Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 1/9/2008

Question
Hi. I'm 42, in good shape.  I did 3 years adult training 20 years ago.  My passion has been ballet, but stopped because everyone said that I would never go further with it!  urgh!  Now I am pursuing my dream to learn ballet, so that when I turn 80 I can look back and love the 40 years of ballet training instead of saying "I wish I had done it afterall"  I would like to complete each level as if I were starting out as a young girl.  Hopefully, and with professional advice, I'd love to encourage other adults in similar situation to fulfill their dreams to learn ballet.  But one question that I am curious, is en pointe possible?  much the same way it is possible for a 16 year old?  My turnout is about 120 degrees.

Answer
Hi Rosie. Doing pointe work is possible. It depends on strength, accuracy of technique and flexibility of the ankle and foot joints and soft tissues.

And adult foot is less vulnerable to strain and injury than a growing foot. So if the flexibility is there to get up onto the platform of a pointe shoe, keeping the legs straight, then yes, eventually you could do pointe work. Your turnout is enough, providing you develop the strength to hold it.

I have a lot of articles at http://www.theballetstore.com Some are in the blog area. They are on technique, strengthening, stretching, good diet and more. Also, one of the books I present on my site is The Perfect Pointe Book - it is written for home exercising with progress charts provided, for strengthening at the pre-pointe level. The routines are excellent and I recommend it to male students too, as the same strength and stretching and understanding of the muscles and skeleton elaborated upon are invaluable to any serious student. The author includes photos, anatomical detail and teaches self-assessment. I think it would help you a lot and give you an immediate understanding of many things that are never taught in a class.

Good for you Rosie for going ahead with this! I absolutely agree that you'll be glad you did when you're 80! And you'll probably still be doing ballet and a lot of other things 80 year olds cannot do because of your 40 years of ballet!

I know a lady near here who is in her 80's. She has a studio in her home and still teaches ballet. She is in fantastic shape. All the best! Dianne

A brief follow up - I've recommended to almost everyone to read my articles and blog entries at http://www.theballetstore.com You have to create a user name to log in to see all the blog entries - your privacy is safe! I really apologize that I didn't tell you this - I'm not a technical person!