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Assessing your readiness for pointe work Have you started your periods or had your second growth spurt? Have you had permission from your Teacher? Are you taking at least 2-3 classes a week, every week? and studied for a minimum of four years. Do you have sufficient strength to do the following:- Hold your turnout while dancing? Hold your heel forward towards the big toe, when you pointe your toes with NO sickling? Hold a passé balance on demi-pointe without any wobbling? It is very important with Pointe work that you do not just think of feet. Your core stability is as important, it does not matter how strong your feet and ankles are, if your body is not correctly aligned, and your core stability is not strong enough, dancing on pointe could be more difficult. The wearing of Demi-pointe/soft block shoes in class will certainly help to strengthen you, these shoes are one of the best ways to prepare your body as to balance in them without any wobbles takes considerable muscle strength Taking pilates or gyrotonics classes will considerably improve your core stability. In the book Anatomy and Ballet By Celia Sparger she states, “The ability to do Pointe work is the end result of a slow and gradual training of the whole body, back, hips, thighs, legs, feet and general coordination of movement, and the placing of the body, so that weight is lifted upwards off the feet, with straight knees, perfect balance, a perfect demi-pointe and no tendency of the fee to sickle in or out, or the toes to curl or crunch”. Please do not worry if you are not yet quite ready to begin, it is much healthier and safer for you to take slightly longer preparing your body, allowing some skeletal maturity to have taken place, than to have started at a too young an age, maybe causing you damage that maybe brings your dancing to an early finish. Injuries can also occur when Pointe shoes have reached the end of their life. An experienced Dancer will know when her shoe is worn out, as it has becomes too soft, and no longer supports the foot when on pointe. If you are new to Pointe work please ask your teacher for advice when you feel that the shoe is no longer supporting your foot on pointe or you feel that you are sliding down the shoe when on pointe. Never dance in shoes that have become too soft as the shoe could collapse and maybe cause you to roll over when on pointe. The potential dangers to a child from being placed on pointe before she is ready are many. The Teacher will consider each individual child’s growth and development before they allow that child to begin pointe work. When dancers begin dancing on pointe, they must start slowly and build gradually to avoid overuse injuries. You may wear your new shoes covered with a pair of socks around the house to break them in, but NEVER attempt to climb stairs with the shoes on your feet. I know it's tempting but please do not go up onto full pointe alone if you are an inexperienced dancer. Please never wear secondhand or a friends old Pointe shoes or buy pointe shoes to grow into. http://www.iadms.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=185 Written by David S. Weiss, M.D., under the auspices of the Education and Media Committees of IADMS ©2007 IADMS and David S. Weiss, M.D.
Some recommended reading:- Celia Sparger’s “Anatomy and Ballet” this book is out of print, do ask your local library to see if they can find you a copy, also look in second hand bookshop’s, Amazon or even Ebay. The Pointe Book: Shoes, Training and Technique (Paperback) Text and Photographs by kind permission of A&C Black Publishers
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