Summer Intensive Packing List

You don't have to be a ballerina to benefit from this post, by any means, but all those hours in pointe shoes are brutal on the feet, so this one is targeted for my pointe-girlies!

I'm going to share some of the odd habits, hacks, and drugstore finds that kept me up on those toe-boxes for 14 years. 

1. A good toe-tape. We're looking for hold here. Nexcare has many great options as far as a drugstore brand goes, however many self-adhesive mesh tape or pointe shoe specific options have come on the market since I hung up my boots. Individual preferences vary widely on this kind of thing, so trial-and-error it until you find the perfect tape. Then buy 20 rolls! 
2. Finding the right toe pads for your feet is crucial! I swore by this Capezio Pro Pad during most of my dancing years. It has thin fabric underneath the toes so you can feel the floor but a thin layer of gel protection over the top part of the foot. 
3. Air out those feet!! As soon as the shoes came off at the end of the studio day, my toes were in sandals always. Letting the skin dry out is paramount to prevent fungal infection and unnecessary blistering!
4. Feet up the wall. In between rehearsals - feet up the wall  immediately! It's magic for reviving achy feet. 
5. Many of my friends swore by 2nd Skin Squares on any sore parts of the feet. Inside the pointe shoe. If you have a re-occurring hotspot or blister area, give these a shot! 
6. Baby powder. This one's for my fellow sweaty-feet people. I have extra sweaty feet. More moisture = more friction. (*disclaimer - Do this over carpet...DON'T apply baby powder over a marley floor!  It will become so slippery and everyone will be mad at you. Ask me how I know?!) Ok, so, after taping what needs to be taped, powder those puppies up anywhere there's normally friction or sweat. The powder will absorb extra moisture! Then slip on your toe-pads, tights, and pointe shoes. This really was a life-saver for me.

What did I miss? Share your toe-saving-techniques in the comments!!

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Oh, the joyous, exciting, teensy-bit stressful season of summer intensive preparations! Summer intensives provide wonderful opportunities to grow, and the common advice that “you can only get out of something what you put in” applies in the preparation phase too, so let’s get into it!

First off - many summer intensives will email you a packet with a checklist of things to bring: a particular kind of jazz pant, Therabands for conditioning class, a yoga mat, etc. PLEASE don’t snooze on this. Coming prepared speaks volumes if you’re hoping to make a good impression to make it into a year round program at a top school; but regardless of this factor, having what you need will mean you can focus on enjoying and learning rather than scurrying through the halls begging to borrow something from a friend. 

Got the school’s packing list out of the way? Good! Now I’ll share some things that I remember helping me, or that I would bring if I were to be transported back in time to my first ABT intensive!

• A good water bottle - hydration is KEYYYY. Maybe bring something a little unique so you’re not mixing things up at the back of the room.

• Hairpins that will hold your bun or twist in all day.  Summer intensives bring long days in the studio and you won’t want to be fussing with your hair when you could be going over choreography with friends or jotting down corrections! (These particular ones I linked are known for their phenomenal hold!)
• A solid pair of legwarmers. There may very well be breaks between classes where your body will thank you soooo much if you can keep it warm and loose. Always have those legwarmers at the ready to toss on your legs as soon as class is over and they will really help your body.
• A portable notebook - my home-studio teachers always held us accountable to write down our corrections weekly. This served me SO well during summer intensives too when I had a flood of information and feedback. I’d revisit those corrections during the year too and continue to work on them. Don’t let an ounce of your summer opportunities be wasted… write it all down in the evening (with your feet in an ice-bath perhaps?) and thank yourself later!
• Plastic container for ice-baths - I wasn’t kidding about the ice-baths! You will likely come home or back to the dorm with aching, exhausted feet every evening. If you think you’ll have ice easily available after studio hours, fill up a plastic container (even a trashcan will work in a pinch) with water and as much ice as you can handle. Set a 15 minute timer, grab a magazine and a snack. Your feet will come out feeling 10x better than before, I promise!
  

Summer is such a special time to throw yourself wholly into your artform! Squeeze every bit of joy and learning out of it! You won't regret it! 

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Picture the satisfied hum of chattering dancers after class. Clomping in new pointe shoes back to their sides of the room to finish sewing that perfect "frankenstein" pinch into the arch of their satin, letting out a few accidental groans as the foam roller hits the low back just where their muscles need it most, rustling in their bag to find that lone legwarmer that keeps going missing. And then there are the ones still in the middle of the studio. Practicing that illusive triple pirouette, drilling entrechecat's, or working out that sticky portion of a bit of choreography that never goes right in rehearsal. Can I tell you something embarrassing? As a professional dancer I was scared to be that person. So crippled by what my peers in the company might think of my efforts or my failures that it felt so much easier just to clomp back to the locker room and pick out my rehearsal leo.... or sit on the side and check my phone. I've since learned about the phrase "self-objectification". I just looked up the definition for us: "Self-objectification is the psychological process where someone views themselves as a physical object to be looked at and evaluated by others, rather than a whole person, internalizing outside pressures to focus on physical appearance." Yeah... that. It is tough to look back on and realize the growth and satisfaction in my craft I missed out on because of that. But it wasn't always that way. As a young dancer my peers and I were all trying to outwork each other. Getting a teacher's attention was the best possible thing. Receiving corrections was the prize we were all shooting for: the sign the teacher saw our efforts and believed in us. What changed? 

I ask myself often,  "if I could go back, what would I do differently?" The honest answer is that I don't have a perfect answer. I don't have a quick fix I want to prescribe my former self, or you, dear reader, if you find yourself in any kind of a similar pickle. I'll say this: the work IS the prize. The day you stop finding satisfaction in your own growth, the nitty-gritty, the stuff no one really is watching for... that's the day you need to hang up the boots or reassess your relationship with dance. I think joy in the work, joy in the movement, can be lost and found again. Buried under our own self-consciousness or anxiety. Buried under the pressure and the pain of the ballet life. But breakthrough can happen, and mindset shifts CAN be made to bring new confidence and delight to your life in the studio. (If I had met my amazing ballet mindset coach friend earlier in life, I just know I could've gotten a head start on this and enjoyed a bit more of my career.)

So my advice? Seek the satisfaction that comes in growth and mastery over and above the comfort in blending in. Try something tricky. Fall down. Laugh. Ask your peers or coaches for their eyes and corrections. Don't practice the stuff you're already good at for an ego boost. That will get you exactly nowhere. Practice the stuff you're bad at. Just one person bold and humble enough to do this can shift the attitude of a room or even a company. And remember what you fell in love with about dance in the first place. Harness that. Relish it. Move your body because you love to, because you can, because one day your life in the studio might change or disappear and you'll wish you had wrung out all the joy you could.

xx

Your former professional ballerina friend,

Constance