mission statement

In creating and developing the Adpad® I have tried to set about making a product to address some of my concerns regarding the uneven playing surface that has always existed in becoming a ballet dancer but that is also sadly on the increase.

I am fairly certain that I am running the risk of various Ballet Directors, Teachers and colleagues who if uninformed about the intention of the product will not understand. I feel it is a risk worth taking.

Having been a dancer with a Professional Ballet Company I have always possessed the knowledge that the industry has certain physical requirements. When I stopped dancing I was asked to teach and it has been during my time as a teacher that I have witnessed an increase in the amount of these purely physical attributes wanted by Employers. Indeed some Directors even refer to it as 'the look'. It seems all to easy for a Director to say today, 'She's a lovely dancer but I cannot employ her because her feet don't have the look that I want in my company.'

A would be dancer can work on most areas of their body's musculature including their feet to strengthen and try to obtain 'the look' required. Indeed I have taught some very determined and completely committed young dancers in the past only to see them fall at the final hurdle of obtaining a job because their feet, in the opinion of the Artistic Directors were not good enough.

Today some of the knowledge that I have gained about what Directors want both saddens and angers me. Saddens me because I wonder how many potentially gifted artists are being overlooked because they do not fit the seemingly infinite physical requirements. I have also in the past been angry with this, with particular regard to the feet because a dancer can improve the way their feet work by painstaking extra exercises in and out of class to develop the underneath of the foot. It is certainly not my intention that dancers should stop working on their bodies and feet in particular, to strengthen them. This product has been specifically designed for people who have little or no instep. Unfortunately it is a sad fact that in the past if you have not been blessed with a high instep there has not been a lot one can do. Until now that is.