Breaking In Your Pointe Shoes | My Quick Trick

Breaking In Your Pointe Shoes | My Quick Trick

When you first get a new pair of Pointe shoes, they can be like two bricks. The shoes are made to be so strong to hold your weight as you wear them on pointe, spin in them, jump in them and so on. However this also means that they can be a pain to break in, especially as a beginner when you are getting used to the techniques and creating strength in your feet and ankles in order to break in the shoes. Without strength, the shoes can take effort to break in. Some brands are harder or softer than others. My old pair of Grishko's, my favourites as they tailor to all my needs, were extremely stiff and hard to break in. It depends on the brand. 

So here's a trick I use once to break in my pointe shoes recently, due the issue of having to wait months to buy new shoes and I must start rehearsing in my Pointe shoes a.s.a.p; I can't afford to wait weeks and weeks for them to break in:

1) Simply find a place to use for breaking in the shoes: on a hard surface that is stable, ideally a clean

Step 1- Face the shoes as shown above 

carpet or floor (I use my bedroom carpet as it won't get my shoes dirty with fluff etc). You will need a hard surface as you're going to bend the shoe against it for support to break it. 

2)Take your Pointe shoe in both of your hands. Make sure the shoes face the way that it would when on your feet. Flip the shoe over so the inside of the shoe faces the ground and the suede shank and sole face towards you, as shown in the picture. Place your hands at the front of the shoe as shown, and gently but firmly push the heel of the shoe into the ground with your hands, being sure to evenly bend the shank for a few seconds. When you are done,

Step 2- Be sure to use both hands, however I have
one hand holding the shoe as I had
to take a photo and hold the shoe

the shank (sole of the shoe that helps you to keep standing) may feel bumpy and more flexible than before, that's fine because that's a sign the shoes are broken in and the shoes will have the curved shape of a foot that they should have. 

3) Now repeat the above on the other shoe. Be sure NOT TO repeat too many times, as this could damage the shank and the shoes structure. Also ensure you use both hands when pushing the shoe into the ground, so the shoe
breaks in evenly.

Step 2 and 3- repeat for step 3

  The reason why this breaks in the shoe, is due to the fact that the shank is being bent slowly from being pressed against the hard surface, and being pushed down on by your hands. Of course, the more the shoes are worn, the more they will break in naturally until you will require new
shoes, however Pointe shoes need to be broken in to a certain extent in order to use them properly. 

The result- broken in shoes, that if you look carefully you can see the
shoe is bent to the shape of my foot and is slightly bumpy underneath
the shank in the image; this is the broken in part

There you go, a quick trick I use to break my shoes in and that I have recently used to break in my new Pointe shoes. My dancing teacher informed me that I had broken in the shoes effectively, and now I can move around in them freely.

Thank you for reading and I hope this helps,

Yours truly,

Caris 

The Search For New Pointe Shoes | Pointe Shoe Fitting

The Search For New Pointe Shoes | Pointe Shoe Fitting

My old, no-more worn, Pointe shoes from August 2014
, as I was that delighted I wrote inside when I first purchased
then xD

My beloved old Pointe shoes are no more. They're frayed, too soft to use and just worn down. So off I went in search of my new Pointe shoes. As a result of this long journey in search of actually having my Pointe shoes fitted, I now currently have lovely, bright, lively Pointe shoes, and what a surprise the same brand... And by the way, some amusing photo of me my sister in law took of me during my Pointe shoe fitting, so yes, laugh away like she did haha.

New Point shoes compared to my old Pointe shoes.
 Old shoes left, new shoes right.
You can see some difference in their structure. 

Let me fill you in. I live in a Town near Oxford by roughly 40-60 minutes in the car, depending on traffic. The nearest Ballet Shop that sells Pointe Shoes as well as having a trained individual to fit the shoes for you, is on the outskirts of Oxford. I had multiple attempts to figure out a method of travel to get to the shop. Bus? No I finish college when the bus leaves and would have to wait over 40 minutes when I am busy later on. Train? wait the train goes back to where I live, not where the shoes are. Car? Oh wait, I can't drive without another individual with me as I am a learner driver. Walk? Oh no, that would take probably a day or more. Lift from someone? NO, no, no. Then: how about my brother and sister-in-law? And that's how I managed to get the Pointe shoes I  needed. Thank you to my relatives I appreciate it so so much :)

So on the day, a Monday to be exact, I went to college in Oxford for the hour, the only hour lesson I have on a Monday, travelled back on the train to the town centre of where I live, met my brother and sister-in-law in the train station car park and hopped into their car. We set off towards the dance shop, which took about 45 minutes, finally arriving at the shop which had wooden floors, white wash walls, and a stash of new Pointe shoes of various different brands to the right of the shop's entrance.

Yep, this was taken the moment I couldn't get the shoe
even onto my heel they were so small! 
And yes, my
face says it all haha xD

When starting to try on shoes, we started with a brand that I hadn't heard of before, and annoyingly have forgotten. These were not very wide, and I couldn't even fit my feet into them. The next, the same brand and the next width up, still had the same issue. Next up, we tried the same brand, as this brand offered shoes for those with tapered feet, like mine. We didn't try on any Bloch brands as these are for square feet and unfortunately don't provide for my build of my feet.

After about 20 pairs of the same brand, and 45 minutes of deciphering the right width and length of the shoes best for my feet, I tried on Grishko Pointe shoes; resulting in more hopeful chances of finding the correct shoes for myself.  The first pair of Grishko's was a pair that once again, the incorrect width, and in fact I couldn't even fit my heel into them. The second, had too much length to them, as my feet slipped down into the shoes when on point: definitely not the right size of shoe. The next pair, once on my feet standing and on point, were literally perfect, Right width, length and size. Only issue was that the shank (the part of the shoe that keeps the shoes structure and that you stand on) was too long, it dug into my feet and even after five minutes of wearing them staring to dig into my left foot really badly, ouch! So then the shop owner got another pair of Grishko shoes, the Grishko 2007 's. Once I put these shoes on, I knew they were the right ones. How? Because my feet weren't being crushed to death within a second of wearing them, because they fit snugly, not too tight or too loose. Standing on point felt effortless without pain as I was able to get over the vamp and onto the platform easily to stand.  I had found the right shoes! After an hour and fifteen minutes, I had found them! Finally after waiting months to go and get a Pointe shoe fitting, I had finally got the Pointe shoes that were perfect. So I brought them, £45.50 plus length of four ribbons for £1.50, cheaper than I had ever seen these items on any dancing website that I know.

New Pointe shoes and correctly coloured ribbon for my Pointe
 shoes brand new in their bag. 

 The happiness I get from the fact they are more comfortable than my old Pointe shoes, because they fit me! The fact that my left foot is half a size smaller than my right, that my feet are tapered (or 'somewhat tapered' because of my longest second toe), my arch is high and my feet are slim but wide where the toe bones meet the foot and that I have long toes, especially a longer second toe. All the things that made it so impossible and frustrating to find the right shoes, had resulted in the best, comfiest shoes! And yes, it still hurts to go on pointe and to wear the shoes, but the normal

My new, shining, well-fitting Pointe shoes.

pain to expect with Pointe shoes, and a pain that is so much less than what I experienced from my old pointe shoes.

Now I can finally reherse in my dance school's dance show in June, without struggling to get over the vamp and onto the platform because my old shoes were too small and the vamp was too long for my feet :)

Thankyou for reading,

Yours truly,
Caris

Feeling The Pressure | When Things Get Tough Don't Give Up

Feeling The Pressure | When Things Get Tough Don't Give Up

There are days where I may struggle with my daily life. Things get too busy, hectic and jam-packed with all the different things I am currently balancing in my life, and this got me thinking: what makes me feel this way?

We can create amazing things when we keep
on going (photograph property of me Caris)

I am someone who has a lot of anxiety in life and stress can trigger it and even make it worse. I may not appear to be affected in this way by stress and stress-related anxiety towards others, but to the extent where my anxiety can affect my mood cannot be good. It can decrease my level of motivation to complete work, cause me lack of sleep and loss of appetite, and as capable as I'd like to think I am at managing stress related anxiety, sometimes it feels like the odds are against you. 

      My A-Levels for instance are causing me a lot of stress. I feel like no matter how hard I am trying, I just can't manage to maintain the 'correct' standard. Speaking to another individual the same age as me who's also turned eighteen and also did a college course before A-levels and who has a part-time job that demands a lot of free time; they told me they too feel the same. It feels like I'm running a never ending treadmill where eventually it gets too much and I fall: I fall down, I get up again, I try harder, I fall again. But I just have to keep trying and then, I get somewhere. I pass that test with 'flying colours', I managed to keep my cool when I am one to panic under pressure. I have to keep trying, keep prioritising everything I do. And I realise, 'actually I can do this' and I surprise myself with what I can do when I keep pushing, because at the end of the day, we are our individual selves and we set our own expectations of ourselves, not setting the expectations that others have for us. 

Keep running those extra minutes, keep pacing yourself, keep going to your best ability and if you stumble, you have the ability to pick yourself up, brush yourself down and keep on going. There may be moments of anger, stress, anxiety, frustration and just feeling like giving up, but we're only human and feel emotions, even ones that we really would rather bury in a box and never recover (for me anxiety is one)
And this is how I think when things get tough, be it education, family, work, a hobby, stress, anxiety, expectations, anything: we have the ability to fuel ourselves and achieve things we never expected.
Everyone has had their own experiences, and everyone is their own individual self, meaning that we all experience things differently, but we are all human.

Thankyou for reading,

Yours truly,
Caris 

      

Bun Head Looks | Three Dance Bun Styles To Style Your Hair Into

Bun Head Looks | Three Dance Bun Styles To Style Your Hair Into

I have had the idea to write about suggestions for different variations of buns that you can style your hair into for any dance occasion, be it the usual dance class, exams (going to be the plainer ones here for this, they always plastered my hair flat with gel, ick!) dance shows and performances; these styles will fit. These are just suggested styles that many may know already, so why not give them a try. 

The Double Bun: 

Ever heard of this before? I think that it's pretty cool to be honest and is great for days when you want to stand out ever so slightly. Instead of doing one pony tail and turning it into a bun, place another on top. In order to do this I found that if you have layers in your hair like mine that are either short layers or varied so they get longer further down your hair, be sure to use plenty of hair grips and spray. 

The gone crazy 'Messy Bun':
This is probably the easiest and quickest bun to do. Just put your hair into a high pony tail, twist the pony tail into a circle, holding it there, take another hairband and stick it on top of the twisted hair. Get hairgrips and place into your hair to keep the extra strands of hair in place. Spray with hair pray lightly to ensure your hair stays put and voila! Be sure not to put too much hair spray on as this could make the hair look stiff and not give the 'just done' look. I styled my hair into the messy bun and it adds a laid back look to your outfit. The day I had my hair styled in the messy bun, I styled my hair like this because I was aiming for a laid back casual look and I think it was achieved from the compliments I recieved :D I wore blue Skinny Jeans, a laid back Jersey Top consisting of a white body and red sleeves, a light and dark blue faded Denim Jacket and white Sneakers for a laid back casual look.

The Serious Exam Bun: 
This is the bun that is used for exams. You know the exams where no hair, including my block of a fringe to be stuck up with a whole tub of VO5 hair gel. I kid you not. Basically brush your hair and grab a hair band. Put it into a pony tail, covering the hair (but not the pony tail) with hair gel or hair spray (which is a million times more pleasant) Next twist tight the pony tail round in a circle around the hair band holding the pony tail up to make a bun, place a hairband over the bun to keep it in place and if needed, place a hair net on top of the bun which should be coloured to your hair. Place hair grips into the hair and over the hair net or extra and shorter strands of hair in place. Add other hair pins if needed. Finally spray or gel your hair to keep it in place.


Hope you found these hairstyles interesting and worth a try if they haven't been attempted already. Thank you for reading 😘

Yours Truly
Caris

Adding a Festive Sparkle | Festive Decoration for Your Bedroom

Adding a Festive Sparkle | Festive Decoration for Your Bedroom

My mini Fibre-Optic Christmas Tree

Hello! So I know it may already be Christmas Day for some but it's still within the hour of 11pm and despite it being very late to post Christmas things, I decided to post about my decoration idea for my bedroom, to make it more lively from its plain ivory walls.

On my birthday, the 24th November, I received a small, 30cm 'Flashing Fibre-Optic Christmas Tree' from my little brother, and I put it to use.

My finally decorated Christmas Tree

I got my tree out of the box, sorted it's branches and placed it onto its stand. Being a simple pop-on-top tree that rests on the light inside the stand, the tree had a habit to fall over, and I can say what some fun I had trying to balance it xD After this I got some small decorations, ball-balls, and a lovely red bow with a Diamond in the middle, and turned my tree on. Admiring it's glory with it's colours changing from Pink to Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Purple before repeating many times. I placed it on my desk and voila!  Multiple-coloured-ever-so-adorable-light-changing Fibre-Optic Christmas Tree. 

Adding a bit of a Christmas feel to my petite bedroom and it's ivory walls, the Christmas tree stands shining bright and it's coloured fibre optic strands changing like every year changes
around Christmas every year. 

I wish you all a Happy Christmas and A great New Year.

Yours Truly,

Caris 

A Must Know Trick | How To Keep Your Pointe Shoe Ribbons Lasting

 A Must Know Trick | How To Keep Your Point Shoe Ribbons Lasting

As you continue to use your pointe shoes,
the ribbons eventually may start to fray slightly but
the sealed end will stay in place, even if it has cracked.
These point shoes are some of my older ones which
are extremely worn down and so no longer used and have
only just started presenting frayed ribbons near the end of
their lifetime.

Hello! Hope all is well. Today I am going to share a quick simple Ballet trick to make your Pointe shoe Ribbons last. If you struggle to keep your Pointe shoe ribbons looking neat, this trick is a great way to do that. This post can be for beginners as some people may know this trick, others may have figured it out for themselves, but I thought why not share it for those just learning because this trick works. Share it with someone else to help them if needed.

Ribbons once cut to be placed onto a Pointe shoe can become 'tatty'. They eventually start to frey through wear and tear and this can result in ugly, messy and non-existent ribbons. People in my old Ballet class had this exact problem, and many had to replace the ribbons with new ones. Once person even had their ribbons attached by a few small threads because they had frayed so much.
The more they frey, the more the ribbon starts to shorten in length, eventually working it's way to where it is sown on the Pointe shoe. Once this happens, they can snap and break off the shoe. Not good if you're on stage or practicing multiple pirouettes or leaps in class.

Image of my Grisko Triumph's brand new and with
newly sewn ribbons.

Once you have sewn your ribbons correctly onto your Pointe shoe, follow the instructions below.

You will need:

• Lighter. Ask for permission or help if needed to stay safe as some Pointe beginners can be under 10 years of age x
• If you prefer a candle, be sure it has access to the flame.
• Plate to place underneath the ribbons when holding them or underneath candle.
• Your ribbons.

Steps:

Frayed ribbon

1. Be sure you have all items needed.
2. Take candle, place on a plate and light/ take the lighter and make a flame. Ask for permission or help if needed to stay safe if you or the person who the shoe belongs to is young. It's a good idea to have someone hold the shoe whilst you hold the ribbon over the flame to stop your shoe from getting in the way. 
3. With your free hand, hold the ribbon and face the end which is or may frey away from you. This end will be placed above the heat of the flame. 



Ribbon with melted fabric
making a plastic seal shown by a curve in
the ribbon above

4. Being careful not to burn yourself, hover the frayed end of the ribbon a few centimetres above the flame. As you do this you will see loose bits of the ribbon curl and ravel back to the end which they came from. Remove from over the flame and check to make sure all the end of the ribbon is sealed with the melted ribbon. Be sure not to burn the end of the ribbon. This has created a seal on the end of the ribbon ensuring nothing can break away from the cut end. The reason why it melts is because ribbons are made from Nylon, a fabric used in fashion made out of plastic.  

There you go, a simple trick to keep the ends of your ribbons that you tie neat and tidy. I have had the Grisko Triumph shoes for over a year and only now have the ribbons frayed due to months and months of wear and tear.


Hope this was useful and easy for you to learn. Happy dancing! 

Yours truly,

Caris

My Wonder Food For Mornings | Be Surprised How Good Porridge Can Be

My Wonder Food For Mornings | Be Surprised How Good Porridge Can Be

Hello! So you may be wondering "why have you decided to write about porridge?" Well... I will explain. I also like to blog about healthy foods, as mentioned on my blog in the title box and there is history behind my healthy food ideas. This is a

My favourite combination, Porridge
 with freshly chopped Apple. (Yes I took this
whilst making my breakfast haha)

post about one way which you could improve your diet in the mornings, especially helpful for us dancers who burn a lot off and eat like horses (well I do but yeah maybe you do too? ha). I have been considering blogging about this as I think it's something that I should share, especially for those like me who suffer from stomach upset when eating even the simplest of foods. So please bare with :) Now I am no food scientist, or any scientist to be exact, just someone who wants to share my experience of how good I think this food can be for you in the mornings. So here's another food post for you. Oh and if you don't like Porridge then that's fine :) 

I am a Porridge lover! I used to enjoy it when I was younger and have it with jam or fresh fruit on top. Yummy! Now when I'm having breakfast in the mornings, I have always had the issue of eating something and then becoming hungry within an hour after. Not good when you're out and about or doing physical exercise, like dancing. No matter what I ate, I was always hungry a little while after. Unless... I had Porridge. 

Being someone who suffers from an extremely sensitive stomach, with I.B.S, I have to be careful about what I eat. I.B.S is Irritable Bowel Syndrome and it is a sensitive topic for me and others to mention as this is an issue that can be stress related, something I struggle with and have all my life since little. I.B.S makes even eating food that others easily consume impossible. I suffered from bloating which flared up with anything I ate and make things seem dismal and depressive for me. I would get horrible cramping in my intestines because they were acting in a bad way to the foods I ate. They were acting like your body does when you're allergic to something. So I cut out the junk and ate all the healthy fibre foods, like porridge- yes I know I have mentioned "porridge" too many times haha.

Eating junk food is not a great idea for me and I can only eat small amounts, such as chocolate every few weeks. Factors such as how acidic or alkaline foods are affect me largely; even in the smallest amounts. Cereal and Milk in the mornings give me stomach pains from the Lactose in the cold Milk. In order to consume Milk alone, I have to heat it up to break down the Lactose. Preservatives in the cereals make me feel

 Take fresh fruit any type. Apple has fibre in it
and vitamins.

unwell, my stomach disagrees with them because they're not natural. But porridge? Just plain Oats. No added sugars or too high acidity levels. Not only does it calm my stomach, but it fills me up. Now there is a reason for my long descriptive introduction. It is because I am stressing that one food that is very good for you, be it because you suffer from intolerance like I do, you're hungry literally non-stop and want to cut down or just think you're diet needs a kick to get back onto the healthy side of life like mine did; this is worth a read.

The day I had porridge for the first time ever, IT
ACTUALLY FILLED ME UP AND I DIDN'T FEEL BLOATED OR UNWELL!! Finally now I could do things without being hungry or with a painful feeling when eating, finally I could be out and about for hours without a single noise coming from my stomach; without my having to grab food fast. To prove how well it fills me up, I ate breakfast at 8:00 am. I had 40g of Porridge and 150ml of milk. Porridge is heated to combine the Milk and Oats (I prefer heating it in a pan), meaning my stomach is fine with milk being consumed. I add a bit of Jam on top or eat it plain and I'm full. At 1:00 pm, a time of which my stomach would have been moaning about being hungry for hours, I had only just felt the slightest bit hungry. You can add fruits to your porridge such as Strawberries, Blueberries, Grapes, Banana or Apple (as you can see in my picture) which are high in vitamins, especially berries with their antioxidant qualities (like Blueberries). Add anything you like. 

So if you have similar issues as me with foods and have to limit your diet to a balance of healthy foods, you are always hungry once eating and are busy throughout the day or just feel that you need to switch your diet; why not try and incorporate porridge into your diet. Because the fact Porridge fills

Healthy, full of fibre and junk free!

me up, I highly suspect it would be great for stopping snacking between meals, something I used to do at college due to stress. If you're not a porridge fan then that's fine. It can be an advantage for anyone who wants to cut down on snacking or maybe even for those who are on diets, because you're full for longer, therefore reducing the amount of time you are hungry and reduces the amount of times you eat foods to fill up between meals.  Porridge is slow burning and full of fibre, which toxins in the body stick to in the digestive system removing them from your body; hence why junk foods made my stomach problems to flare up. The toxins were building up! Also, a final thing to add in, your body burns this energy slowly, meaning you can last longer. I have to say it's my morning wonder food and can be had before work, school, college or exercise (like my dancing). 

Yours truly,

Caris