Get to the Pointe — boys ballet

After many moons & many comments, it's finally here: Pointe shoe fitter reacts to rhythmic gymnastics! We love that ballet can cross over into many disciplines. One of the most obvious and daring is rhythmic gymnastics. According to Wikipedia, and unlike its better known counter part, artistic gymnastics, "Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and rope." And there are some moments where dancers are so athletic that they reach and climb on top of their toes! Of course, Josephine has some feelings and reactions about this. We're just...

We love boys who do ballet. But do we love boys who do pointe? In this episode of 'Pointe Shoe Fitter Reacts,' we scoured the ballet internet for our favorite ballet boys. And good news - lots of men are dancing en pointe now! Pointe is for everyone! And though it's been gendered as a skill women mostly accomplish, we love seeing men en pointe. Albeit, possibly a touch annoyed because they are SO good. Historically, high heels were worn by men of the French court and aristocracy. So even high heels, as common and coded  as 'feminine' as they...

"I'm entering my muscle mommy era right now" In this episode of non-dancers trying ballet, we have bodybuilders! There are two clips. The first is of the govenator himself - Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his glory days. This clip features him in class with a ballet teacher who is helping him and fellow Mr. Olympian Frank, find and understand their best body lines for a body building competition.  The second clip is from a Buzzfeed video where some SUPER muscle-y men try to do ballet. Yeah...gonna let you figure that one out, haha! As always we believe that everyone can...

Grab your tissues, everybody. This week Josephine reacted to Eugene Lee Yang's coming out video, simply titled "I'm Gay." Released on YouTube in 2019, this dance shot film tells Eugene's story. Born and raised in a conservative, Catholic town in Texas, he struggled through his adolescence with his sexuality, but also his Asian identity. The video shows the conflict he faced as an adult, and where he stands now. Needless to say, Josephine picked up a lot of what Eugene was putting down. As a fellow Korean, there were many moments of empathy. Like this video, we are also fundraising...

This week, we had Josephine watch the 2010 Australian TV series, "Dance Academy."  If you're in the states, you likely found this series on YouTube, in the ballet corner of the internet where we live. Josephine watched snippets of Season 1, Episode 2 "Week Zero," which follows main character, country girl Tara during her first week at the prestigious academy. There's lots of drama of course, between a boy being bullied for being put en pointe, Tara disobeying her ballet teacher, and even, a pointe shoe fight! How will Josephine react? You gotta watch to find out!