written by Basheva  on 23.12. at 17:17:22

>Hi, I'm 15 1/2, I started taking ballet this fall. I absolutely love it and I want to take professionally...>Right now I'm taking class Tuesday's and Thursday's for 1 1/2 hours. I have a good teacher, but she is too fast for me and I don't think she teaches the movements very well. However, I live in a very small town and this is the only studio available. I was placed in Ballet 4, which is the beginning pointe class although I am not on pointe.>At the beginning of next semester (January), I want to take class Monday for an hour and a half, Tuesday for an hour and a half, and Thursday for three hours. I also have 3-4 intensives lined up for me in the summer that will take up all 10 wks. of summer. The next year I hope to spend half of the year taking about 6 classes in the city 45 mins away (I will be able to drive), and half of the year with a small pre-professional ballet company with a residency program. And that summer I want to take Intensives in NYC.>Is this enough to hopefully go on pointe next fall when I am 16? Is this enough to get into the pre-prof. company? Is this enough to consider going professional?>>ALSO ----> I stretch and dance a lot around the house, and I have noticed a lot of sudden pain in my ankles and feet. I have a short achilles, which I really try very hard to stretch out, and I have been working on my arches too. Sometimes I play around with my feet, b/c my toes are double jointed and I can stand on them when the tops are facing the floor. Is this bad for my feet? Is this a cause for concern? What should I do.>& are there any good motivational tips for aspiring dancers?>~*~*~***Smoothie Recipe***~*~*~*~>This is a combonation of two recipes I found. Usually tastes pretty good, like a strawberry-orange drink, feel free to play around with it.>"Tiger's Juice"  serves 1-2>high in protein, loads of vitamins/minerals/antioxidants, essential fatty acids, really good for you>First, take frozen strawberries or raspberries and heat them up in the microwave in a little dish, and then mush them up with a fork. This makes it easier on your blender and also gets more juice out of them. >Then, mix following in blender for a minute or two:>1/4 cup soy or rice milk>1 1/2 cups orange juice>A little squirt of honey>1 tablespoon aloe vera juice>1 small tablespoon brewers yeast>1 teaspoon green formulation>1 tablespoon raw, loose bee pollen* (opt.)>a few drops of vanilla extract>your mushy strawberries>serve right away, otherwise it will probably go bad in the fridge. Keep stiring it as you drink, it has a tendency to settle. the aloe vera juice, green formulation, and bee pollen are all have natrual healing properties and are great blood purifiers and vitamin/mineral sources. a "green formulation" is usually this powdery green stuff made from dried barley/other plant leaves that is made to add to drinks. you can find bee pollen, aloe vera juice, a green formulation, and brewers/nutritional yeast at any health food store.>OPTIONAL: add 1 tablespoon flaxseed oil, which will boost your intake of essential fatty acids. very good for dancers.>if you want to be certain I'm not poisioning you, check out the smoothie in "Feeling Light" (which is a weight-loss book, or you can check out their website), because thats were I got most of the weirder ingredients.