annoying to me to have spent all that money to get on pointe and then later find out I can’t even move up and get on pointe
My ballet program didn’t require a split, which I didn’t have. But it did require 4 ballet classes plus point. I was an older dancer (then a HS senior) and didn’t want to have zero social life, so never went on point and am STILL bitter.
The bone thing isn’t an injury. It’s genetic, or at least it is for me. A 90 degree is sort of possible, but not with correct technique. You kind of have to twist your hips and cheat it, which drives ballet teachers crazy.
It can also be due to an injury. Most are congenital which is why it took me 2 years to finally get my rheumatologist to realize that I wasn’t born with mine & it happened due to trauma in my adult life. And depending on the fusion you still won’t be able to get it to 90° even with improper technique. It also depends on how your pelvis is sitting & if that’s also affected due to the fusion or from another issue.
I believe that they are talking about a condition called sacralization of the lower lumbar vertebrae. It IS congenital, meaning that you are born with it. In this, one or more of the lowest lumbar vertebrae are fused to the sacrum (the back of the pelvis), limiting movement. It's usually painless, UNLESS, you want to perform activities that require increased mobility, like dance or gymnastics. (There's a correlating condition where the upper sacral vertebrae can be part of the mobile lumbar spine, making it unstable.)
@@drshelkie4153 While that condition is congenital, your sacrum can become fused due to injury. Someone said it wasn’t an injury & that it was genetic; I was just clarifying that that’s not always the case…
I wasn’t even aware that I fractured my back, I just knew that I had an injury. Since I never had it checked out with imaging, my doctors didn’t realize there was a fracture & it healed incorrectly, fusing my L5 vertebrae to my sacrum.
Genetic or from an autoimmune disease or many other causes
Ankylosing spondylitis can cause spinal fusion too
Plié can mean folded, as in "J'ai plié des vêtements" "I folded clothes." But in the context of ballet, it's "bend". Google translate will never be as good as someone who is fluent in both languages.
And for the fused bones in the back, yes that can happen. I know someone who was born with several fused vertebra.
yaaaaaa and just because there are two words for something in English doesn't mean there are two different words for them in another language. Just like how there can be multiple words for something that we only have one word for in english
@@new0news Exactly. Also depending on geographical location some things are not called the same. There are plenty videos comparing English in the USA/Canada/UK/Australia/etc. that demonstrate this.
Coloured pencil/pencil crayons
Sofa/couch/chesterfield
Trainers/Sneakers/Runners/Running shoes
And it's the same with French between France/Quebec, Spanish between Spain/Latin America or Portuguese between Portugal/Brazil.
The meaning of some words can be so very different from location to location too and you have to be careful when using some. For example, in France "gosses" is slang for children, but in Quebec it's slang for testicles.
French speaker here as well and came here to say that!
i was going to say the same thing!!
My French teacher always said you can’t translate words, just the idea
The decision I regret most in my life. Was quitting ballet THE YEAR BEFORE WE WERE SUPPOSED TO LEARN POINTE. The main reason I quit was because it was a different teacher and the new teacher really liked to blast the music extremely loud and I have very sensitive hearing. Tried moving to another studio, but it didn’t fit my learning style, they went extremely fast and I couldn’t comprehend what they were doing fast enough. It honestly made me hate ballet so I quit. 😞
I definitely hope you are able to try again someday soon!
I stopped ballet as well because of a new teacher 🥺 (when i was young)
I took a jazz and tap class in kindergarten and the sound of everyone else’s tap shoes running around the room when the teacher gave up two thirds of the way into class and said it was “free dance” was the worst thing my little senses had ever experienced. As an adult, I now know I am prone to migraines and have misophonia (including for random staccato sounds like snapping or, you guessed it, taps!)
I don’t wish I continued dancing, though, because I also learned I have naturally lax joints and rheumatoid arthritis, and just existing and careful weight lifting is dangerous enough for me!
I quit about the same time. We had a visiting instructor from Russia and he said my legs were wonderful but I would never be a ballerina because of my large breasts. 😳
I wish I started sooner, I hated the style until recently due to how structured it is. Now it's helping me improve in all my other dance styles except hip-hop.
4:14 this is too relatable! I did 7 years of ballet training, and then I moved to hip-hop 2 years ago. My lower body is a mess, but my upper body is still there
This is similar to what I did!
RE: Spine fusion - it's probably a genetic bone deformity or lack of flexibility/insecure double jointedness in the hips, etc. Spinal fusion is usually a surgery performed for those with Spinal Cord Injuries but is being performed less and less these days because of the lack of mobility that inherently follows this procedure. I could, however, be completely wrong but I have a SCI and was a candidate for Spinal fusion before the doctors decided to do a Discectomy instead. I also have a friend who was born with an extra bone in her foot which made pointework impossible for her until she had surgery xx
I can attest to this lol! I had a spinal fusion for scoliosis have reduced mobility in my back but I do have good posture all the time now 😅
They are definitely still performing it, especially for conditions like scoliosis. It is also possible for the vertebrae to fuse together as a natural process or as part of healing from trauma to the bones
I know someone who was born with fused vertebra, so it's not always due to injury.
Yep. I'm a nurse and I was going to post a comment about this, but you already took care of it. 👍
*You accidentally wrote "she has an extra bone in her food" and it cracked me up! For some reason when I mean to type "good" my phone sometimes ends up changing it to "food", making for some very strange sentences.
"That looks so food!"
"Thanks for the food advice!"
"I hope you have food weather for your trip!"
One of my lumbar vertebrae fused to my sacrum in the womb. There’s nothing to be done about it-the fused vertebra probably isn’t even shaped like a lumbar vertebra any more-but it hasn’t had any effect on my life. Then again, I’m not a dancer, so demands that I lift my leg 90 degrees behind me are pretty rare.
howdy friends! 🤠 hope ya liked this one!
for past react videos, lots of people have asked for them to be longer - so we gave it a try.
what do you think?? preference on longer/shorter react vids? let us know!!
I like the longer ones!
Longer! You’re funny and the videos are both relaxing and educational.
This is a good length - thanks!
I adored this one! I love the longer vids, whether they’re more in depth about one subject, or quick assessments of many topics. Yayyyy for more of you! 💖💕
Ummm, how are we mixing conversational topics French and spinal fusion??
Yeah, I know, somehow, due to ballet, they are very distantly related.....
Actually saw that video a while ago and the "wood" thing was driving me nuts too. Also, it's so clear that the shank is so hard it's holding her up, that's why she was able to hold herself up, in my opinion. If she had been fitted in a softer shank to start out I'm just guessing she wouldn't have been able to get up at all after a few releves once the demi broke in since she didn't have experience training the strength of the foot from demi to full pointe.
Maybe she told the fitter that it was a one time thing
I disagree. She was sinking and so ill fitted I doubt she benefitted from the strength of the shank. If a shank doesn’t hit my foot right, I just slide right on past it and it’s fairly useless to me. I actually find softer shanks more supportive cause they mold to my arch.
Also when you weigh more as an adult, it’s much harder to be propped up entirely by a pointe shoe. Foot strength isn’t the only strength required and as an ex dancer, even if her specialty wasn’t ballet, she would have foot and ankle strength to draw on from muscle memory.
I don't know anything about ballet and have no idea why I watched this... I also didn't understand a thing you just said other than there is clearly no wood in pointe shoes haha.
Was still fascinated by your explanation of why the shoes were doing most of the work. Thank you for the knowledge. ❤
@@JessieBanana I actually would cut my shanks in half because I have flat feet & it was the only way I could get support. A full shank was torture on my feet.
She also first said she never did ballet then started claiming she's an ex ballerina
Yes, you can have a fused bone in the back. It could be that her sacrum and last lumbar vertebra never separated in development so it is just one bone. The opposite happens too where someone’s sacrum doesn’t fuse properly and they have 6 lumbar vertebra instead of 5 (and it can happen on just one side).
I have this, but I can get to 90 in arabesque so idk about her reasoning
@@nmg6248 Maybe it's a difference in the degree of fusion (not in the medical field, so I don't know). Kind of like how multiple people can have the same illness to different degrees and all have individual experiences.
@@nmg6248 Depends on how & where it’s fused. She may have a full fusion where yours is only partly fused. Also other body mechanics come into play as well.
It can also fuse as a result from an accident or trauma. Mine partially fused when I was in my 30s when I unknowingly fractured my spine. Now I can’t arch back whatsoever & my leg in arabesque derrière is incredibly sad,
This is the first time I'm hearing this can cause issues with arabesque and wishing I would have known this back when I was first diagnosed. It would have made dancing in college so much more enjoyable. My sophomore year of high school is when they found out I have a "6th" vertebrae.
Yup I have somewhat the same problem. My lowest 3 vertebrae aren't properly aligned so I can't keep my leg at 90° and keep my torso (somewhat) upright at the same time. I've tried doing it while someone holds my leg up and then in try to straighten my upper body but all that does is lift me of the floor(it's kinda fun to try). So bodies and what they can and can't do are weird (and fun and interesting)
My daughter cannot do a middle split because of her bones. It drives her nuts but it is what it is.
@@sj4iy she may be able to someday. tell her to look up Kyra Condie. she's an olympic rock climber with a spinal fusion from a surgery at 13. she inspires me everyday
I guess it's "fun and interesting" if you don't have an instructor getting frustrated with you because you physically can't do something and they think you're just not willing to try hard enough. :-/ People can seriously injure themselves trying to force their bodies to do what they can't, especially if the problem is skeletal.
@@rachrbonez1335 I personally don't like "inspiration" derived from watching people with disabilities do something I can't. They're people, doing what they want and need to do. It's not 'inspiring', it's normal.
My daughter's situation is different from the rock climber's situation. If she wants to look up to someone, she should look up to herself and not another person she's never met. She's the only person she can rely on.
@@sj4iy I agree. I try to find things that I CAN do with my body and try to enjoy those to the fullest. (and sometimes feel a little joy when people with more able bodies struggle with them ;))
Yes the fused bones are definitely a thing! My mum was born with her sacrum and last lumbar vertebrae fused, so she also struggles with range of movement through her legs and hips
*Mom
STOP Trying to Church it up, Freagjn' Britishtur!!!!
If that happens tho.. is it possible to get the required angle?
@@GaryTongue-to3pw buddy, I'm not British, but go off I guess lol besides language is descriptive not prescriptive; basically you knew what I meant even if you disagree with how I wrote it.
Besides, if you really wanted to be a stickler for spelling/American-English, you should have corrected my use of the plural "vertebrae" when I was referring to the singular lumbar vertebra, but I guess you don't actually care either way and just needed to assert your own sense of dominance and superiority to a stranger online.
Hmm. Sad.
@@EllenLouise19 I wish I could like this 10 times. Honestly I didn't even notice the "mum" and if I had, there'd be less than zero reason to get upset about it. Wow.
I can relate to this video deeply. I went into ballet before traditional school. I was just given my first pair of pointe shoes before having to move halfway across the US. Once moved, I was diagnosed with bad scoliosis, and needed a spinal fusion. Fast-forward 10 years. I now have a baby girl who wants to learn ballet, and wants me to go with her as I taught her the basics. She has no clue that she can do so much more than I. 🥰
Aww that's so sweet! I hope you two can dance together some day 🥰
Josephine You are a joy to watch whether you are fitting pointe shoes and giving us clear intelligent information or reacting to a TH-cam Video. The day is always made brighter by you. 건배
I can't believe how well she's doing on the pirouettes. This is my second year en pointe and my first year doing pirouettes en pointe and that is how I do them.
Former dancer here. I quit ballet in my preteens because I could never do the proper angle on an arabesque and I struggled with turnout. Turns out I have scoliosis in my lumbar spine and had an untreated broken tailbone as a kid. So yes, spinal problems can absolutely mess up your leg and foot posture!
My best friend broke my tail bone and I now live with chronic pain as it effected my sacrum but I had quit ballet by then. Hope you don’t suffer like I have.
I was a gymnast for 8 years and could never get my back leg up high enough either. When I had recurring pain and finally saw a doctor to get an X-ray, they found I had Bertolotti’s syndrome. Apparently one of my vertebrae had fused to my sacroiliac joint and I had a few stress fractures. From all the movements that forced me to bend my back and bring my leg up I had actually been repeatedly fracturing it and the bone would keep fusing again.
i don't watch dance content or haley pham either, but this was somehow in my recommended and i absolutely do not regret clicking on this video, love it!! (time to now binge more pointe shoe fitter reacts)
The fused bone in the back is SO real, in fact I have the exact same thing. I had no idea why my hips were unmovable in my 4 years of dance and I reached a point where teachers would push their full weight into my forward folds and I would not budge. My chiropractor enlightened me after I had stopped dancing that I have a Transitional Lumbosacral Segment, which basically means that there is a fusion between the sacral and lumbar vertebrae. This stops a certain amount of movement that should be happening in the lower spine/hip areas.
I love how you can tell the type of shoe just by looking at them! If you work in most types of health department it's similar to watching medical shows and yelling at them, when they do the wrong thing! Love the way you kept cringing and stopping to correct the "box", NOT being made of wood!
And yeah, spinal fusion is a real thing!
As an ex dancer myself, she did real good for her first time on point...I used to do jazz, contemporary, modern, tap, & ballet, but never did point ballet...it was always an aspiration of mine, but I've been retired for over a decade or more and all my flexibility is gone-I promised myself imma get back into dancer shape and try to perform just one more time, maybe even try point ballet... I'm proud of her efforts for her first time...and ur commentary was informative, cause I didn't know that about the shoes at all... dancers that never did point ballet, we all think that there is wood block that u stand on in the bottom of the shoe...lol...thanks for the video.
This was so much fun to watch!!!!!! One of my New Years resolutions is to take drop in lessons at my local ballet studio and I’m binging adult beginner videos for confidence and more realistic expectations for what the hell I’m getting into after 10yrs lol. I could only hope to look this good and have such an awesome sense of humor 🥰
She really did a great job, especially for being out of dance for a while and never trying pointe before. I enjoyed watching your reaction; you mentioned all the areas that stood out to me when I watched her original video.
On another note: I am so glad you said something about breaking in the shoe! My ballet teacher (this was between 1998 -2008) was very much against us breaking in pointe shoes (some bending and flexing was fine), and said if we had strong feet and good technique then we wouldn’t need to “break our shoes.” We were only allowed to break in a shoe if preparing for a performance. Since then, I watch most dancers attack their everyday pointe shoes as a common practice when getting a new pair - and I am always confused.
Yes! Spinal issues limiting range of motion is definitely a thing! I have scoliosis (my spine has a 42 degree curve) which causes my pelvis to be tilted and on an angle. That means that my arabesque and extension in general is COMPLETELY different between left and right. My hip flexors and hamstrings are actually different lengths at rest.
I could never get decent extension. Battement I could occasionally get to 90 degrees; arabesque nope; developpe forget about it. I found out as an adult that I have a mild congenital malformation where my kneecaps point slightly inward rather than straight forward and it explains so much!
Is watched that video of Haley and I'm guessing that's why this popped up for me...totally enjoyed watching it! Too cool & loved the explanations you gave. Thank you!
Love your videos!! As a newbie to ballet i was wondering if you could do a video explaining what different foot styles are? Like what is the difference between high /low profiles, when are toes considered short/long… it would be wonderful to see the differences compared side to side! MUCH THANKS!!
Thisss
Yes! That would be a great way to help people like us to better understand each of the differences she mentions during fittings.
I'm not even a dancer but I enjoy learning about random things, and Jo's got such a magnetic personality, so these videos are fun to watch.
@@IAmSuzyQ Same here. ❤
I watched that video it’s so cool how the teacher was able to get her in pointe that fast! I’m in pointe class and I can’t even do that
Plié also means folded in French, in fact this is the most common meaning in everyday usage but it also evokes the ballet move.
As someone who speaks French as a second language it can mean bent or folded
Ex: « J’ai plié le papier en demi » / Ex: “I folded/bent the paper in half”
Either works
I don’t know anything about dance, but as a runner I am so impressed! I really enjoyed learning about the technical, because my ankles have also been a weakness of mine.
Josephine you should reach out to her a do a video with her refitting her shoes!!
Would you ever want to fit someone who hasn’t been on pointe before, possibly someone who hasn’t danced a lot of ballet? I would find that really interesting. I love dance and I danced ballet for about a year. I fell in love with contemporary dance, but made sure I was still strengthening my ankles and feet. I have the worst feet but it would be great to see someone else who doesn’t have a lot of training try getting fitted. Unfortunately, I had to stop dancing because of money, but I know that dancers can dance at home and still grow up to be incredible dancers. I do however recommend and strongly encourage classes if people can afford it.
The feet are the most impressive part in ballet, but you have to pay attention to your entire body.
The big cliché you'll find about ballet is how people are standing. Because it is first about balance.
The turn out starts at the hips, for instance, not at the ankles. And the legs needs to be very straight, so much your knees want or should to disapear.
I remember attending preparation shoes class. Basically we were doing relevés for an hour. So yeah, the calf muscle needs to be very strong.
To get on pointes, you go from demi-pointe to pointe.
Just like you would be seated on the floor with your toes touching the walls, and slide just doing relevé.
Another way to get the feeling is with tennis shoes, toes nails trimmed.
On the arabesque/back flexibility point- I figured you’d find this anecdote interesting. I’m a former dancer with EDS so I was always “rubber band girl” even at my studio. Had wildly hypermobile hips and can do all sorts of party tricks with my arms and legs but my back… I always was baffled and frustrated by how relatively limited my back flexibility was by comparison and no amount of stretching was going to change that. There is obviously natural variation here but it was such a strange mash up with me. I knew other dancers who likely had EDS as well and similar levels of flexibility and all of them had far greater back flexibility than me.
I don’t know to this day the full explanation or details of my situation but I did learn I have mild scoliosis in my lower back. I suspect dance training likely helped perhaps the scoliosis overall but for sure I think it helped mask it. Actually runs in my family to the extent I was the only member of my family without visible scoliosis. Now that I’m in my 30 and have a lot of health issues overall though- low bad and hip pain is a major issue and hence making the scoliosis discovery. It always felt like something was just off if I did a back bend or lifted my leg in arabesque. I would have to cheat to even reach 90 and lean a little further forward or shift my hip a little. So wild compared to how gorgeous and easy my extensions were to the front or side.
I have hEDS and always wondered what the percentage of dancers (and gymnasts too!) had eds! I wasn’t er… ✨graceful✨ enough for ballet so I played soccer 😂
My early 30s hit me hard too! I’m now known as ‘Gumby’ at PT!
Hey remember the hoopla regarding a black ballet dancer getting her fly matched shoe? These shoes all appear to look PINK. I don’t know anyone with that color. I’ve seen Shen YUN and they were absolutely amazing.
I don’t know why this was in my recommended but I was invested all the way, good reaction video
I was JUST WATCHING THAT VIDEO BUT THEN I SAW THIS AND I WAS LIKE YES A REACTION TO IT!!!!!
Yup its called a fused vertebrae, it's something you're usually born with and not due to injury, but sometimes if there is a sever injury to the spine and surgery is needed doctors may fuse the vertebrae limiting back extension
I'm not a dancer (I used to dance jazz and salsa as a hobby, but never ballet and never professionally). I always thought that the hard part of pointe was made out of plaster, but I would've never imagined someone could think it's made out of wood 🤷🏻♀️
well it is cardboard, but a lot of people actually think it’s wood
Clueless people would think that. But that's why this clueless person didn't do a clueless thing going to professionals.
Unfortunatly she encountered scam artist. She should never had found somebody willing to buy her pointes neither somebody whom would made her do those types of exercices, whit those shoes.
Omg I saw this in my recommended and I watched it right away! Haley is the wife of one of my favorite TH-camrs, Ryan Trahan!! Haley is so talented even after years
I’ve only just gone on pointe and your vids have helped me so much xxx 😘
The toe box, is made from paper, cardboard and glue mixed together into a paste and layered.. Like paper Marche work.. But it sounds like wood when you knock on it.. But it's not a problem calling it wood.. Everybody doesn't have to know everything about everything ❤️😁
Yes, fused bones can be a congenital defect. Some people have it done later in life via surgery because the disk in between two vertebrae has to be taken out because it basically imploded. My stepsister had it done. Sometimes they can just cut out a portion of the disk and leave the bones alone. My brother had that done. I have disk issues but I am not letting a surgeon touch it. I can do traction to mitigate the issue.
JOSEPHINE! that Macarena confusion moment HAD ME CACKLING! I almost choked. I just got my first pair of Demi-pointe shoes the other day as an adult dancer. I've been watching your videos for a long time and hopefully can come for a fitting eventually. Love the content.
This is so interesting! God bless 💓
In terms of your question in around 7:49, Orthopaths like myself do our best to locate and loosen out all the tight spots. Depending on where her fused vertebrae is, If it's affecting her psoas muscle or some of her abductors then yeah. It's a thing
Literally the same thing happened to me. I went and got fitted for the first time and everything was great until I got home and tried them on again in class. The moment I tried them on they felt as if my toes were trying to get through a wall especially when I did pilé. Till this day, they still feel the same. What should I do? I’ve also been told that it’s supposed to hurt a lot but this is another level.
did you break them in
Fit shoes during the summer or on a day when it is not cold at least. Try picking a day when it is as warm outside the house as inside. Or warm up the feet before fitting.
Also, shop for shoes at the end of the day when your feet are swollen.
You're a different size in the evening than you are in the morning. Take that into account.
It should hurt, but not like that and not days later !!
Something must went wrong. I would advide you to see a physician. And may be find another teacher.
It's not supposed to hurt a lot. Yes, you feel it, and it can be painful, but it should be like walking around with a blister at most; painful, maybe, but manageable. It can get painful once you start dancing so much that you hurt your toes, but then it's the injuries that hurt, not the wearing of the shoes. I hope you've found better shoes by now!
In French, plié can mean creased, folded, bent. The French verb plier (pronounced essentially the same as plié) means "to fold."
Given that some pointe shoes are made from paper mache and/or cardboard,and paper is made from wood, you could argue that some Pointe shoes "come from wood." Maybe. But that is my BIGGEST pet peeve. If you don't know what they are made from, you shouldn't be talking about them. Luna... how could you let us down by not fact checking her post before she put it up?
In the full video Luna actually does say they are paper mache. I am guessing Pham didn't pay enough attention when recording the VO
Yes there is a procedure called fusing for back injuries. It wait is actually a metal plate that holds two vitabrae together so your mobility goes down but that area has a lot less pressure so less pain Ideally
Especially in the cases of scoliosis and previous back injuries, it's super common to have metal components in the back fusing 2 vertebrae together to prevent further damage from slipped discs.
Yes Josephine it is real. My L5 is fused on one side to my iliac crest . Yup right to the top of my pelvis. Found this out after a car accident where I had to get x-rays repeatedly over a year. So no wonder I had trouble on one side that I never could correct no matter how hard I trained. I could get almost. Bit had to cheat by rotating slightly. Sucked.
Sorry do you mean your sacrum rather than your iliac crest? Your crests are the big round bits you feel at your waist when you prod and it would be very odd for a spine to be fused there because simply put your spinal cord would just be ??? Lol
That’s happened to me and after that FINANCIAL 🔥, I re-check a new pair-style of pointe shoes a few times before sewing. Also, unless you have super narrow tapered feet, you can usually pad out a shoe a little too big. A shoe too small though is unusable hell.
this was an entire roller coaster of emotions
I actually saw this and thought that you should watch it but you already did yay😊
as someone who still suffers daily chronic pain from a back injury from over 24 years ago ... I can attest that there's surgeries that fuse vertebrae together, or put rods in your back... all to hopefully stabilize your lower back and reduce your pain... unfortunately more often than not your pain is worse afterwards and it wasn't worth having the surgery..
I was a gymnast for 6 years before spinal fusion surgery where 5 of my low back vertebrae were fused and theres no way my leg goes that high now sooooo i feel u girl
I used to teach dance, and even of I do not dance anymore, the feeling Is still insider my Spirit, and It Will Always be...I likes the video for both the professionality and easy way to explain all the steps of the processo the girl went through. And She was really good at🤗! I subscribed the channel because I like the way of speaking, so ...I am curious ti see next!🙂
Thank you🥳
I used to have a 180 arabesque before back surgery for a severely herniated disc. Now it’s about 45 degrees. Lumbar vertebrae 4 and 5 are fused.
it makes me so happy that you said to get the go ahead preferably from both your teacher AND physical therapist. my teacher gave me the go ahead but my pt said NO WAY. please check with a therapist if you’re wanting to go en pointe, some peoples foot structures literally aren’t capable of handling it (ex:my ankle ligaments aren’t) !!
I love ballerinas! So elegant and graceful. And yes bone fusions can happen down the spine and neck. I suppose it could happen anywhere. I recently found out one of my daughters have a fusion in her neck. The chiropractor said it could've been at birth or an injury that healed that way.
I have a back bone fused to my hip which I didn’t learn about until my fifties! Explained a lot!!
I have a spinal fusion. Yes you can do 90 degrees but it will feel tighter than before getting a spinal fusion. I would have do additional stretches but I haven’t tried going higher
I’ve been watching Haley’s video since long before she stopped dancing and even then, she did not enjoy ballet and it was her weakest dance style. But the pointe performance at the end was impressive considering it’s been 3 years since she was dancing constantly for competitions.
I have problems with my lower back, apparently some fusing, and I was never able to achieve 90 degrees plus. But I can still (at 66 yrs, do 180 degrees turn out)
Oh gosh that's going to be me! I was a ballerina until my senior year of college and haven't danced now for 6 years. I tried to show my children moves and I could feel my muscles were like what are you doing? We can't do this like we use to. Slow down. It was a little depressing! Flexibility gone as well. Sigh
josephine identifying pointe shoe brand throughout the video is ICONIC
So basically I said a lot of the same things Josephine said in terms of the performance and the “wood” 👀 I also got a notification in my inbox regarding that video and watched it. I appreciate that she was responsible with a disclaimer and other stuff. Anyway, keep up with the great videos Josephine! 🩰
I laughed so hard when you were doing the folded
thing
Random video on my feed, i never watch dance. But i enjoyed this!
I have the same thing, my left hip is fused to my sacrum. It was like that from birth. Thank you for having the same thoughts as I did watching this... IT'S NOT WOOD!
If she can do the splits & split with foot above head then why not 90* angle??? & yes I have heard of having to fuse vertebrae together & compressed vertebrae’s.
As a Franco American and native French speaker, I’ve got to say. Plié does mean folded!! Very common word. To fold, etc
Yes I was born with a fused vertebra and turned in but compensated (although always much harder to the back) due to extreme hypermobility
I have 3 fused back bones, which do harm my back, hip and knee’s. I done ballet until I was 14, point&all, could get my 90° but lost it after the pain was pretty bad! I now teach baby ballet!
I have no idea how my YT algorithm got me her but I am super happy with it lol.
Liked and subscribed!
I think she might be referring to Bertolotti syndrome, I have it as well. Its congenital and occurs when one of the lower transverse process creates like a pseudo joint kinda fusing to the pelvis. I have heard mixed feedback on whether or not it impedes movement or limits function from the GP, chiro and acupuncturist, I’m not certain what is right but I do find once it starts acting up which can kinda come out of nowhere, mine only started bothering me at 36, it’s a real pain and finding proper ways to manage the pain and regain function took months
Could you explain why the shoes always need to be modified so much after being purchased? Wouldn't it make more sense for the point shoemakers to just make a shoe that already has ribbons sewn and front part broken and so on? It doesn't seem like these modifications differ from person to person (eg one would have to break it in one way and another one in a different way), so couldn't that be done during production?
I remember my teacher looking at the lenght but also the width of my feet.
The rubbons aren't sewn for the same reasons. Pointes need to be customized, because our foot comes in all differents shapes. That's what I figured out. But I could be wrong. I have to admit I was too busy dealing with mine, to pay real attention to those questions.
Also, just like stated in that video, you don't need to break your pointes if you're not a professional.
If you have a few minutes to loose. It's from the Opéra national de Paris : The pointes secrets
th-cam.com/video/sZoAx0rjqFI/w-d-xo.html
You can work slowly to make the bones defuse (? Idek if that’s the term). I was in physical therapy for it. It just takes a very long time depending on how long it’s been that way.
The bone fusing is definitely real. I fractured my back as an adult & I went from behind able to arch back & touch my head on the floor to not being able to arch at all. My back arabesque is totally shot now, especially on the side where it’s fused.
Most fusions are congenital so she was probably born with it since she said she never could go above 45°, but if you have a fracture that doesn’t heal correctly (I didn’t realize I fractured mine so I didn’t get it checked) it can re-form & fuse as the bones start healing.
I am not a dancer, haven't ever danced, et.al. and I just enjoy your commentary so much! :o)
I just watched the original video posted by Haley (came up in my recommended list) then this video popped up straight after. I've seen a few of your videos and love your honesty. You don't praise people for being mediocre and aren't afraid to poke holes in their story. I'm surprised you didn't pick up on the incorrect terminology she uses at the barre (passé instead of rélevé retiré devant and derriere) as it drove me nuts when I watched the original. I only started pointe work for the first time at the age of 37 and my first pointe shoes never fitted properly (Bloch). The second pair I got from a different store in a different brand (Energetiks/Russian Pointe) and they fitted so much better. I'm still on my third pair as I don't wear them out very quickly and I keep having breaks from pointe for months or years at a time. Most recently I've been attending a teenage pointe class but have stopped going for logistical reasons. I still do their ballet exam class and there are times when, at the age of 47, I'm putting girls 1/3 my age to shame with basic abilities and leg height in grand battement, developé and arabesque even though I am by no means flexible. Also their basic knowledge is somewhat lacking. I've come full circle as, after attending a few other dance schools, my current teacher is also my original teacher from over 40 years ago, and the studio is owned by another of her former students whom I had danced alongside in concerts for many years but never formally met until a few years ago.
I'm in grade 4 and intermediate foundation (basically training for point) and I'm pretty proud that I recognised some of the bar exercises even if we do it on demipoint
At the end she’s like
Haley:will I try this again?
Absolutely not 😂🤣
It took me YEARS to find my perfect pointe shoe and I danced for 25 years lol (shout out to the Bloch B-Morph)… it’s so much trial and error, so I felt her pain 😅
You should react to Brooke Lynn Heights on Drag Race.
The finale dance was...shocking in all the best ways!
Any suggestions on which brands carry shoes for large feet? I'm a street shoe size US 12.5 and I have a narrow foot (generally street shoe AA). I have tried on so many shoes and checked out so many websites and I can't find the right length/width combo.
The back thing is real! Especially in older ballerinas (27+) you find a lot of people have their sacrums fuse because of the way bone development works. If she wasn't able to do an arabesque before that happened, she'll never be able to get the range of motion required for a full 90° angle. Sometimes it can be corrected with surgery, but only in very rare cases, because it's the spine and if it's not necessary for the person to live and function a normal life, the doctors usually won't consider surgical options before other less invasive options. Most people have no issues with their bones fusing because they won't ever need to go into such a position, and the average age for it to happen is around 25-26 years old.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣I LOVED your reaction to this!!
Yes it is if you blow a disc in your back the old way was to fuse your bone together. But recently with technology they put in a plastic disc in your back. So sweet for new medical technology 👍.
Love the longer video. Would love longer ones.
OMG I love watching your videos
When I was around 5, I danced ballet for 2 years. I then tried out figure skating, hip hop and eventually swam competitively (8-9 years old).
I am currently 13 years of age, and I have missed ballet ever since I've stopped. I suppose I didn't return to ballet, reason being I tried out other sports.
I am not doing anything in particular at the moment, but I do have somewhat of a dancers figure, plus I am pretty flexible. I have been asked multiple times if I dance. I remain active as much as possible, I do participate regularly in athletic activities, for instance- I still swim a lot (not competitively), I often go out on to jogs. In addition I eat somewhat healthy, I consume tons of veggies, as well as fruits, white rice, cooked salmon, eggs, mushrooms as well as nuts, but that's just to name a few.
I am quite fortunate to come from a family that is financially stable. And I am being supported no matter what. I have decent grades, I excell in mathematics and geography. I am also taking an advanced cyber course, and have just joined my school's national debate team.
I have always fawned over ballet, and I have been missing it for the past years. My mother found a sufficient ballet school in the vicinity. I am thinking on trying it out once again, around April (by then I will officially be 14). What's more is that, if I will truly love the possible lessons (that I might try attending), then I want to do it seriously, and if possible have it as my career. Don't get me wrong I do adore ballet, however you will never know until you try it.
Does anyone have any advice for me? Much obliged for reading this, relatively contradictory of a comment (English isn't my mother language, so hopefully I didn't make any grammar mistakes).
I did ballet around the same age as you and I hated it but as I grew older I actually began to understand it and I liked it. I’m 15 now and I just had my first ballet lesson and I love it. I’m thinking about joining other dance or maybe gymnastics to go with ballet. If you are thinking about doing ballet as a career you should probably start now because once you reach a certain age it becomes unlikely because the bones will have developed and it’s harder to mold and shape them. You still have a chance to become a professional. Especially considering the fact your are already flexible and you’ve been building lots of strength for years. I do encourage you to go ahead and do what you love. Good luck ☺️
I have an L5 S1 fusion and there are certain things/ positions I can no longer do because of the immobility in my lower back.
Well it’s actually both xD plié means fold and bend. For folding a they plié is used too.
It is! The lower bones in my back have been fused since birth (or before, technically), so she's not talking nonsense.
I’ve been waiting for your reaction video since I saw this video. Not disappointed.
I so wish I could do ballet, I did when I was little but as an 47 year old I don't think I could. I have an extra vertebrae on my tailbone that keeps me from doing even regular splits or back bends, so even if I did try I think it would be very difficult because of the vertebrae. Love your vids and I look forward to them all the time.
I did not start taking adult beginner ballet until I was 47. I have continued as it is excellent exercise. I really enjoy it, just have to have realistic expectations is all.
@@candycottrell6469 That is wonderful, and I really appreciate the encouragement. Thank you :)
You can do it 😁
Hi yes. My spine is fused to my hip on the right side. Can't properly sit cross legged. My right leg keeps up. Unless I go to chiropractor weekly. I'm still flexible. My leg cant just raise that high