St Lucy’s invitational ballet summer intensive

Barre girls in tights before pas de deux class

The photo: A group of summer intensive students warming up before PDD class.

St Lucy’s invitational ballet summer intensive: We changed the format this year to draw participants only from ballet students 21 or older whose names were submitted by their teachers for their outstanding grace, technique, stamina and fearlessness. We had more than 450 submissions and had places for only 15, limited primarily by the number of professional male dancers suitable to be their partners and those 15 were on full scholarship (from my casino/resort) including meals, travel and medical expenses.

In addition to technique, pointe, PDD and mime we are offering ‘contemporary sexual health for the dancer’ for the first time this year as feedback questionnaires said given the opportunities offered while at our summer intensive a more complete foundation in contraception choices and their use would be helpful to first time students to the ballet summer intensive we offer here in Las Vegas.

Screening: All the students and faculty were required to bring recent full STI panels indicating that they are all free of STIs and all have completed their series of Gardasil shots. And the girls were given pregnancy tests upon arrival. Two failed and as they were both 21 were given the chance to terminate their pregnancy w/o their parent’s knowledge (the termination would have been covered by medical insurance through the scholarship) or return home. Both decided to return home – their mothers flew out to take them home - and two alternates were accepted in their places. We think what happened in both cases was the students were on very low dose estrogen/progestin pills and took weight loss pills to trim down for the SBI that speed up their metabolisms so the girls flushed the hormones through their bodies too quickly and the remaining levels weren’t sufficient to suppress ovulation. The literature we sent out in the spring when we selected them cautioned about taking weight loss pills if the student is on contraceptive hormones.

The weather: With the appearance of July it has turned very hot here in Vegas. The forecast is for temps from 111° F to 108° F thorough the weekend so latex catsuits, hoods and gloves are out except for in clubs with the a/c turned full on. Fortunately the practice clothes of thong-back tank top leos, bare legs and pointes in fully air-conditioned studios and encounter sallies are ideal for this weather. Tights are only worn and over leos, for PDD classes. We cautioned the BSI students to bring at least a dozen pairs of shoes as the students are expected to be in pointes for all classes as well as barre.

The Men: The men were chosen from recommendations to and personal knowledge of Willow, Jack’s 20 y/o daughter, who was in the corps of the Royal Ballet and had danced with the Paris Opera Ballet until last year. They were chosen not only for their ability as classical dancers, but physical strength, personality and sexual stamina. The sexual stamina is important during a Ballet Summer Intensive as students are far more likely to experiment sexually while away from home and with strangers and what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, we hope.

Some of the women students have much higher sex drives than others so a hyper-sexual girl can arrange to swap men with a girl with a lower libido to find a guy who can satisfy her more frequently. Performance enhancing meds are available to any man who asks. If he is on an enhancing med it’s usually his secret even though he’s expected to perform satisfactorily as frequently as four times a day for the entire 14 days of the course.

Protection for play: In my welcoming remarks to the girls during their orientation I suggested that they might want to try wearing Gaynor Minden pointes for play as they often provide better support and the shanks and blocks last far longer than pointes made of traditional materials. The only problem with GMs is that they don’t breathe, so are hot to wear and take longer to dry. We have taken care of the drying problem by providing drying boxes that circulate warm very dry air across sweat soaked shoes. Our GM representative fit them all with at least two pairs of shoes each, the cost of which is included in the scholarships.

I made it a point right up front that the students male partners were highly fertile and would be having sex with them unprotected unless the woman asked for him to wear a condom. So it is the responsibility of each woman to ask her partner to wear protection or use an effective contraceptive method and if there is any concern about a birth control failure the morning-after pill is available 24/7 at student health.

Also mentioned in my introduction to contemporary sexual health class is that if they wanted to experience dive-sex - and they all did - they would have to be fitted for a diaphragm to be used as flood insurance since the vagina commonly floods during underwater sex, so the diaphragm is used as flood insurance to prevent a partner’s thrusting penis from forcing water or an air bubble into the uterus which could cause PID or an embolism.  Fortunately they all use menstrual cups so were familiar with folding and inserting vaginal devices so none had an ‘ick-factor’ associated with using a diaphragm

Dive-sex was high on their list of recreational choices so no one had a problem with being fitted with a diaphragm and since only one woman (and no men) was allergic to latex Chris, our male Gyn, fitted them with the latex Reflexions flat spring style which is nearly impossible for a mischievous partner to under-thrust and showed them how to use the 10 ml prefilled disposable applicators of DiveGel+. The latex allergic student was fitted with a silicone Milex wide seal arcing spring diaphragm which, with its two elbow hinges, is the next best thing to a Reflexions for flood insurance.  As a confidence builder I have them all wear their diaphragms during ballet classes so they could get used to inserting, removing and moving with it inserted finding that once inserted and properly positioned they can’t feel them.

Toe-tape, the pointe-shoe club: Returning readers will recall that in my post for April 14, 2014 I introduced you to Toe-tape a new Mini-club, writing: “Our Casino/Resort has opened ‘Toe-tape’, a ballet club for adventuresome young women who want to show off their feet and legs for admiring men. I know the name sounds like it should be a Chick band, but we tested it and found it’s the sort of name that appeals to young highly motivated female dancers craving excitement.”

I’m introducing the BSI students to clubbing in pointes, where they can be admired by men with a pointe fetish. Having students 21 or older this year simplifies entertaining them on the clubs scene since I’m not trying to pass them off as older than they really are.  Their male BSI partners (English and French straight ballet dancers from major companies) are here as much for the sex as for what we are paying them and having them along gave the girls time to get to know the guys personally and sort out sleeping arrangements. We prefer that couples sleep in the dorm at St Lucy’s which has private rooms with full baths.  That way there is excellent security and it’s close to the studios.

Fourth of July celebration: Tomorrow evening Adolph has invited the BSI students and faculty to his 4^th of July party. He has promised to have no wood chipper within … well he said “nowhere near” the party so it should be safe enough. And the students will get to dive The Well, his 216 ft dive training facility. He has a net spread across it at 100 ft so none of the newbies to the facility can go deeper accidently.