This unique book gives you the extra help you need to get strong enough for pointe work. It includes lots of exercises, divided into four simple stages to work on; the flexibility of your feet and ankles, the strength of your little foot muscles, your turnout and your core control. It also guides you through tests for each stage so that you can work out where you problem areas are! This book is essential for any student preparing for, or already on pointe, and any teacher wanting to learn more about safely preparing students for the most beautiful of dance forms!Stage 1 - Fabulous FlexibilityThe first stage includes tests and exercises to make sure that your feet into the best possible position for pointe work. Some people will find this stage easy, others will find it much harder. No matter where you start, the easy exercises and stretches in this section will help you get a great looking pointe. Stage 2 - Marvelous MusclesHere you learn about all the different muscles in your feet, and why it is important to get the right ones strong! Mastering the fine control of your toes helps prevent blisters on the toes, as well as overuse problems in the shins. This stage will transform how you work with your feet forever. Stage 3 - Terrific TurnoutGetting onto pointe is not all about your feet. Find out how to find your true turnout muscles and make them stringer so that you don

What took place on the first world cruise on RMS Carinthia in 1925-26 that has remained a secret for so long? Authorities have hidden the identity of the wealthy murderer for nearly 100 years. Why? Wealthy, kind, generous, and handsome, are words used to describe the killer by his fellow passengers. How could such dark secrets about a murderer be kept from everyone on board, including the woman he fell in love with and married while on the world cruise?Learn about life on board the luxury liner in 1925 and meet the people who traveled together for five months, unaware of the danger posed by their fellow passenger, Davie Tidwell. Meet Davie's wife Margaret. Will she ever discover his dark secret? Meet some of the other passengers on the Carinthia world cruise. The retired judge from Wyoming and his charming wife play bridge with the murderer. The drug merchant from Denver and the oilman from Texas become friends with the murderer and join him most evenings to play poker. The couple from Toronto who sell Russian furs and the wealthy farmers from California explore exotic ports with him. Everyone likes Davie, but no one is aware of his dark secrets. Will one of his new friends become his next victim?

A reckoning with one of our most beloved art forms, whose past and present are shaped by gender, racial, and class inequities—and a look inside the fight for its future Every day, in dance studios all across America, legions of little children line up at the barre to take ballet class. This time in the studio shapes their lives, instilling lessons about gender, power, bodies, and their place in the world both in and outside of dance. In Turning Pointe, journalist Chloe Angyal captures the intense love for ballet that so many dancers feel, while also grappling with its devastating shortcomings: the power imbalance of an art form performed mostly by women, but dominated by men; the impossible standards of beauty and thinness; and the racism that keeps so many people of color out of ballet. As the rigid traditions of ballet grow increasingly out of step with the modern world, a new generation of dancers is confronting these issues head on, in the studio and on stage. For ballet to survive the twenty-first century and forge a path into a more socially just future, this reckoning is essential.

Presents an overview of pointe technique and pointe shoes, with basics of pointe readiness, current research on best design for pointe shoes, materials, suppliers, and information on pointe-related injuries and remedies.

Grosse Pointe is one of the oldest communities in the Midwest, dating back to the mid-1600s. Its history tells a classic American story of the transformation of Native American hunting grounds to the fertile farms of European settlers to an affluent suburb that grew with fortunes of industrialism in the 20th century.

Speak meets Black Swan in this stunningly dramatic debut novel All that drama, plus pointe shoes? Yes, please: this is one book that’s bound to make a splash Theo is better now. She’s eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and his abductor. Donovan isn’t talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn’t do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she’s been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse.

The story begins as the gardener digs up a skull buried in the yard of a lakefront mansion in Grosse Pointe. The police are called, and the investigation begins of a murder that was committed over forty years ago. The investigation expands as more victims are identified. A pointe system, used until the late 1960s to exclude certain people from Grosse Pointe, is used by the murderer to identify victims. The killer feels a need to "clean house" and return Grosse Pointe to its pristine past. Meet some of the interesting people who have lived in Grosse Pointe over the past seventy years. One of them could be the murderer. Crash Chandler, the distinguished owner of the house where the skull was found and his companion, the former housekeeper, Celestine Jefferson. Crash's son, Charles, who is despised by everyone and his daughter, Victoria, who is respected and loved by all. Joyce Chandler, the brash wife of Charles, who comes from new money. Finally, meet the racist couple, Clive and Ella Stanton, who believe in the pointe system. The police team includes Matt Carson, a detective with a long and distinguished career, and his young partner Chris Gregory, who is working his first case since being promoted to detective. Matt is is 3rd generation cop, while Chris is from a wealthy Grosse Pointe family. While the story is a murder mystery, it is also a historical novel that covers the period from 1929 to the present in Grosse Pointe. Historical issues include how the community was restricted until civil rights legislation prohibited the practice, racism, and anti-Semitism.