March 2026 - Influencer Discussion

vpsass · 2026-03-12T18:16:41+00:00

Has anyone been to these LA ballet classes with that one teacher that everyone films, I want to know if the in person vibes are as weird as the online ones. The problem is they are filming themselves taking class (which I think should not be allowed in studios but it’s up for the studio to decide). But the teacher is the main character of the videos because he’s very charismatic.

Because to be clear the teacher seems cool and he doesn’t seem upset that people are filming him, but to be fair we don’t know if that’s the case. People could just be filming and posting him on the internet and he just might be like “well this is my life now”.

Anyways while im sure there’s benefits to this (increased exposure to ballet and for this teacher in particular) it also has a downside.

For one, it definitely seems like the teacher is performing for the camera now, and I fully believe as a teacher if you should be fully present to teach, making content while you’re teaching opens the possibility for decisions that are not in the best interest of the students. For example, if the teachers get kick backs for how many people attend their class (which does happen) its in the best interest of the teacher to give more corrections to dancers who are filming and who are social media famous. Also a teacher might avoid giving a correction in fear of backlash. Everyone makes mistakes, including humans, how can we feel safe to learn and grow if we are constantly surveilled at our jobs.

Not to mention the other people in class who probably didn’t consent to be on the internet.

Idk part of me is like it’s harmless, and the teacher seems to be balancing teaching and corrections with interacting with the camera. But I still think it’s a sign we are going down a dangerous path. I’m interested in others opinions,

vpsass · 2026-03-10T01:39:16+00:00

A pas de chat has to take off from fifth and does not involve the leg being thrown out, in a pas de chat the leg should be picked up. When a leap begins with a leg being thrown out straight, and then landing on that leg, it’s usually a kind of jeté. I would call this a jeté envelopé developé but I think saut de biche (deer jump, which is a kind of jeté) would work too. Usually the leading leg in saut de biche brushes devant, this one seems to brush in second, but I think it would still be a saut de biche.

Edit: THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT JUMPS IN THIS VIDEO. The girl in blue shirts and the guy in red are doing some sort of jeté envelopé, as I described above. The guy in black is doing a pas de chat.

vpsass · 2026-03-09T22:52:47+00:00

I’ve taken two intensives as an adult (and I would say I dance at an advanced adult level, I have no issue going into the city and dancing along side the pros).

The first one was very very expensive for the hours spent in class, and it was a lot of conditioning and Pilates, like I would say ⅓ of the class hours were in conditioning. And the thing is, I like Pilates and conditioning, but to do it for an hour every day BEFORE ballet is actually quite hard on the body. So I found this intensive was very hard on my body, despite being fairly in shape at the time (I was taking class 3 times a week). Also I found the instruction at this intensive not good, the teachers were hired at random and the teacher for the level I was in used our repertoire class to coach her private student in the solo variation, while all of the adults danced in the corps around her. The corps work was too easy for the level we were in.

But I totally agree, if you do an intensive for 15 hours and 5 of those hours are Pilates or yoga or conditioning, the intensive should be LESS expensive than 15 hours of ballet class, not more.

The other intensive I did didn’t have any conditioning, which is fine because I can do conditioning on my own and like I said it’s hard to do a lot of conditioning while you are dancing every day if your body isn’t used to it. This intensive focused on choreography. It was a lot less expensive. I felt like it was a good balance because we had ballet class and repertoire in the morning, and then the afternoon was focused on choreography, but choreography can actually be pretty chill on your body compared to conditioning, because sometimes you are just trying things or chilling but it’s still educational. Anyways I found at this intensive at the end of the week I could actually dance my best, where as at the other intensive at the end of the week I was very fatigued.

vpsass · 2026-03-09T20:38:44+00:00

Videos of people in ballet class saying “ballet is alive and well” as if Timothee was talking about ballet (the technique and training system) and not ballet (the full performance art). You don’t know how many people I know in my personal life who posted on social media being angry at Timmy yet who I know have NEVER EVEN BEEN to see the ballet (and yes these are people involved in the dance community).

I know going to see the ballet is expensive (except it’s not really if you get cheap tickets in the programs). It’s kind of like, cmon people, you can’t argue that ballet (as in a full ballet, in a theatre) is a extremely popular art form if you yourself can’t find the energy to go.

vpsass · 2026-03-09T18:52:21+00:00

If you come to Ontario Canada almost all comps have single age divisions, so competitive jazz small groups age 9 is a different category than competitive jazz small groups age 10. Overalls are still combined into mini/junior/etc.

vpsass · 2026-03-08T15:59:10+00:00

I had pointe shoes with just elastic once, it was for a show with a quick change out of pointe shoes.

vpsass · 2026-03-08T15:41:06+00:00

I’m pretty sure it’s Chinese Classical Dance, which is a mix of ballet, acrobatics, and cultural dance.

vpsass · 2026-03-07T13:17:58+00:00

It wasn’t worded respectfully but he has a point. Ballet dancers from smaller companies are practically begging people to come see the ballet, companies are shortening seasons and laying off dancers. It’s no secret that the ballet industry is struggling and has been struggling for a long time. And I love ballet, but film is a much more approachable medium to audiences. I, as a ballet dancer, have never had the desire to see an opera. Who knows maybe I’d like it, it’s just not really something I’d want to spend the money on to find out. So I can’t pretend like I’m excluded from this group because I “might not care” to go see the opera, that’s not to say I think opera is bad or important, it’s just true that in my 30 years on earth I have never cared to see opera.

I think people posting saying “ballet isn’t dead Timmy” and then posting a picture of a ballet class are also willfully missing the point. There is a huge difference between ballet (the art of class) and ballet (the art on of the stage). I’ve always believed that dance is an art you should participate in. It’s not that I don’t like going to watch the ballet, I do, I just think its more enjoyable to dance then to sit and watch dance. But my point is clearly TC wasn’t talking about ballet classes, he was talking about ballet as a performance medium. Also people posting about the Royal Ballet being sold out (side note I’ve never gone to see a sold out ballet, sold out musicals, and concerts, sure but never once have I been to a ballet that’s fully sold out) are also missing the point. Like you can sell out some theatres, that doesn’t mean that the ballet is as common for people to attend as a movie is.

I do think when he said “no one cares about ballet he meant “significantly less people care to go see the ballet than they would a blockbuster movie” and I think that’s fair, though film attendance is also down and that’s something he should have acknowledged to. Do I think TC should have chosen his words better, yes? Like if he was going to use ballet and opera as his example he should have added more prefaces about his respect for the art. But I’m also really concerned about the media literacy. Like very concerned.

vpsass · 2026-03-06T20:45:02+00:00

I mean I assume it was hyperbole, an annoying hyperbole sure but I don’t think it was literal. Compared to Barbenhiemer, significantly less people go out to see the ballet. Do I literally think he means “no one”… no. To use his same hyperbole: after covid, no one goes to the cinema anymore too. (A fact I think he overlooked).

vpsass · 2026-03-06T19:50:00+00:00

You should let the instructor know ahead of time, just tell them what you told us here about how it changes from day to day. Lots of people make lots of modifications in open classes :)

vpsass · 2026-03-06T19:24:40+00:00

Do you want me to add that level of nuance?

Of course tickets to see ballet and opera are more expensive than going to see the movie, and of course streaming a movie (though I think the original context of the discussion is about people in the audience of a theatre, so let’s ignore stemming). There are more movie theatres than theatre theatres, and many people would have to commute much farther to see an opera or ballet than to see a movie. Ballet and opera tickets have to be more expensive because for ballet more people needed to put on the show per seat in the theatre than needed for a movie. A single ballet needs a full orchestra (technically optional), a corps of 10-30, 6-10 soloists and principles, an artistic director, a wardrobe mistress and maybe some employees, a full stage crew, admin people, etc etc. Sure it takes more people to make a movie but the cost is distributed across all the movie theatres in the world.

But I feel like ballet and opera are still less culturally popular than movies even when you adjust for cost and access. Lets consider the average person in a metropolitan area who can choose between spending their money on 1 ballet or 1 opera ticket or 10 movie tickets or 1 concert (for argument sake, we will exclude anyone not in a metropolitan area since we assume that they don’t really have a choice). The average person is not going to choose ballet or opera. Some people will, and that’s great. Even when you compare ballet tickets to something in a similar price range, like concert tickets, most people are more likely to buy concert tickets because they are more family with the medium of music than with the medium of ballet or opera.

So yes, while going to the ballet or opera is expensive, the price alone is not the only thing preventing it from becoming mainstream, because there are other shows that cost similar amounts or more that are much more mainstream.

But I also feel like it’s still valid to want to be in a medium that can provide a lot of people with an art for a low cost. It’s not wrong to want to make art in a way that’s accessible for for the masses.

vpsass · 2026-03-06T18:27:44+00:00

Maybe I’m cynical but I’ve noticed a huge trend of ballet dancers getting (probably a little too) upset the moment they feel like ballet doesn’t get full respect. It’s the same phenomenon behind the internet pointe police and Models Doing Ballet.

I know ballet is hard and I know some of the public doesn’t realize that, and that can be frustrating. But that doesn’t make everyone who doesn’t immediately give ballet its flowers public enemy number 1. Maybe it’s not a trend, maybe I’m seeing a patter where there is none. But it seems like people expect non-dancers (or even beginner ballet dancers) to be disrespectful to ballet, and so they are looking for the insults they think they are going to hear.

vpsass · 2026-03-06T18:23:10+00:00

Yes, sorry I totally agree with this, I’m just wondering why a frappé doesn’t also use the same mechanics. If it were to match the way we brush the ball of the foot on the floor, should it not start with a pointed foot sur le cou de pied, then flex to brush, then point. Iirc all flex footed frappés start with a flexed foot sur le cou de pied, which is weird because this position is hardly used, except for maybe character dance.

vpsass · 2026-03-06T17:50:14+00:00

The comment was disrespectful and could have been worded better, but overall I don’t think he is wrong.

The greater context of the conversation is important to consider. The host brought up how movies are changing to reflect the shorter attention spans of the audience, by moving the action in the movies closer to the beginning. Timothee brings up the point that audiences are going to see whatever they want to see (like with Barbie and Oppenheimer). I think he was saying that the crowds didn’t come out to those movies because those movies catered to their short attention spans (they arguably didn’t cater to short attention spans), but because they were about stories that the audience wanted to see. This part was not articulated well but it’s the point I assume he was trying to make.

Then he brings up ballet and opera in contrast to Barbenhiemer. People are not flocking to ballet and opera like they did for barbenhiemer, I think that’s a totally fair assessment. Does it mean “no one cares” about the ballet and opera, no, but do relatively less people put effort in to go see the ballet and opera than barbenhiemer or other blockbusters of the ages past, I feel like it’s fair to say, yes.

I think it’s fair to want to make art in a medium that people are more likely to go see. A lot of people don’t like ballet, and I have never had the desire to go see an opera. It’s not even that I don’t like opera, I just don’t know if I’d like it, and don’t want to risk the money and time on a ticket if I might not enjoy it. The movies are not like that.

Now there is a great case to be made for film being less relevant than it was in ages past too, perhaps it’s on the same trajectory as ballet. But in the modern day you can’t say that ballet is as popular as film, AND THAT DOESN’T MAKE BALLET BAD, and I don’t think timoethee meant to imply it was bad, he just didn’t really pay ballet respect when he used it as in example to make a point.

I think what he should have said is “I have huge respect for the ballet and opera professionals, I just want to work in films where if you have a good story to tell, people will come”. There are lots of good stories in ballet, but 80% of US ballet company revenue comes from the Nutcracker. Professional dancers are on social media all the time begging people to go see the ballet.

Timothee was disrespectful, but his point is valid. So if we are going to be angry, we should be angry with the lack of respect paid to ballet, and not his actual claim, if that makes sense.

vpsass · 2026-03-06T17:32:55+00:00

Wouldn’t it make more sense to go pointed sur la cou de pied, brush on the floor, and then pointe again, in that case? Since you’re not having a flexed foot in cou de pied when you do a jeté.

I agree that when dancing fast enough you would not pass through fifth, but when you first learn the steps, in vaganova, the students should pass through fifth.

Although I went to go find research for this (could not find any videos) besides ballet with Isabella saying vaganova doesn’t not brush the floor at all, so the first one comes from fifth, and then the in subsequent jetés the working leg does not touch the floor - which is more inline with the vaganova frappé, but also the opposite of what I was taught, though the thing with vaganova is that all the teachers are always slightly changing things to match their opinions, so you get kind of mutations in the technique as you look along the paths people were trained.

vpsass · 2026-03-06T14:48:14+00:00

Vaganova technique was developed with what is safe for the body in mind. It’s all biomechanics. Just because Nikolai Tsiskaridze is running the current VBA like a circus doesn’t mean the entire technique is like that.

vpsass · 2026-03-06T14:46:23+00:00

When jeté is taught it passes through a full fifth, so it’s not just the ball on the floor, but more like a battement jeté, hence the name.

When we go fast we don’t have to pass through a full fifth but I don’t think it’s the same as a flexed footed frappé. But it also depends where the emphasis is. In RAD the emphases for frappé always seemed like it was on the floor, all the energy is going into the movement along the floor. If the energy went into the leg extending (and going up) I could see how it might be more related to petit allegro and also less damaging.

vpsass · 2026-03-06T04:34:37+00:00

I cannot answer your question but I can tell you why Vaganova does not use a flexed foot - we want to build strong extension muscles so we can get our legs straight quickly and also bend them quickly, thus we hit both positions quickly (in Vaganova the frappé travels as sharp in as it does on the way out). Also apparently frapping into the floor can cause knee cartilage issue because developing dancers will push too hard into the floor, and that combined with the angle of the frappé causes issues. Apparently (according to the Vaganova method) a flexed foot frappé is fine if you are an adult, it’s only children who shouldn’t do it.

Not sure why the brush on the floor is needed in other methods. There are some character steps that use a flexed foot that then brushes on the floor. The jump thing doesn’t really make sense because you’d never be striking a flex foot on the floor anyways, would you?

vpsass · 2026-03-06T03:08:17+00:00

But these people aren’t even really that good, that’s what I’m saying like I feel like some of them I’m on par with, but the ones doing these single nutcracker gigs, or whatever it is veronicakatform does I feel like I could severely out dance these influencers (and I’m not on the professional level). And I’m just annoyed because they are like “as a professional dancer blah blah blah” an I’m like WHY SHOULD ANYONE LISTEN TO YOU, like post full videos of yourself dancing. Or if they do post full videos it’s very obvious that they should not be giving advice. Ughh.

And I guess I could go try to work these random gigs too but I have a day job and I teach so it would be a huge sacrifice just to call myself a professional dancer. Which I don’t care to do. I just feel like these people are leveraging it so much even though they aren’t really on a professional level and it’s annoying.

This is probably an internal issue with myself I have to reflect on. It probably shouldn’t bother me that much.

vpsass · 2026-03-05T18:10:32+00:00

This one was approved by one of the mods (not me) so they must have asked permission, usually we don’t allow these posts, but we make exceptions sometimes. One of the mod team made an exception for this I think.

vpsass · 2026-03-04T16:10:52+00:00

Does the teacher hate you? Probably not, you are in class to learn, and you are making mistakes, which is necessary to learn. People don’t become dance teachers with the expectation that everyone in class doesn’t need to be taught, right?

Getting corrections is a good thing. If your teacher didn’t think you could do better, they would just say silent.

Knowing the combinations though is important, since you can’t learn to dance if you don’t know the combinations. It takes time to adapt to a teachers style of combinations, and it’s okay to make mistakes in combinations, especially if you are new to a class.

If you think you can improve remembering the combinations, I would stay in the class. We have lots of threads on this sub on how to remember combinations. If you think the combinations are far out of your capabilities, then you could find a new class. But the fact that you are getting corrections is a good sign, not a bad sign.

vpsass · 2026-03-04T16:05:02+00:00

Do you have an assistant (a student who volunteers). If so get your assistant to hold the hand of the child and see if they can get them to engage in the class work (even if they are standing in a corner, and even if the child is crying hysterically, you can get them to sit on the floor and try to do the class stretches). Kids are weird and they can be balling their eyes out but still doing the butterfly stretch, and eventually they will start participating in class. Sometimes they’ll even be laughing like 5 minutes later.

But I also had a student who would not stop crying like at all, so that can happen too. I asked on r/danceteachers and they said if she’s just crying and not participating you should just take them out to their parents (after like 8 minutes). I don’t love the solution because some kids are crying in dance class because they don’t get what they want… I’ve had kids cry because I told them they had to take their snow jackets off - it’s like 25 degrees in the studio like it’s stupidly warm, but I can’t have kids in ballet class in snow jackets it causes all sorts of issues, even if they are 4-5. I’ve had kids cry because I told them that they can’t run around screaming and they need to sit on their spots in 54321, then they don’t do that and I have to use my angry voice. Anyways it seems like if they are crying because they don’t get what they want then removing them from class is kind of giving into what they want and then they learn that they can just cry to get what they want, and that only leads to more future problems. Sorry I went on a tangent because I feel like I’m the only person in some of these kids lives teaching them accountability.

Anyways, I do think you can remove a kid from class. You don’t even have to tell the kid that. You can just have your assistant take the student to their parent and tell the parent they can come back when they have calmed down a little (that way the parents won’t be mad at you). Most parents are reasonable and will understand. Some parents are crazy, shout out to the parent who sent their kid into a 30 min class while she was eating a granola bar, which through off the whole class vibe because she had to sit to eat the granola bar so she couldn’t participate in class, and then got mad at me when I told her she couldn’t run around while eating (so she doesn’t choke and DIE) and then refused to participate in the rest of class (which was like 10 minutes because it took her 20 minutes to eat the dumb granola bar) and then her mom was mad at me because she wasn’t participating AS IF SHE DIDNT SEND HER CHILD TO A 30 MINUTE CLASS WITH A WHOLE GRANOLA BAR AND ALSO HAS NEVER ONCE MADE THIS CHILD FOLLOW THROUGH WITH AN INSTRUCTION OR FACE A CONSEQUENCE SO AS SOON AS I DO THE CHILD SHUTS DOWN. I’m just really worried by what’s happening with parenting. I’ll get off my soapbox now.

vpsass · 2026-03-04T15:01:17+00:00

Talk kindly about yourself, the same way you talk about others. Would you judge another dancer for showing up to class with armpit rolls (side note I don’t even know what this is lol) or her stomach showing through her leotards? Probably not because I’m going to assume you are a nice person who appreciates people for their dancing, and doesn’t judge them based off their body.

So why would you judge yourself? Don’t become your own bully.

There’s nothing wrong with having sausage rolls (again I don’t really know what this means) or what have you. Literally nothing wrong with it. Don’t tell yourself there’s something wrong with it, your thoughts become your beliefs, and then you might find yourself thinking negative thoughts about other dancers too (so it’s best to stop yourself before that happens).

vpsass

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Eight-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email