What's in Alli's Dance Bag-- My tricks of the trade!

It's that time of year again! Back to school and back to Ballet!! (yay!) Today was the first day of my NINTH SEASON with Ballet West!  I can hardly believe it! Time is flying.  My summer was filled with exciting new adventures like the #IAmYourFriend Benefit Dance Performance Rex Tilton and I produced in SLC to raise money for the non-profit organization, Fahodie for Friends, as well as the inaugural year of my very own summer intensive called The artÉmotion Summer Intensive with my new business partner Ballet in the City!  I am really excited to finally be back in the studio and back on stage myself!  I spent the weekend shopping for what I need in my dance bag to keep me on my toes and I thought it would be great to share some of tricks with you!  All summer, especially from my artÉmotion students, I would get questions about what I do to deal with pointe shoe issues, or blisters, etc., so here it is for you all!

First up, pointe shoes!!! (And how to make them last longer!)

Professionals are lucky and we get shoes from the company.  But, trust me, I remember the days when my parents had to buy me pointe shoes all time! They are expensive!  Lately I've been enjoying wearing dead shoes. I don't recommend it for young dancers starting on pointe or still developing their strength, but its just what I am preferring right now.  With that being said, if you are not able to get new shoes as often as you'd like here are a few tips on dealing with dying toe boots!

Trick #1 Glue is your best friend!  When your box is getting soft it can be painful and cause bruised toenails, not to mention turning gets rough! Us Ballet West girlies use a brand called Hot Stuff!  We simply put it in the inside of the box! It keeps them going strong for a very long time!  If you need help on how to apply the glue correctly watch my silly How to sew Pointe Shoes video on YouTube! The video also shows you how I like to sew my shoes as well, which leads me to.....

Trick #2 Sew with dental floss!  I really wish I could remember who taught me this nifty trick, but instead of yarn or thread I use waxed dental floss to sew my shoes!! It is so heavy duty and reliable! I promise it will work and it's cheap and easy to get!

#3 Use duct tape to fix a broken shank!  Have you ever had that perfect pair of shoes and your shank decides to break in half? Or they break and you're waiting for your new shoes to come in the mail?  The perfect remedy for a broken shank is duct tape!  It keeps your shoes lasting a bit longer and it helps you not to get cuts on the bottom of our feet!  I do this all the time so make my favorite pairs last longer!

Trick #4 Use rubbing alcohol instead of water to soften your pointe shoes!   When I first break in shoes the only place I really like soft is the box around where my knuckles of my toes are.  I used to use water to help soften that part of the shoes but it often stained my shoes and made them look bad. I had a friend who suggested rubbing alcohol!  I tried it and its amazing!  It doesn't stain the shoe and it works perfectly!

Trick #5 Options, options, options! If it's possible, try to rotate a few pairs of shoes at a time!  I usually operate with three pairs any given day.  When one pair starts to feel sweaty and like they are softening up, take them off and let them dry out.  Use another pair and continue the cycle. I find it keeps shoes lasting longer!

Second up, tricks to keep you on your toes!

When your feet and body hurt, you dance bad.  Let's face the truth, we all know it! Here is a list of a few ways I try to keep my pain to a minimum!

Duct Tape! Again, but this time colorful!  I find that taping my toes with duct tape works the best.  It stays when my feet get sweaty and it never breaks or moves around.

Band-Aids.  Always have them on hand in case a blister or some other type of wound pops up!  You don't want silly injuries to get infected! 

Corn cushions and corn pads.  I suffer from corns sometimes and they can get really painful.  I usually just wrap a corn pad around my toe but corn cushions work just as well! You can tape the cushions around a nasty blister, too!

Arnica Cream. Arnica is a savor.  If you have a bruise or sore muscles you can rub arnica cream into your injury for relief. It's safe and natural and I use it often.  I had a stone bruise on the ball of my foot last week and I applied arnica to it everyday for three days.  I do not feel it any longer.

Toe spacers.  If you have a large gap between your big and second toe like I do, using toe spaces help relieve pressure that can be put on your bunions.  I never dance a day without them!

Extra toe pads.  Even if they are old, keep them in your bag.  You never know when you can lose one!

Pain relievers!  (Ask your parents about these if you are too young to take them by yourself!)  I always keep ibuprofin, Pepto-Bismol dis-solvable tablets and Tylenol Cold in my bag! You never know when something will spring up on you!

Lastly, snack and other important items!

I'm always preaching to my students about snacks!!!! We burn so many calories while dancing and it is important to keep your body energized! Today for example I brought crackers, clementines, raisins, and a protein shake!  Whatever you prefer will be great! Make sure it's full of nutrients! Also, don't forget to drink water!! 

 I have a locker at work, but I always like to keep a few pieces of warm up clothing in my dance bag at all times.  I have one shirt to wrap around my waste, a pair of pants, socks, leg warmers, a jacket and a clean leotard to change into after lunch!

I like to have extra bobby pins and hair elastics, toe nail clippers, chapstick, a brush and foot spray in my bag!  The foot spray is refreshing after a long day and helps with foot odor!  I also have deodorant in my purse!

My last few tips!  Have thera-bands and a tennis ball handy!  You can use the ball to roll out tight muscles and if you're on a small break it's always great to get a few ankle exercises in!

Well, that's it for now!  Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope my "tricks of the trade" will help you in the future!  If you have any additional info you think is useful add it to the comments below!  It's always great to help your friends!

xoxoxox
Allison

The Great "Weight" Debate: The Ballet Body

The Great “Weight” Debate:  The Ballet Body

 

I’m sitting here trying to start this blog and already feel torn over what I am going to say about how to achieve the perfect “ballet body.”  The thing about the subject is I’ve got so many questions asking, “How can I get skinny for ballet?” or “I’m having weight issues, can you help?”  It already nerves me thinking about answering them because majority of the time they come from very young girls, typically 13-17 years old.  My blood actually starts to boil as I read them because I’m thinking to myself, how can a child actually be worrying about this?  Unfortunately, in our beautiful art form, how we look sometimes overpowers artistry and talent.  I am obviously not a doctor, but I am a high performance athlete who has managed to steer clear from any serious injury thus far in my professional career.  I attribute that to not only my physical activity but also my diet; and I don’t mean “diet” in the fashion magazine quick way to lose 10lbs way, I mean actually what I eat for nutrition to stay healthy.  I would like you to stop thinking about things in terms of getting “skinny” for ballet, but getting “healthy” for ballet.

 

I am going to be careful what I say here, because I do not want to offend anyone and I do not want to steer any young child who is reading this in the wrong direction.  People ask me about how I eat all time.  I reply that I do not really constrict myself from much and I get the old response of, “Well, you’re just lucky you have that body naturally.”  I could not disagree with that statement more.  I’ll tell you about the many “bodies” I have gone through in my 30yrs of life.  I was a string bean as a kid. When I turned 15 my body completely changed.  I grew to be 5’9” and I started to gain weight for the first time in my life.  If you’ve read my previous blog, you would know that during that time I was not dancing full time.  I had taken time off.  When I went back to ballet is when I started to become very VERY aware of how my body looked. It was when I was 17, turning 18 that I decided to go on my very first “diet.”  I thought I knew it all.  It was when the Atkins thing was taking off and I thought to myself it would be the perfect way to lose the 10-15 extra teenage baby pounds. I almost completely cut out all carbs from my diet.  The only carbs I was really eating were from vegetables.  Everything was going great at first; I lost weight fast and my muscle tone was really starting to show.  It wasn’t too long before I noticed that my energy levels were becoming low and I started to get very bad tendonitis in my Achilles, which I never had before.  It was opening week of the Nutcracker at my school and I was to be dancing the role of Sugar Plum Fairy.  My teacher flew in a professional male dancer from Ballet Arizona to be my partner.  We were in rehearsal and I remember telling my mom that I felt like my Achilles was a rubber band.  The next thing I knew, I felt a sharp and very hot pain in my leg.  I had torn where my calf and Achilles meet. 

 

The doctor was surprised that someone as young as me would sustain such an injury.  He started asking me questions and when he got to the bottom of it, he told me that a large part in the breakdown of my body was that I was not fueling it properly for the amount of physical activity I was doing.  NO CARBS was A VERY BAD IDEA.  After my injury I started to eat a well-rounded diet and felt great!  Then, I left for college the next year.  Freshman 15? That would have been nice, try freshman 25 for me!  I ate like crap, to be frank.  Pizza late at night and Snickers for a snack from the vending machine.  I was in college on my own for the first time and didn’t have much money.  It wasn’t until I was 23 and at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre that I finally started to figure out how to treat my body well.  I made two very major decisions— I was cutting out fried foods and cutting out alcohol (for all of you who are over 21 years old and up).  I started eating small portions of food, but at least six times a day, and was very religious about taking a multi-vitamin and B-Complex.  For the past 7 years of my life, I have really not changed how my body looks or my weight much.  I have figured out how to maintain a healthy and strong body for ballet through healthy eating and moderation.

 

So here are my thoughts.  If you are a young girl or boy reading this, you have absolutely no business depriving your body of anything.  A “diet” shouldn’t ever be in your vocabulary.  You can, however, start learning how to eat healthy to maintain an athlete’s body.  You will obviously need your parent’s help, but for example;  instead of eating french fries at school for lunch, consider packing your lunch with a nice turkey sandwich and some fruit and veggies.  It’s also OK to eat ice cream and pizza with your friends, but you don’t have to be excessive.  I truly believe that moderation is key.  One awful trend that I have seen from teaching around the country is being in front of a herd of 13 year old kids and halfway through barre struggling to get them to respond to combinations let alone get through them.  I always ask if they have had breakfast, and more often than not, I hear “NO.”  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it jump starts your metabolism and gives you energy for the day!  Try eating some scrambled eggs with cheese and avocado or oatmeal like I do EVERYDAY. 

Another problem I see is young students are not taught how to “snack” between classes and rehearsals.  I do not mean cookies and cakes.  I would suggest bringing some crackers or fruits and veggies with ranch to have on breaks.  It keeps you energized in the body but also the brain!  I always drink a high protein shake after every ballet class I take.  I wouldn’t suggest that for young kids, but an alternative would be to pack a 2% chocolate milk with you.  When you get older, maybe 17 or 18, drinking a protein shake would work!  For a major meal like dinner try to be as balanced as you can be.  Eat a protein like chicken or beef, a vegetable and maybe a bit of pasta.  I promise you that if you maintain a well-balanced diet your body will respond in the way you want it to.  Like me, pass up the French fries for a salad or soup and maybe eat 1 cookie instead of 5, but do not totally restrict yourself from foods that will feed your mind and body.

 

My belief is that, while training as a young dancer, we should not be programmed to think “skinny” but rather, “healthy.”  Lay off the scales kids.  Crying over a stupid number will not make anything better and most of the time it means nothing!   Start to focus on your health and strength so you can dance until you’re well into your 40’s injury free!!!!!

 

Xoxo

Allison