Get to the Pointe — ballerina

Ballet + TV talent competitions?! What does this equal? What does it mean?! What will happen?! Add Josephine in the mix, then what? Guess you'll have to watch to find out ;)

Here I am, once again - feeling lost, and now and then.... (comment below if you got that 2000's children's sitcom reference) Tik Tok 11, y'all. This is a rare episode of Josephine reacting to ballet tik toks that doesn't include cups. Why?  1 - Perhaps in our chaos, we've been able to put out some neutral good energy out in the universe - and dancers are listening to us and NOT injuring themselves for views. Yay! 2 - Dancers are back in studio and therefore actually dancing and not on Tik Tok (even though we are still amidst a pandemic)....

"There's a pole. There's a POLE! I know where we're going with this!" The title pretty much says it all.  This week, Josephine reacted to *beautiful* dancer Elena Gibson. According to her Wikipedia page, Gibson trained in classical ballet at Canada's National Ballet School as a young dancer. She danced professionally with the National Ballet of Canada & Bavarian State Ballet in Germany as well. In 2000, Gibson suffered injury in a car accident, forcing her to retire from her professional ballet career. This sparked the beginnings of her fusion of ballet, gymnastics and acrobatic with pole dancing. By 2005,...

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...