Get to the Pointe — the pointe shop

Josephine, meet Jo Jo Siwa! Although their names are so similar, Josephine has only caught a glimpse of the fabulous Jo Jo Siwa in past Dance Moms reaction videos.  So this week, we decided to let them meet - digitally of course. Josephine watches Jo Jo take a dance class for the first time in several years. Similarly, Josephine has not taken a dance class in about 20 years either! She totally relates to the pre-class anxiety and drive towards perfectionism. How would you feel taking dance class for the first time in a while? 

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)....

This week, Josephine dipped her toes in the Barbie Cinematic Universe for the first time. All of the Barbie ballet movies are set in the context of Barbie, telling her younger sister Kelly, fairy tales - with a ballet twist of course.  Since Josephine grew up with brothers, she never watched these movies. She was mostly interested to see how the children's movie would handle the darker themes of the ballet. There are many versions of Swan Lake globally, but in general, it's a tragic ending. Odette usually dies of heartbreak in swan form - and Black Swan really cashed in...

"Our job is to make it look easy." When people see ballerinas on stage, they are entranced by their beauty and grace. But offstage, SO much work goes into a flawless looking performance. This week, Josephine reacted to a Refinery29 video from their series "Lucie for Hire." Their video producer Lucie, got to meet and dance with none other than Isabella Boylston!  No spoilers, but there are pointe shoes in the video. How do you think it went? Be sure to watch and find out!

We went back in time to the 2022 YAGP Finals in Tampa, Florida! In this video, Josephine got to meet and for the Junior Division's 2nd place winner, Yerin Ok. Yerin is from the Korean Division of Youth Grand Prix, YGP. While chatting with this gorgeous dancer, Josephine got to see her rehearsal and performance shoes. They're actually the same brand, size, and shank - just a slight difference between models.  For rehearsal, Yerin wears the Maya. For performance, she wears the Maya Pro. The shoes are basically the same, but her softer and quieter performance shoe is broken in...