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yoshi wrote:

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Heliox wrote:

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yoshi wrote:

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^^^

WHAT?!? She was barely shown at auditions and Vegas, usually a kiss of death. They've given her moderate praise, and she's had all good to excellent performances. Dumb comment.

Don't you think that giving her a routine specifically choreographed for her, so that she could dance en-pointe(?) isn't a MAJOR pimp move?

I don't mind her, but that routine, more than any other move recently, shows how manipulative the judges are towards their favorites.

Agreed that they need to re-name the dancing for your life segment, and they need to be honest about the 'random' draw from the hat for the routines.

Or, the show finally has a ballerina that didn't get cut right off the bat. AS someone else more knowledgeable about the issue posted earlier, you can't put someone on pointe with a few hours' training.

Young children interested in a career in ballet usually start dancing en pointe after they are over the age of eleven or if they are accepted in one of the ballet academies (acceptance age range varies), at the end of the first year of study or during their second year; therefore in some ballet academies girls may start to take pointe classes when they are as young as ten ^{[2] [3]}. The reason that girls do not start when they are younger is because the bones in their feet are still growing and can be permanently damaged; also their foot and leg muscles are not yet strong enough to support them. They should also be in an intermediate or advanced level of ballet, be able to hold their turnout from the hips while performing center combinations and hold a proper ballet position (straight back, good turnout, etc.). No one should start pointe before authorized to by a teacher under any circumstances. In the more serious dance academies, where girls tend to start pointe work at an earlier age, a physician's advice is required to make sure the dancers' feet have ossified sufficiently; serious foot deformities can result from starting pointe too early. Moreover, in ballet academies, children take several ballet classes per week and are closely supervised by their teachers for any weaknesses. Injuries, such as breaking the ankle, can occur because of young, weak, and untrained bones and muscles. Pedicures are not a good idea for pointe dancers and pointe dancers must always make sure that they cut their toenails at least one day before dance class or concerts to let the toes adjust to the new length of the nails. Layers and layers of dead skin, calluses, etc. on the feet are helpful, like insulation against the strain of the shoe. Things like blisters, boils, athlete's foot, cuts of the feet, and even bleeding are to be expected.

Dancing en pointe requires one to use the entire body for support, including the legs, back, and abdominal muscles^[4].

Once a dancer is ready, preparation for pointe work is a gradual process. At first, it is just strengthening exercises at the barre - for example, simply rising en pointe and returning. According to the teacher's preferences and syllabus, the dancers might first be taught to "roll-through" from flat to demi pointe to pointe and down again (unless the Russian or Italian method is being taught, in which the dancer springs directly from flat onto pointe). Another example is learning how to properly wing out the foot and point the foot as the dancer would do in technique shoes. Then variations in speed and position may be introduced -- for perhaps no more than five or ten minutes. It is often only after six months to a year of such exercises that the student can start dancing en pointe in the center.

The first exercises at the barre are usually relevés and échappés ^[5] done on both feet. Only once the student is fully comfortable in executing the steps on both feet (and the tendons are strong enough), steps ending on one foot are introduced, such as pas de bourrée en pointes and retiré en pointes, first at the barre and later on in the centre. In centre practice, Mme Vaganova ^[6] suggests as first exercises on both feet relevés and échappés en pointe.