Ballet: Those Awful Chicken Feet

There is very little I admire more than the athleticism, dedication, and incomparable grace of a ballerina. But the chicken feet! Pointe remains one of the most torturous sounding activities in the world and it just does not make sense to me.

Enviable grace, amazing port de bras... and then the feet
Leah  (c) Melissa Dooley; CC Attribution 2.0 License

Why I will always defend the "Sexy Side"

I don't own a single pair of clear heels. The stilettos I have are babied and would never come near my treadmill so they would never be part of my pole workouts or dancing either. Yet when I read about certain organizations trying to strip the sexy side away from pole I speak out. Go sanitize anything else you want but pole--there are so many reasons not to.

Heel use and pointing toes

Lately I've been trying to improve my stretching form and dismal toe pointing. My problem comes from my high heel addiction--except for the past few months I've worn high heels daily for a few years now (although I don't pole in heels). That's not to say I regret anything. I actually love the shape of my feet complete with the little side bump I've always had before "heeling" that some people call that funny word--bunion.

My toes pop up in a neutral position

It is, however, a problem for me when I stretch. Namely, foot cramps. Ow. I asked around in High Heel Place, a forum I love, and a friend confirmed what I suspected. The neutral position of my feet has gone from toes-to-the-floor to slightly raised. Very pretty, if you ask me, although I know a lot of you probably obsess over super pointes. I'm a little blasphemous--super pointed toes look like chicken feet to me, lol. I love the shape of feet in heels.

If you have this problem: Make extra sure you've warmed up very well, then ease into stretching. If you cramp up, go slower with your stretches and hold them for shorter periods of time and work back up. A great tip I received is to stand on the front of your foot to put pressure on the cramped spot. This also works great for late night foot cramps during pregnancy too.

From where I feel the stretch when I point my toes I think this is less of a problem related to the seemingly horrific shortened calves people always seem to be warning heel wearers about. It's actually localized to the middle top of my feet. Without pointing the rest of my foot I can feel a stretch when I point only my toes. Yeah, I really do wear heels that much. I actually only own one pair of non-heel shoes: my running shoes. High heel wearing has improved my balance to a degree that I can easily navigate lawns, escalators, and even the glare ice we get in the winter here. Curiously, I've always been a klutz barefoot or in flat shoes.

I'm not going to stop wearing heels, much to the chagrin of some, although I will wait until my balance is back to normal to go back to heels. Heels really are not the evil of the world and even have a bit of a power element to them--it's all in the height, the glamour, and the authoritative clicking. I will definitely keep on stretching!

Weekend Crush: Karol Helms

I'm not exactly sure what it is about Karol Helms. She is just irresistibly sexy--yes, the fans (more on this in bit), garters, and hot fishnets help, but there is something more. Her style is very different from my own in a way that makes me want to go dye my hair red and buy a slinky corset. Maybe it's her enviable strength, sexy flow, or her athletic legs?

One of my favorite tidbits about Karol is that she started out with the fuzzy YouTube videos of beginner moves like anyone else might. She has a whole tutorial section, definitely a godsend for those of us who learn exclusively from home. Someone (I wish I could remember who!) on StudioVeena once mentioned there