Darlene Parent skating en pointe

[Kateri]

Posting because I just came across this on tumblr, and I never saw it before, holy crap. HOW??

Darlene Parent skating en pointe

Does anyone know any more about her, beyond what the tumblr poster found out?

 

[Frau Muller]

WTF? Yuk. I’m sure that she was a lovely skater in normal blades.

 

[alexikeguchi]

Posting because I just came across this on tumblr, and I never saw it before, holy crap. HOW??

Darlene Parent skating en pointe

Does anyone know any more about her, beyond what the tumblr poster found out?

OMG, blast from the past! I learned to skate in the 1970s at Sky Rink, which was then the home of Skating Club of New York, and Darlene was a skating mom by that point. I remember her participating in shows and galas but don't think I ever saw her use these skates. Wow though.

 

[Theoreticalgirl]

Darlene was one of my coaches.

 

[just tuned in]

I would love to try this. As a former gymnast, now skater, I can never seem to get off my toes ...

 

[dds262]

I wonder why John Curry never looked into these? ( or maybe he did) due to his love of ballet and desire to bring classical dance to the ice.

 

[Tavi]

I wonder why John Curry never looked into these? ( or maybe he did) due to his love of ballet and desire to bring classical dance to the ice.

Because men don’t skate en pointe?

 

[dds262]

But he produced shows with women in them, I was not clear in that I was not referring to his own skating.

 

[Theoreticalgirl]

John was fully aware of Darlene's creation, obviously he chose a different approach.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Because men don’t skate en pointe?

Nor do they dance en pointe

 

[Tavi]

Nor do they dance en pointe

True, and probably what I should have said! Although strictly speaking, I think some guys do dance en pointe - in character roles, not to mention les Ballets Trockadero. And I’ve heard some guys use them in practice to strengthen feet and ankles. So.

It must be amazingly difficult, and it’s admirable that she was capable of doing it! But I think I prefer the two disciplines separate.

 

[deegee]

Nor do they dance en pointe

men do dance en pointe

 

[AxelAnnie]

men do dance en pointe

As anomalies..or special dan e
..but not as a matter of course. Probably more a as a matter of course. What would be accurate is:men have been known to dance en pointe.

The enchanted world of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream has inspired countless artists over the centuries, but one of its characters in particular has led to some highly creative responses. Deep in the magical forest, a villager, Bottom, is transformed into a donkey. Mendelssohn, in his music to accompany the play, depicts him with a sudden, jolting musical motif that seems to bray, just like a farmyard animal. And in Frederick Ashton’s ballet adaptation The Dream (which uses Mendelssohn’s score), the choreographer comes up with an even more remarkable way to illustrate the character: Bottom – a man – goes on pointe.

 

[Orm Irian]

Although strictly speaking, I think some guys do dance en pointe - in character roles, not to mention les Ballets Trockadero.

Dame roles are often danced en pointe, yes. Sir Robert Helpmann famously used to dance en pointe as one of the Ugly Stepsisters in Cinderella.