How did we get to this Pointe?

I'm totally guilty of brainwashing my children. Ballet has always been a great passion of mine and I was so excited to get to pass that on to my girls. When they were itty-bitty, they would fall asleep listening to some of the great ballets. As they got a little older Barbie helped fuel the fire with some of her movies like Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and the 12 Dancing Princesses. We also had books and lots of ballet dress-ups. I started them in little kiddie classes at 2.

When they were 3 they moved on to a traditional dance studio for the ballet/tap combo classes. The studio was your run of mill studio that offered all kinds of dance, focused on competitions, and had those horrible recitals at the end of the year but I didn't hate it. There were some really great teachers and I imagined that's where we would remain for the duration thinking that there were no other options unless you lived in the city and even then it would be expensive and competitive. 

When Avery was 4 we took her to her first Nutcracker. It was my step moms idea and she found a quality production that wasn't as expensive as the local professional company's. We did leave Brie at home thinking that she would be too young to sit so long. It was at a beautiful old theater that was part of a university downtown. In the lobby, I ran into an old work friend whose daughter was in the production and while thumbing through the program I saw 

one of their top dancer's was named Brielle. Cool coincidences. But the show was VERY impressive. It was all children but they were so good for being so young. I remember one very young girl in a pink tutu with her two front teeth missing. She was so muscular and did simple things but with great technique and I was amazed. Flash forward to the following fall and I'm talking to another preschool mom about having our little ones be in the Nutcracker. The studio we were at required kids to be 6 and I was expressing my disappointment to this mom. Her daughter is a year older and had encountered the same problem the previous year but had found a studio that accepted her slightly earlier. Turned out to be the show that I had taken Avery to with my Dad and Step-mom and an idea popped in my head: Wouldn't be fun to ask them to make a tradition of it and go to the same show again but not let them know Avery was in it? So we 

auditioned. The experience was very positive and I learned a lot about the studio. My Dad and Step-mom were surprised. When all of us had shown up minus Avery I told them she was home sick with grandma but Oma was thumbing through the program and noticed Avery's picture. She looked at me funny and I kind of made a shush gesture and pointed at my dad. We kept him in the dark until she was on stage ;-)

We decided to do the spring show and that summer Avery started classes there, Brie started in the fall.

Avery was in first grade and went to ballet class twice a week for an hour and a half each time. Brie was a kindie and only attended an hour class once a week. I think the school generally tries to correlate the number of classes per week with what grade they're in (eg first grade once, second grade twice and so on) but they are rather small and have to combine their classes often. The teacher put Avery with a slightly older group and she seemed to do okay. Because of this and her summer bday Brie is 2 years behind Avery in ballet (much to her chagrin).

The studio is such a wonderful place. It's by no means a state of the art facility but it works. It's a husband and wife team where the wife generally teaches the littler girls and the husband gets the older ones. I think the girls' teacher is fairly strict in a positive way but she is also very nurturing. The classes aren't very large and with as much time as they spend together between classes and rehearsals the girls are very close. It's not just within their own class but the whole studio. I have yet to witness any cattiness with the moms or the kids. Everyone is so fabulous and I hope my girls will continue to get to grow up here. It is

very vigorous at a very young age and is not for everyone. With this level of commitment so early you would expect to come out a professional dancer and some do, but that's not necessarily what I'm looking to get from this experience. I think ballet is great for their development both mentally

and physically for one but I also see this place as a safe haven on what will be their journey into adulthood. If they leave this place with nothing but great memories, lifelong friends, and a love for ballet that will be all I could have ever hoped for. If they have a desire to do more......they can do so in college ;-)
This year Avery has been dancing 3 times a week and is in second grade. Between her young age, her tiny size and the foot she broke back in August, we were faced with a decision. I'm not sure it was the right one, time will only tell, but I do have a lot of faith in her teacher. If Brie continues on with ballet she will be on a more traditional track and will have hopefully not had any broken bones so it will be a no brainer.


Avery's Big Day


After months of speculation (uncertainty for us) and 2 weeks of anticipation the day had finally arrived. Most had to make a short trek to our little town which just happens to be the home of the "Pointe Shoe God" (no joke, he wears a hat with those very words printed on the back). This man takes this stuff very seriously and started them off with an hour lecture.

Yup, they were all required to wear proper ballet attire and have their hair up. It was sort of reminiscent of going to the doctors as he does a short physical examination before figuring out which shoe will work best. It also reminded me of going to Olivander's to get your wand. No two are ever alike, lots of different variables (size, width, shank strength, vamp) and there were so many  options (for most). After the lecture he fit each girl one by one.
Finally it was Avery's turn.

Avery was the fifth girl to get her shoes and with the previous girls he had asked about scoliosis and prior broken bones in the foot. The teacher already knew she was pressing her luck with The Pointe Shoe God by bringing in such a young itty-bitty and I had prepared Avery for the possibility that she might be denied by The Pointe Shoe God or that they might not have shoes small enough. Avery's teacher had 3 pairs of small enough shoes waiting in her purse just in case and The Pointe Shoe God seemed to have lost some focus after 4 kids and didn't ask about scoliosis or broken bones. Don't get me wrong, Avery's orthopedist had cleared her to go on pointe at her final appointment in the beginning of January so we were not doing this blindly. The Pointe Shoe God had liked a certain make for Avery because of her small toes but her feet were an entire size too small for them. In the end he only had one make that would fit her: 2007 Grishko size 1 x.

This place gives you the option of sewing the ribbons and elastics for you which is so worth every penny. After everything was attached the girls get to learn how to tie their ribbons.

Avery's teacher helping her to get the ribbons to the right size

And she's up!

After everyone was tied and ready to go, we had some very happy little girls!

Group Shot! We were there from 10am-2pm!!!! 7 girls got their shoes on this day, 2 got theirs a couple days before but came to be with their friends and 1 girl was on vacation and missed it all :-(

We were STARVING when it was all over so we had a late lunch at Red Robin.

Happy, happy girls!

Avery got to have one of her dance buddies spend the night. We practiced tying their ribbons while Brie timed them. They were under strict orders that they are only to be used in class. The next day was rehearsal and all the girls brought their pointe shoes just to look at ;-)
Monday was their first pointe class. They had regular class for the first hour and then they got to break out the big guns! She sat them in a circle and went over tying again.

Admiring her tying skills

And then it was to the barre!

She even let them do little steps across the floor. They looked like little birds learning to fly.

They will only be doing pointe for the last 15 min of class. It will be awhile until they'll be allowed to perform en pointe and years before they're comfortable and steady. In the mean time, they're loving every minute of it! I wonder how long it will be until the novelty wears off?

So lucky to have this woman in our lives!

My mini-ballerina