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As a former dancer, Ive always tried to imagine which sport ballet might be comparable to, and the most I have been able to come up with is the marathon -- if the marathon required runners to be in character, with full makeup and smiling the entire time. Oh, and en pointe.And by en pointe, I dont mean perfect in the sense that my teenagers use the phrase today. Nope, by en pointe, I mean it in the true French sense of the word -- standing on the tips of your toes, separated from the floor by the tiniest barrier of fabric, cardboard and glue. Those pink, satiny pointe shoes -- and hours upon hours of blood, sweat and tears -- are what separate the women in Thursday night Zumba class from athletes like American Ballet Theatres Misty Copeland.?Anyone can go to a sporting goods store and buy Nike Zoom Lebron Soldier 10s sneakers, and anyone go online and buy Capezio Aria pointe shoes. And that is exactly what Vogue Espana did for a fashion shoot with Kendall Jenner. But owning Lebrons sneakers wont make you an NBA player. And neither will pointe shoes -- voila! -- magically transform you into Wendy Whelan.Reality-star-turned-model Kendall Jenner is a beautiful young woman. At 5-feet-10? and 119 pounds, the 20-year-old slides into haute couture with ease and is an accomplished runway model. And no one could call her modeling skills into question.But those feet! They are like dead fish. They are. Look at them in the Vogue shoot. They just dangle there. In ballet, there is a term for this: the sickled foot, and the dreaded dead fish comment is something ballet teachers say to their students to remind them to point, point, point their feet.Dancers oftentimes resort to medieval torture devices to improve their arches. Dont believe me? Google ballet feet stretcher. Ill wait. I have friends who short-sheet their beds and wedge their pointed feet tight between two sheets and sleep that way to improve their arches. Instagram, which has proved to be the perfect forum for ballet photos, has sparked a whole new movement in dance and is flush with photos and videos of dancers and their footwork. My favorite is Cuban ballerina?Dayesi Torriente Llanes, now a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet. ?I have seen entire ballet auditions go south based on the look of feet alone. I swear my mother, who studied under George Balanchine (he co-founded the New York City Ballet) at the School of American Ballet and danced with the San Francisco and Pennsylvania Ballet companies, worked at pointing my feet while I was still in my crib. So poor Jenner and her dead-fish feet incurred the wrath of every ballerina from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow?to the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle last week.She had to turn off the comments on her Instagram feed, and her vastly popular account (she has 66.3 million followers) is part of what made her so attractive to Vogue in the first place. Dance Magazine had Ballet West soloist Allison DeBona write an opinion piece about Jenners unfortunate attempt to stand up in pointe shoes after DeBonas Facebook post reacting to the Vogue Espana?photos went viral.DeBona, herself a stunning dancer, had just recently written her heartfelt Facebook commentary?faulting Vogue for exploiting Jenner by posing her as a ballerina.She noted:Ballerinas across the globe are upset that Vogue Spain hired Kendell (sic) Jenner to look like a ballerina in a video shoot. Well, Vogue Italia hired me to look like a ballerina in a video shoot. Some people originally commented on my video about how I was selling out by being too sexual. I was playing a role just like Kendell, except I have technique.There were plenty of comments from dancers who felt that Vogue Espana?should have used a real ballerina and had no business putting Jenner in pointe shoes and having her dance around suggestively in leotards and leg warmers. I agree. The publication is usually pretty good with the ballet accuracy, but shame on them and shame on Jenners modeling agent, whomever that might be, for not trying harder for authenticity.There were a million ways around it: Use a real ballerina for the action and then pose Jenner in the clothes. Or just pick another theme entirely -- such as horseback riding, ATVing, dirt biking, surfing or hiking, which Jenner herself recently listed as her hobbies.One thing I know for sure. Jenners unwitting participation in the ballet shoot fiasco of 2016 legitimizes the dance, if anything, because it once again shows haters that ballet is not just running around like a child just not caring. It is impossibly hard work. Kendall Jenner might have more money and fame than God, but shes not a ballerina. ?ESPN deputy editor Gabrielle Paese is a reformed ballerina who got her start with Maria Vegh at Harkness Ballet. She went on to attend the Pennsylvania Governors School for the Arts and train under the late Merce Cunningham. ? Cheap Baltimore Ravens Jerseys . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. Cheap Dallas Cowboys Jerseys . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. http://www.cheapjerseys-wholesalechina.com/?tag=cheap-buffalo-bills-jerseys . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. Cheap Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. Cheap Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Wake Forest coach Danny Manning is ready to face No. 3 Villanova, even if hes fairly certain his Demon Deacons wont have a similar offensive outburst as they did to run past UTEP.John Collins scored a career-high 24 points and Bryant Crawford had 20 in Wake Forests 103-81 victory, the first time in eight years it surpassed the century mark in a game.Shots fell early and often as the Demon Deacons, 3-0 for the first time since 2013-14, took a double-digit lead early and were rarely pressed by UTEP (1-1). Next up, though, are the national champion Wildcats with a spot in the Charleston finals on the line.Were excited, Manning said. Its the chance to play, rightfully so, one of the teams that higher ranked in the country.And one that will do its best to ensure Wake Forest doesnt shoot almost 60 percent from the field as it did against UTEP (35 of 59, 59.3 percent).Its going to be a challenge, but its something we welcome, Manning said. Well see where were at.Wake Forest put things away with a torrid first half where it went 13 of 20 from behind the arc. Dinos Mitgolou had four 3-pointers while Austin Arians, Mitchell Wilbekin, Crawford and Keyshawn Woods each had two the first 20 minutes.I dont think we were close (defensively) on any of those shots, said UTEPs frustrated coach, Tim Floyd.UTEP (1-1) plays Western Michigan, which fell to Villanova in the eight-team tournaments first game, on Friday in the consolation round.The Demon Deacons led 63-44 lead at the break, the first time they had reached 60 points or more in half since the 2008-09 season when it accomplished that against UNC Wilmington. That was also the last game they finished with 100 points or more, defeating the Seahawks 120-88.Wake Forest couldnt quite gget that many, but did more than enough to move past UTEP.ddddddddddddCollins, at 6-foot-10, made nine of 10 shots -- all in the second half -- including several jams to break his previous high of 19 set last November against Bucknell.Mitgolou finished with 18 points and Keyshawn Woods 16 for Wake Forest. Dominic Artis led UTEP with 24 points.BIG PICTUREWake Forest wants to run and did so at will against the Miners. Things will get considerably tougher against Villanova, the national champions known for its in-your-face defense.UTEP had few answers to slow down the Deacons. Artis did his share, hitting three 3-pointers. The team, though was 5 of 14 from behind the arc with many of the misses triggering the Wake Forest transition game.CHANGING GEARSManning like his teams outside touch early on. But at halftime, he stressed to his players about looking for the Deacons big men, Collins and Mitgolou down low and give them touches. The result was Collins big performance, something the team will look to duplicate against Villanova. Its going to tell us where we are and what we need to do, Crawford said.LACKING DEFENSEUTEP coach Tim Floyd had nothing good to say about his teams defense. He said his team did not rebound well or slow Wake Forests transition game. Evidence? We shot 60 percent (18 of 30) in the first half were down 19, Floyd said.UP NEXTWake Forest will face No. 3 Villanova on Friday with the winner advancing to Sunday nights championship game.UTEP will take on Western Michigan on Friday in the consolation round.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 ' ' '