Get to the Pointe — ballerina

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 join Josephine back in Tampa, FL at YAGP Finals. And she's doing something a little different - discussing demi pointe shoes. Although it is not common in the U.S.A., demi pointe shoes are an intermediary shoe for students preparing for pointe. The outer construction looks pointe shoe like, but there is much less paste in the shoe overall than a pointe shoe, and no shank. Demi pointe shoes are meant only for practice at the barre, for feet and ankle exercises. Demi pointe shoes should NOT be worn in center because there is simply not enough support...

This week, Josephine takes a look another dive into the ballet internet: Instagram Reels edition. We've been loving the Tik Toks everyone's been tagging us in, but we also couldn't ignore reels! In our very first Tik Tok reaction video, Josephine reacted to Dr. Mike reacting to some intense knuckle stands (and jumps yikes). There were a few comments that mentioned a cultural dance associated with this - and Instagram algorithm has delivered.  How did Josephine react? You probably know, but it's way more fun to see it for yourself ;)

This week, Josephine was in Florida at YAGP Finals, and fit a dancer from Japan named Asuka Hara. This adorable and beautiful dancer is 11 years old. She is the 2022 recipient of YAGP's Hope Award, which is presented to the dancer for best overall performance in the Pre-Competitive category (9-11 years old). Asuka competed and performed on flat, in a variation from Graduation Ball. Although Asuka does have pointe shoes, she has not performed or competed en pointe yet. YAGP's guidelines do not allow 10 year olds to compete en pointe, and 11 year olds are strongly discouraged. However, during the...

This week, Josephine shared a fitting story from a studio in Sacramento. At first glance, there was nothing functionally wrong with this shoe. Sometimes dancers get fittings even if they like their current shoe, just for a second opinion. Sometimes everything is fine - but other times dancers sometimes don't realize when things are not as they should be. In this case, Josephine thought the shoe was doing everything it needed to: supported the dancer kept her stable en pointe, and wasn't causing injury. However, the shoe could look better under the ball of the foot. The shoe was reverse...