Hi, I'm Victoria! This channel (mostly) features instructional ballet videos without sugar-coating the gritty details. I'm trained in the Vaganova method, and I use this education when I make my tutorials. I danced professionally as a freelancer and in a contemporary company for several years in NYC. Due to the pandemic, I currently reside in rural Pennsylvania. I'm a little salty because I struggle with chronic illnesses & invisible disabilities, but I try to keep it real and raise awareness. I'm also in the early phases of starting my own performing ballet company. Enjoy!
super late commenting, but i relate to this a lot! i had the same ATFL permasprain issue and had an allograft repair surgery (they put someone’s gracilis tendon into my foot in place of my ATFL, PTFL, and peroneal) and could DEFINITELY not point my foot well normally for over a year afterwards, but because of the EDS it’s actually stretched back out (the funky collagen eventually replaces the donor tissue’s collagen) and now i’m dancing semi regularly for the first time since i was a teenager. during the recovery while i was non weight-bearing using crutches and a knee scooter, i developed a hip labral tear, sacroiliitis (arthritis in both SI joints), and later degenerative disc disease from L4/5 to S1 (sound familiar?). all this was between ages 21 and 22, i’m 25 now. i can’t really get a labral tear repair because it’ll tear again quickly from my hip dislocating (which is what caused it in the first place & happens countless times a day). it’s so bad i can’t balance on the left leg, for example a developpé à la seconde, without sinking into my hip very painfully and losing balance. i’d love to chat about your experiences with EDS and ballet as i’m trying to go back en pointe as an adult and have no idea if my PT will freak out or not! so happy to see your back is doing better recently!
I don’t know anything about ballet. I don’t know like any of the words you’re using. I don’t know how I ended up on this video. But I’m pleasantly surprised to feel like I am nonetheless approaching understanding, purely from an artistic point of view 😂 I couldn’t do the thing if my life depended on it, but I think I could draw it
I'm fascinated by this video and am so thankful you made it. Are you still accepting donations? I'd love to donate if you are still accepting donations at what's in your description
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You have a gift for explaining things. So glad I found your channel. I subscribed and will be watching! Great supplement to my classes in person. Thanks
Hi! This is so helpful! I always thought that épaulement was a very specific movement that happens when you’re in second arabesque or tendu derrière with your working leg downstage. Say you just came from first arabesque arms and you roll your upstage arm back so that your downstage arm comes forward, forming a diagonal line with your arms as your head faces the audience. The whole movement kind of causes your spine to form a spiral. Anyways, this was the only movement that my teachers called épaulement, but now that I’m preparing to teach ballet myself it’s good to know that it’s not the only instance of épaulement. Thanks! 😊
Thank you for talking about hypermobility. I have very bendy "rubber feet" with very high arches and this causes me a lot of ankle instability. I have to do a lot of strength training and work with a physiotherapist to learn not to overstretch. You are the first dancer/teacher I've encountered who is aware of EDS and how it affects the body. I wish there was more awareness of this condition in the dance community.
Lovely explanation. I’m not understanding your pronunciation of this word. Maybe it has a unique pronunciation in American ballet terminology? In French it is a three syllable word and the middle syllable is pretty close to the English word “pole.” Or you might hear a little shadow vowel between the L and the M making it almost 4 syllables. It seems like you are saying the second syllable like the Italian word “puoi” rhyming with “boy.” In normal French there couldn’t possibly be any Y sound at the end of the syllable. Maybe in ballet it is somehow pronounced the way you are saying it.
it's probably a combination of hearing my Russian teachers say it with their accent, in addition to me being Italian and instinctively putting an Italian accent on anything from the romance languages.
@@SaltySugarPlum Good reason! You come by it naturally! Yes, it definitely sounds like a combination of Italian and Russian. Or lets say Fracci and Makarova. Keep doing it your way, it works for you.
I so wish the general public would stop appropriating black queer culture. My white nieces who have attended a private conservative christian school since they were very young use this same terminology. At the last family gathering I heard one of them say to the other, "You do you, boo," and thought I was going to lose my mind right then and there. This video got an immediate like and subscribe. I started ballet at the late age of 14 back in 1995. I danced six days a week all throughout high school and then two or three days a week through college and into my mid-twenties. I was away from it for over a decade coming back at 36. I'm now 43. I often find myself longing for the respectful and disciplined classes of my youth. The difference between 2005 and 2024 seems surreal at times.
I found this video and saw "4y ago" and sighed thinking "man, a great channel and I'm late to the party, she probably doenst post anymore" so Imagine my delight to see you are still uploading, its like finding a treasure trove of knowledge delivered in such a clear way, youre awesome!
aw, i'm so glad this s helpful! i still post when i can. but currently, i work a ton and don't have many days off. as of right now, i'm lucky if i post even 1x a month! but i'm still around, and still teaching. just busy, and i can't prioritize youtube like i used to!
@SaltySugarPlum I follow some people who seem to only post once or twice a year and even then it's worth the wait! Besides I have a lot of your videos to catch up on. Your upload rate is very impressive though for balancing work with RU-vid, so kudos! It can't be easy! (Especially being ballet centered lol)
@@SaltySugarPlumI recently switched from Nikolay to Virtisse Violette and haven’t looked back. I would love to hear what shoes you got or see a follow up video. Thank you for making this video!
Your videos are exceptional. Really fantastic. So clear in instruction and helpful for all level of dancers . Good clean technique. A true artist and brilliant educated instructor. Your body and lines are aspirational. You remind me of the Louise Brooks quote "if you want to learn how to act look at a dancer, and to dance an actor" You have totally grasped and honed your craft. Hope to see you perform when you are next in production. ❤
Awesome explanation. I started taking a once a week class a couple months ago. We had a substitute teacher for one class and she gave us center combinations with a ton of pas de boureé. I couldn't stop getting tripped up. Glad i found this video
I'm from Brazil and I wanted to thank you for the video and the subtitles. I finally managed to understand my legs. I thought I would need to keep my heels apart in first position. And I also didn't know how to put the patellas up. Once more, thank you!
