A dancer must wait for her body to be strong enough before she starts to dance on pointe, as it can cause serious damage to the feet, ankles, knees, and hips if she has not yet built up the strength. Children should not start to dance on pointe before they are around 12, before that, the bones of feet have not developed enough from cartilage to bone to provide sufficient support for the foot, otherwise this can  permanently damage. Dancers often prepare for pointe work by using an exercise band and practising strengthening exercises such as relevés. Dancing en pointe requires the use their of the entire body for support, including the legs and abdominal muscles. I have placed a few guidelines on an earlier page.

Please allow 1-2 hours for your first fitting.

Please make sure your toenails are cut short and your feet are clean.

If you have any blisters, I may be unable to fit you for shoes until they have healed.

Please bring clean convertible ballet tights so that I may have full access to your bare feet.

You should also bring your old Pointe shoes with any pads, wool etc. that you use with them.

If you have a number of students that need a Pointe Shoe  fitting please contact me as I may be able to travel to your school to do the fittings

FOOT PERFECTLY HELD  & TOES ARE STRAIGHT

TOES SCRUNCHED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SHOE SHOW’ THE SHOE IS TOO WIDE

Ballet dancers have a secret. It is hidden under satin, and we are further distracted by the grace and the beauty of a dancer's body in motion. Insiders are hesitant to reveal the secret for fear of embarrassing the dancers, but the truth remains. Dancers have ugly feet. The years of pounding and strain that their feet endure create crooked toes, discoloured nails and skin rubbed raw. Not to mention calluses, corns, and bunions. The wear and tear is endured to achieve performances that appear graceful and effortless. "It looks so beautiful but it's physically brutal," says Lisa Hansen about the ballet. Hansen is one in a group of physical therapists from Orlando Regional Rehabilitation Services who completed baseline screening for the Southern Ballet Theatre last week. Along with an orthopaedic physician and an athletic trainer, they donate their expertise to measure and record the dancers' basic range of motion and fitness as a background for an future injury treatments. The first stop for the dancers in the afternoon of measuring everything that bends was to step on a large protractor. They pointed their toes outward, toward ballet's "first position." The dancers casually swivel their toes toward 80 or 85 degrees. the extra push to a perfect 90 degrees is easy. The dancers can bend so easily, says Hansen, because they have all started stretching out pliable limbs as children in early dance classes. As adults their overall range of flexibility is off the charts, even compared to athletes the therapists normally treat. The dancers have superb strength. Usually, the therapists see either strength or flexibility in athletes, but not both. The dancers, says Hansen are in better shape than almost any football player. The dancers also can bend their knees slightly backward into hyper- extension. It's a talent that may come back to haunt them. "It's good for ballet," concedes Hansen, "but it's bad when you're 60.'                                             

"Ballet: Agony of the Feet" by Tim Burton Taken from The Orlando Sentinel, Sunday, September 6,1998

Interesting.....Ballerina and football player compare fitness article from The Australian Courier mail

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25665964-952,00.html

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To contact Linda Reid-Lobatto for a fitting please call 07810803996              

FEET CAN REALLY SUFFER IN THE WRONG POINTE SHOES