Class: Beginner Pointe
Instructor: Kathryn Sullivan
Class Description: This class is suitable for beginning pointe students or students who have not been on pointe for a while and wish to rebuild strength.
At Prima Ballet, the studio where I studied in Taiwan, we had an hour of pointe after two hours of ballet on Saturdays and Sundays. I stopped pointe for half a year since coming to New York, but I recently bought a pair of Grishko Triumphs and started taking pointe again with Kathryn Sullivan every Friday at Steps on Broadway.
There are very few pointe technique classes offered at studios here in New York because dancers usually wear pointe shoes in ballet class (they either put them on after barre or some even wear pointe shoes through the entire class). For dancers like me who have not danced on pointe for half a year, it is very unwise to just start doing pirouettes on pointe without rebuilding ankle strength. Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, and Ballet Arts are the three studio in New York that offer pointe technique classes (that I know of).
Kathryn Sullivan's Beginner Pointe class begins with a warm up and a few combinations at the barre. Then we go to the center and work on everything from échappés to piqué en arabesque. The class moves at a moderate pace and does not get very crowded (you usually get a barre to yourself!). My only problem with the class is that it is only half an hour long--by the time your are warmed up and you start to get into it, it is over.
I recommend taking a ballet class before this class to maximize your training! Kathryn Sullivan also teaches Advance Beginner Ballet before Beginner Pointe in the same studio, or check out the Steps on Broadway daily schedule online for more classes!
Beginner Pointe Class Schedule (with Kathryn Sullivan):
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
12:30-1:00pm
Studio: Steps on Broadway
2121 Broadway at 74th Street, New York
Tel. 212-874-2410
Class Price: $8.50
Video of Finis Jhung teaching Level 1 Pointework:
For more pointe classes in the city...
At Ballet Arts, Anne-Sophie Rodriguez teaches Pointe & Variation (open level) on Tuesdays from 1:00-2:00pm, and from 7:00-8:30 Dawn Hillen teaches Beginner Ballet with Basic Pointe. On Thursdays, Richard Mardsen teaches Beginner/Intermediate Pointe & Pas de Deux Technique from 1:00-2:00pm.
Some places to buy pointe shoes...
This is great. Right on target for the purpose of your blog, informative, interesting, helpful. Really liked the video. and great the way you offer class prices, links to where to take classes, etc. Well done! A
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