My Ballet Career - The Beauty and the Beast of It

[WilliamChew]

JWB Nov 2021 had a part for "Where are they Now" about Elizabeth Balnave. She appeared in the article “My Ballet Career - The Beauty and the Beast of It” in the February 8, 1983
issue of Awake!

 

Its shocking to see what a professional ballet dancer has to go through physically.

 

Spoiler

What about a professional ballet dancer’s feet after spending hours in toe shoes? At first, the shoe is hard, and friction will cause blisters. In time the blisters get tough and you develop a corn. A new blister can form under every corn. And this cycle will keep repeating itself. The end result is raw, bloody toes. There are times when all the corns are tough at the same time, and then times when several are back at the raw stage—the latter being more common.

 

What about your toenails? You must be prepared to lose them and keep dancing while the new ones are growing back—this being done in a toe shoe that runs several sizes smaller than your street shoe. Yet you never miss a performance because your feet hurt, which is most of the time. You bear up even if it means you will finish your performance with blood-soaked toe shoes, which I have done. We were taught that you weren’t considered a real pro until you lost all your toenails at least once.

 

In Russia the training for a ballet dancer is very tough. 😅

 

 

 

 

 

[Terk]

Has sister Balhave really lost one eyesight, as described in her life experience?

[Tortuga]

Based on the title of this topic I was expecting to see pictures of brother Chew in a tutu...😳

[Dustparticle]

37 minutes ago, WilliamChew said:

JWB Nov 2021 had a part for "Where are they Now" about Elizabeth Balnave. She appeared in the article “My Ballet Career - The Beauty and the Beast of It” in the February 8, 1983
issue of Awake!

 

Its shocking to see what a professional ballet dancer has to go through physically.

 

  Hide contents

What about a professional ballet dancer’s feet after spending hours in toe shoes? At first, the shoe is hard, and friction will cause blisters. In time the blisters get tough and you develop a corn. A new blister can form under every corn. And this cycle will keep repeating itself. The end result is raw, bloody toes. There are times when all the corns are tough at the same time, and then times when several are back at the raw stage—the latter being more common.

 

What about your toenails? You must be prepared to lose them and keep dancing while the new ones are growing back—this being done in a toe shoe that runs several sizes smaller than your street shoe. Yet you never miss a performance because your feet hurt, which is most of the time. You bear up even if it means you will finish your performance with blood-soaked toe shoes, which I have done. We were taught that you weren’t considered a real pro until you lost all your toenails at least once.

 

In Russia the training for a ballet dancer is very tough. 😅

 

 

 

 

 

I remember that article. Without ballet dancing my grandmother use to walk down the stairs with her hands while she had her legs rap around her neck. I got some of her double joint tricks  from her. One thing I use to do is to take my arm and  put it behind my back, flip reverse and touch mu neck with it. The good old days, yet I still have some tricks.

[Amygdala]

59 minutes ago, WilliamChew said:

Its shocking to see what a professional ballet dancer has to go through physically.

My feet still are affected from 7 years of dancing ballet. Just do it now for a hobby. OTOH I wouldn't not have not enjoyed learning ballet. Plan on continuing into the NS.

[WilliamChew]

35 minutes ago, Terk said:

Has sister Balhave really lost one eyesight, as described in her life experience?

Amazing that with just one working eye, she worked in the law firm for 30 years before retiring. Even after retiring she is still able to be a commuter bethelite for the legal department.

[Tortuga]

6 hours ago, Lieblingskind said:

OTOH I wouldn't not have not enjoyed learning ballet.

Can you rephrase that for me?...

[Amygdala]

haha Too tired! I'll try to edit if I am not getting my thoughts all jumbled up from doing a few things at once. lol

 

Just tried...too late 😴

Edited November 4, 2021 by Lieblingskind

[Cushi]

I could never understand why anyone would sacrifice decent looking feet and be willing to go through all that pain for a form of dance. And I was never impressed by ballet dancing because it looks like it doesn’t require much rhythm. I don’t mean to cause offense to anyone who has or practices ballet. Just my thoughts.

Edited November 5, 2021 by *Jack*

[Amygdala]

To each his own. 😉

[Thesauron]

I could never understand why anyone would sacrifice decent looking feet and be willing to go through all that pain for a form of dance. And I was never impressed by ballet dancing because it looks like it doesn’t require much rhythm. I don’t mean to cause offense to anyone who has or practices ballet. Just my thoughts.

Rhythm is the basis of all forms of dancing, even ballet. Ballet also adds the expression of mood. But whereas some dancing can be mastered if you follow the rhythm and the proper steps, this is not the case with ballet. Your body is strained to the limit of what it can do.