When watching the ballet, it seems that the dancers flutter with ease and perform complex steps. However, there is hard work behind it all. Famous ballerinas dance for several hours a day and devote almost their entire lives to their skills.
It all starts from childhood
To become a good ballerina and receive decent fees, you need to start practicing from childhood. Girls come to dance school from a very early age - 4-5 years old. Typically, there are such schools in all localities. Many of them have specific selection criteria. In the classroom, children learn the basics of classical dance, stretch and develop their hearing. From 9-10 years old, future ballerinas can enter a choreographic school - this is a kind of school with a ballet bias. Not everyone is accepted here either. The future ballerina must have good choreographic training, special ballet posture, short stature, low weight, long neck and small head. They also look at the rise of the leg and its eversion. Pupils train at the barre, repeat classical ballet poses, strengthen muscles, achieve good stretching and eversion of the foot. By the way, they don't start to put on pointe shoes right away: first, the girls learn ballet movements, then they jump and after that they practice dancing at their fingertips.
Start of a professional career
Talented girls begin performing in serious productions from the age of 10-12. The performances are not simple training and practice of movements. The performance is based on an idea that must be expressed with dance, gestures, facial expressions. Acting and emotionality play a special role in the performance. A real ballerina knows how to express any feelings, as well as interact with other participants in the production. In addition to plastics, the technique of classical elements and a sense of rhythm, a dancer may need knowledge of gymnastics and acrobatics.
Many ballerinas continue their education at universities, for example, MGUKI. There they can get the profession of a choreographer or head of an artistic group.
Dance at your fingertips
Pointe pose entered women's dance from the beginning of the 19th century and remained in classical ballet forever. Ballerinas dance in special shoes with a firm toe, which fixes the foot in a certain position. To dance on pointe, you need to have a stretched Achilles tendon and strong ligaments in the ankle area. A good sense of balance and coordination is also important. Ballerinas rub the tips of their pointe shoes with rosin for better grip. Each ballet production has its own choreography and requires its own type of pointe shoes, so the dancers have several pairs. On average, one pair "lives" 3-5 months, and during a very difficult performance, the prima changes several pairs of pointe shoes.
Before wearing new pointe shoes, you need to knead under your leg, leaving the sock stiff, and also sew satin ribbons to them.
Correct posture is very important for fingertip dance: legs, buttocks and back work here. Ballerinas work out the correct position to reflexes: the shoulder blades should be divorced, the shoulders are lowered, the buttocks are tucked up, the stomach is pulled in, the knees are stretched, the instep of the foot is stretched, and the foot itself is twisted and not overwhelmed inward. Ballet is a very beautiful but complex dance. Ballerinas dancing with full dedication often get injuries, sprains, and calluses. Muscle pain is a constant companion of a talented dancer. However, ballet is a whole life, and not many are able to refuse it.
