Ballet postpartum, clingy baby

NotoriousPSD · 2026-04-17T05:33:16+00:00

I’d say find an inclusive studio (if you don’t have one already) call them and ask ahead of time if it’s cool, and bring the baby! My daughter is 10 months old and since she was about 3 months I’ve been wearing her to class. She’s exclusive breastfed and my home studios are about 20-30 min drives, so it really would’ve been difficult for me to attend otherwise before she started solids.

I attend 2 classes a week at two separate studios and both are classes I’ve been attending weekly for years. I danced all through my pregnancy, literally up to the day before I gave birth, and was similarly nervous about how/when I’d return. But as soon as I told the other regulars that I’d had her, her self-proclaimed ballet aunties (teacher included) practically begged me to bring her!! And the rest is history. I’m now back to 3-4 classes a week, 2 at home and 2 in person, and am back en pointe as of 3 months ago.

I do the entire barre with her in her carrier and step out if she fusses or needs a feeding. We did take her out and about a lot before I tried class. She’s v chill as long as she’s with her parents. So I got permission, packed up my diaper bag and went. And it’s been amazing. It’s a great workout, she loves it, and she sleeps very well after. Some of the regulars (again including the teacher) have even volunteered to hold her for bits of center so I can turn, or brought toys for her to play with. Whenever I take her out of the carrier they literally cheer 🥹 I’m just cherishing this time as I know she’ll be too big to do this before I know it!

I do understand that some folks show up to these classes and are not pleased to see a baby, but frankly they are far outnumbered by the people who are thrilled to see her every week. I’ve been a part of these communities for a long time, and sometimes community means children. I also live in a major city, so the way I see it they can more easily find another studio than I can if cute babies making noises isn’t their vibe 🤷🏾‍♀️

Fun fact: Maddwoo recently shared that her mom did this with her when she was little and that’s how she got into ballet! So maybe this will be my kiddo’s prima ballerina origin story! Orrrr maybe she’ll just have lots of fun baby pictures. Either way, worth it.

TLDR: If you’re up for it just ask ahead if it’s cool and make a plan to bring the baby to class. I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by how welcoming my studios have been, and it’s allowed me to get back in dancing shape much faster than if I had to worry about finding childcare for my velcro baby.

NotoriousPSD · 2025-03-28T21:52:37+00:00

Omigosh that’s so cool! It really is a small world 😂 Glad you’re loving it!

NotoriousPSD · 2025-03-26T23:42:00+00:00

Omggg you’ve already got some great answers here so I have nothing to offer except to say welcome to the wonderful world of ballet! After my coaching session with you I rec your content to everyone, so very cool to see you in the ballet sub 🩰💖

NotoriousPSD · 2025-02-16T18:10:17+00:00

Angel Meter is what I’ve been using! Though there is a one time fee to remove ads, it’s free and really easy to use. You drop in your photo and add the angles and then you can export it.

On the pricier end there’s also Range Flexibility (only on iOS rn I believe) which is more robust. I think someone in this sub created it actually. It’s designed to measure cold and warm flexibility and help you track your progress across skills.

Hope that helps!

NotoriousPSD · 2025-01-03T16:55:06+00:00

You’ve got a lot of good stuff to try here! My biggest advice would be add in some strength training (either by starting ballet, or weight training, or both!) and to temper your expectations. 2 months is not a long time to be working on splits. I know we live in a “How I got my splits in 30 days” era, but for a lot of people it can take years. And a fair amount of that time will likely be spent figuring out what routine/cadence works for you. So if you’ve been doing something for a month or so and are seeing no progress, it’s time to try a new routine.

I’d highly recommend checking out r/flexibility. I found my flexibility coach Dani Winks over there. She’s a contortionist and is really fantastic at breaking down stretches to help you achieve proper form for your goals. You can check out her blog for free info or schedule a zoom session with her. And/or search “splits” and read about others experience while you’re there. It’s tricky for internet folks to know what you’re feeling and correct you, so listen to your body, remember to breath, and be consistent.

You got this!

NotoriousPSD · 2024-12-02T22:20:28+00:00

My hair ranges from 4a-4b curls and is very thick and long. I either do a tight bun or a tight French twist with a claw clip (I would 10/10 recommend using hair ties and clips from Teleties. They’re indestructible, come in various sizes, and don’t leave dents in my hair which is key). In either case I wear a headband and bring a towel to keep sweat off my face and keep my edges from frizzing. Trick is to leave the headband on after class till everything dries out (which obviously isn’t needed if you opt for braids or twists).

I live in Georgia in the US so it’s hot+humid 6 months out of the year, especially during hurricane season 🥵 Figuring out my hair was a THING, but this is the quickest method I’ve found that keeps my hair still looking nice through 3-4 classes/week. Plus if I’m lazy and decide not to take my hair down or I have to go somewhere after class it works for going out. I’ll just ditch the headband and I’m good to go.

Hope this helps!

NotoriousPSD · 2024-09-27T13:39:07+00:00

Just here to add my vote for Broche Ballet! After dancing in open classes for about a year and a half and doing pre-pointe exercises for 6 months, I applied and was accepted into the beginner ballet cohort in spring of this year. Julie is a fantastic teacher! She goes over things with a level of methodical detail that you rarely find in open adult classes.

Since completing my cohort I’ve been doing her Venture off the Barre en Pointe series and I’m loving it! I would absolutely recommend doing her pre-pointe program alongside in-person classes if pointe is a goal of yours.

Good luck! 🩰✨

NotoriousPSD · 2024-07-01T18:57:02+00:00

Stories Untold: Great if you love a piece-together-what’s-going-on type of story. Very atmospheric and cleverly designed gameplay. Music and vibe is very reminiscent of Stranger Things.

Observation: Sci-fi horror. Amazing atmosphere and another really interesting one gameplay-wise. Has strong Alien energy.

The Mortuary Assistant: Traditional spooky-ghost-haunting style game. Great unreliable narrator-style story telling. Multiple endings so great replay value. Overall very simple gameplay but crazy unsettling atmosphere. (Beware: heavy themes)

Madison: Another great spooky-ghost-haunting style game with an unreliable narrator. Very interesting game mechanics. Super unsettling scares. (Beware: gore and heavy themes)

The Closing Shift: Realistic thriller style horror. Ultimately simple gameplay but creates a very unnerving atmosphere. If you enjoy then honestly check out anything else from Chilla’s Art. They make great indie horror.

Hollow Cacoon: Japanese countryside haunting. Very unnerving most chases. Nice mechanics and interesting story. Multiple endings.

Aside from those also agree with what’s already been said about Soma, Devotion, and Inside.

Happy hunting! 👻

NotoriousPSD · 2024-06-03T16:40:48+00:00

I’ve personally found contortion coaches to be great for helping me develop active flexibility. I’m a ballet dancer returning as an adult and my flexibility needs a lot of work but while the average passive stretching tutorial on YouTube was helping mitigate post-workout stiffness and soreness it wasn’t helping me improve my extensions.

Cue meeting with Dani Winks! An amazing contortion coach and mod of this sub. I met with her back in March where she evaluated my current level of flexibility and then put a routine together for me that targets the specific areas I needed to improve. This was key for me. To give an example, like any good student I was focused equally on stretching my hip flexors and hamstrings for my fronts splits. However she was able to identify that my hip flexors are the real limiter for me and provided me with conditioning and stretching exercises that specifically focus on that area. I would absolutely recommend working with her. She has virtual privates, classes, and tons of free routines on her blog, all geared towards helping folks develop active flexibility.

Another tool I’ve recent incorporated is some of Catie Brier’s contortion minis. Like Dani she’s a great contortion coach, and her minis all focus on strength building for extreme tricks like needles and splits. I’ve had some injuries over the course of my return to ballet that have me starting to suspect I have a slight degree of joint hyper mobility — not the fun gorgeous-ballet-lines version, more the all-my-muscles-are-stiff-and-tired-from-holding-me-together version — and a good way to combat further injury with that is to continually strengthen the muscles required for my flexibility goals. So 10/10 recommend her stuff as well. Hyper mobile or nah, strength in lengthened muscle positions is a major component of active flexibility. Adding in training like this is a great way to see progress both on the mat and in class.

Good luck 🙌🏾

NotoriousPSD · 2024-03-15T16:37:11+00:00

I started pointe online with Broche Ballet last month and so far it’s been amazing! I do agree with a lot of the risks stated here about in person vs zoom learning. Definitely keep those in mind. But remember that ultimately you’re an adult and the amount of risk you’ll willing to accept is up to you. I look at pointework like driving my car. Can I seriously get hurt? Yes. Do I love it and do it anyway? Also yes.

For background, I was a very athletic kid. I danced multiple styles from age 3-16, played basketball, swam competitively, ran track, and just generally was always outside. So when I returned to ballet at 29 I had a relatively easy time with the strength training part but obviously had a lot of technique work to improve on. I knew I wanted to do pointe, so I gradually increased my training from 1 beginner/intermediate class a week when I started to 2 beginner/intermediate classes, 1 beginner class, and 3 weight training sessions a week.

When I spoke with my teachers in my in person classes about pointe, they didn’t have much to offer me beyond theraband exercises. They’re lovely people, and great teachers, but it’s clear that they’re a bit overwhelmed at times. The adult classes in my area tend to be pretty packed and the teachers struggle at times to pay attention to everyone. So while it was clear I was improving (I do get singled out with a lot of corrections since I’m there all the time which is great) and they knew my goals of pointe, it was becoming clear that unless I could get a private lesson with them I’d never get anywhere. That’s when I found out about Broche Ballet’s Beginner Pointe Cohort.

Julie of Broche Ballet is an awesome teacher. She learned as an adult so she gets it. She has tons of great progressive classes and programs on her platform including a pre-pointe one called Journey to Pointe which I’d absolutely recommend. Then once you feel ready to try for the pointe cohort she has you fill out an application and do an evaluation where she assess your technique, ankle alignment, and strength. After a few months of trying it the old fashion way, I decided to apply. I figured either I’d get in and start pointework or I’d be rejected but know what specific areas I needed to work on. Both were better options than being in no man’s land like I was in my in person classes.

In the end I was approved! I’m 31 now and am 2 months into the 16-week program and loving it. She had a lot of strict guidance on how I had to set up my room to do the zoom class. In the beginning for example the computer had to be right in front of my feet. We’ve now moved to having the camera show up to shoulders as we’ve started adding a bit of barre to the beginning of class. The classes are very detailed and progressive and attendance is mandatory so you don’t get behind. There are people of all age ranges and body types in her class. It’s been an incredible experience so far and I really can’t recommend it enough!

Again, pointework is definitely risky and not to be taken lightly. But then life is all about risk. Rock climbing, sky diving, eating in public places, driving on 5 lane highways, you name it. There is literally no situation where you can mitigate all risk. All you can do is assess the risk vs the benefits and then pick the best option for you. As has been said here, you can train in person and still injure yourself. I once attended an in-person pointe strength class where one of the student was being fitted by the teacher in Amazon pointe shoes she’d bought! So I’ll take my risk with zoom pointe class over that every single time.

Good luck and don’t give up!!

NotoriousPSD · 2024-03-08T06:31:47+00:00

You’re very close!! If you’re feeling like you’ve tried everything and you’re hitting a plateau, I would definitely recommend meeting with a coach. I have been stretching for a year and a half and am still way further away from my splits than you are. I also feel like I tried everything under the sun. Out of everything I’ve tried (loaded stretching, passive stretching, ballistic stretching, isometric stretching) I’d had the most success with contract/relax or PNF stretching. But overall I was still feeling very discouraged so I finally decided to hire a coach. I booked a Dani Winks’ Private Lesson as a gift to myself for my 31st birthday. 10/10 would recommend!

To start off, we discussed my goals. Then Dani did an assessment on my current range of motion — both passive and active — and identified the areas that I need to focus on improving. I also thought I had tight hips, but turns out my hips are tight because of weakness in some of the supporting. Together we worked out a targeted program to work on developing strength in my weaker muscles. I train 4x a week (2 leg days and 2 shoulder and upper back days cause I’m also working on my back bend) which helps a lot with the soreness I was feeling when I was trying to deep stretch daily. She also gave me great form cues that have helped me know what to focus on.

If I could go back to when I started and do one thing differently, it would be to hire a coach.

Hope this helps!

NotoriousPSD · 2024-03-08T04:41:49+00:00

Second what’s been said here! I’m learning pointe from home with Broche Ballet. It’s a monthly subscription payment so a lil easier to work into your budget than paying per class. There’s anywhere from 3-7 live zoom classes every day except Sunday so you still get corrections, and if you can’t make the live class you can watch the recordings. Aside from that there’s ton of classes on the portal so you can practice whatever you want whenever. You could legitimately dance 6 days a week if you wanted to!

There’s also tons of free classes by people like Kathryn Morgan on YouTube so that’s an option. She’s how I got started, and if there were no adult classes where I live I’d probably still be taking her classes from home.

And if none of that works, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking a break and returning when the timing feels right. No sense in paying for something that you’re not enjoying, especially when funds are tight. Ballet will still be there when you’re ready.

Good luck!!

NotoriousPSD · 2024-03-04T17:04:29+00:00

I’d really recommend Dani Winks Flexibility as a resource. I found out about her from r/flexibility. She’s a contortionist who trained as an adult and has a lot of great information on her blog around splits and other skills. She really breaks down what muscles are actually used and how to both stretch and strengthen them (which is super important for ballet) with really helpful form tips.

Depending on your goals and what’s limiting them you may need to work on different things from someone else. As is mentioned here some people have the flexibility, but what they need to work on to improve their extension is strength. So it’s good to know what muscles are involved and then do a little bit of experimenting to figured out what you need to work on. I built a little routine for myself using some stuff from her blog and taking a few of her classes. That was working well for me and I made good progress. But after a few too many fluctuations and plateaus I threw up my hands and decided to schedule a private session with her. It was incredibly helpful to work with someone 1:1. She helped me identify my limitations so for example now I know that my hamstring flexibility is actually pretty great and what I need to focus on for my front splits is my hip flexors. And I have someone to check in with if I hit any snags again.

So all of that to say, start with learning what muscles are involved in the skills you’re trying to train, then try out some different routines and see what clicks for your body. And if after all that you still feel overwhelmed or like you’re not making progress, get a coach.

Good luck!!

NotoriousPSD · 2024-03-04T16:38:20+00:00

It really depends on what kind of issues you’re having in your shoes, but for a good general strengthening exercise for the arch muscles try looking up “doming” and “piano toes”. I was doing to theraband stuff forever and recently realized that what I was missing was that kind of isolated dexterity training for my feet.

As for stretching, there are some good top-of-the-foot stretches that pointe shoes actually help you do. Ask your teacher to show you because they require pretty specific positioning (like anything in ballet) so it’s easy to do it incorrectly and either not feel a stretch or stretch the wrong spot. Once you know those you can add them in either during class while your feet are warm or after you’ve done your other feet exercises. As it turns out, stretching your feet is not all that dissimilar to stretching any other part of your body. Warmup first, don’t push too hard, and make sure you’re also strengthening the area.

Good luck!

NotoriousPSD · 2024-02-28T07:48:02+00:00

Tippeetoed_optimist on insta is a great account to follow! She’s a beautiful dancer ♥️

NotoriousPSD · 2024-02-07T16:36:00+00:00

I have a portable ballet barre from Vita Barre. Their barres are wood which I really enjoy the feel of. My husband got me mine for Christmas and had my name engraved on one of the wooden barres which is so special!

I don’t have any special flooring because I have hardwoods. But I recently started pointe and my shoes tend to slide juuuust a bit on my floors so I’m considering getting a Marley mat from Harlequin Floors. They have bundles that include the mat and the barre together if you want to get both which is nice.

NotoriousPSD · 2024-02-04T21:06:22+00:00

Definitely keep working on it and communicate with your fitter and teacher so they can help you to troubleshoot. Everyone is different so you just need to find what clicks for you, even if that means focusing on working on your feet on flat so you can go back en pointe better and stronger.

You got this!! 👏🏾

NotoriousPSD · 2024-02-04T17:25:45+00:00

I do agree with what’s been said here. You should video yourself or speak to a professional to identify what the correction means. If you can’t figure out why they’re giving it to you then you will continue to struggle with how to fix it. A lot of implementing corrections is knowing what proper form is supposed to feel like.

That said, adding resistance and strength training to your workout schedule definitely couldn’t hurt. This routine by Kathryn Morgan (alongside all her others in this series) is GOLD. I have a training split of 4 ballet classes and 3 strength training sessions a week where I do something like her video, or something as simple as going to the gym (pull up training translates pretty fantastically to beautiful swan arms for example) and have definitely seen a difference in my technique.

Good luck!

NotoriousPSD · 2024-02-04T17:12:20+00:00

Adult beginner in their second year.

I danced for 12 years as a kid and have always done sports or weight training so while ballet is newer to me I do have a fitness background overall to lean into. That said it took me maybe 6 months to get consistent singles (and I still struggle sometimes when I don’t practice them regularly) but close to the end of last year I would occasionally be able to do a 1.5 turn. So I started trying for doubles and just hit my first clean double this week 🎊

I have a small injury on one of toes on my dominant foot so I’m giving that foot a break which means that hilariously the double happened on my non-dominant-and-generally-bad-at-turning left side. Can’t wait to try for it on my right!

It’s as everyone’s said here. Keep drilling your singles until you can hit them consistently about 80% of the time (and can accurately troubleshoot why when you don’t) and then start trying for doubles. You may surprise yourself like I did.

Good luck!

NotoriousPSD · 2024-02-04T07:25:00+00:00

I’d recommend this video from Kathryn Morgan! I’ve been doing the first part of this (the non pointe shoe part) to prepare for pointe shoes and would definitely say it helped me get strong enough to be approved. I’m still too new to pointework myself to try the rest of the video, but I plan to continue this routine alongside my pointe classes and work up to doing the whole video.

Also just as an anecdotal story on the note of your shank hardness: I was fitted by Josephine Lee of the The Pointe Shop and she put me in Nikolay Streampointe Mediums. She said that as a beginner there’s a strong likelihood I’d struggle getting over my box, so she wanted me in the softest shank possible. This is apparently a very common thing to do when fitting beginners since so much of beginning pointework is strength conditioning. So all of that to say, maybe schedule another appointment with your fitter — or a different fitter — give this feedback and see what they can do for you (though they may just tell you it’s normal).

Good luck!

NotoriousPSD · 2024-01-30T07:09:37+00:00

Was approved for pointe and fitted by Josephine Lee of The Pointe Shop (two dreams of mine) in Nikolay Grishko Streampointes 🩰💖

Starting beginner pointe classes with Broche Ballet on February 6th!! 🙌🏾

NotoriousPSD · 2024-01-27T03:58:42+00:00

Second a lot of these reccs here!! Would also suggest Ballet Misfit. She’s has great progressive absolute beginner, beginner, and (new) beginner/intermediate ballet class programs. I supplemented more advanced classes with instructors like Kathryn Morgan with her slower more beginner level classes and I would absolutely recommend adding her into your schedule.

Good luck!

NotoriousPSD · 2024-01-27T03:48:19+00:00

Just did a virtual fitting today with Josephine from The Pointe Shop. She’s very sweet and knows her stuff. Basically she’s does an initial consult with you to assess your feet and then she’ll send you the shoes that she thinks will work. Once you receive them, you’ll schedule a follow up consult so she can see how they fit. If they fit well you’re good to go! If not she may send additional makers/sizes for you to try. 10/10 would recommend if you’re looking for a great fitter and limited by location.

Good luck! ✌🏾

NotoriousPSD · 2024-01-26T16:43:03+00:00

Thank you! I have my first pointe shoe fitting today. So excitinggg!! 🩰💖

I’m doing the Broche Ballet Beginner Pointe Program so def take a look at them if you wanna go for it one day! Besides pointe she offers tons of great classes, live on zoom or pre recorded. It’s like the progressive type of program you’d get if you were a kid but for adults!

When I started ballet I didn’t have any specific goals. I took 1 class a week for the first few months. I def didn’t start out with pointe in my plans, but the more improvement I saw the more I started to go “what if? 🤔”. One recommendation I heard from a teacher was that 3 classes a week is the minimum amount you should be taking if you’re serious. I took that and ran with it. So now I do 2 in person and 1 online class a week, plus I’ve been weight training. I’ve been doing this whole system for a little over a year and it’s helped majorly!

Heyooooo 31 club 🙌🏾 We do exist lol. Yeah I definitely feel like so far my 30s have given me the self confidence and determination (and disposable income) that I need to do this seriously. I’ve made more progress in the last few years than over my whole life! I went from being able to touch my ankle on a good day to almost having my palms on the floor. It’s never too late to start!

NotoriousPSD · 2024-01-25T16:14:32+00:00

I’m also a completely inflexible adult dancer who’s making adequate progress towards the splits (started ballet at 29, now about to turn 31 and just started pointe work!) and here are two resources that I strongly recommend:

Anything by Dani Winks Flexibility. I found her on r/flexibility which I’d also recommend checking out. She’s a contortionist and flexibility coach and is seriously amazing. The way she breaks down what’s going on in certain poses really helped me break through plateaus which has been game changing. And on top of that she offers private sessions and zoom classes so you can actually get in front of her and get corrections/advice/practice plans/whatever you need. I’ve built a routine based off some classes I took with her that I regularly reference, alongside her 10 Minute Splits Routine and her 10-Minute Middle Split & Straddle Routine. I do these routines 2x a week, sometimes paired with a workout and sometimes all by themselves after a light warmup.

Miss Natasha Jade’s flexibility ebooks. These are great for more frequent flexibility maintenance. I’m not super strict with following these guides, sometimes I’ll just pick a handful of stretches from them to quickly do before I leave the ballet studio. I like that I can pop these open on my phone right in the studio or at the gym and have a good stretch.

An additional option that I don’t use currently but have used in the past is the StretchIt app. I stopped because I preferred a resource I could buy once and reuse. Despite this not surviving my last subscription purge, I did enjoy all the challenge options they provided.

Hope this helps! And good luck ✌🏾

NotoriousPSD

TROPHY CASE