Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 10/24/2009

Question
How old should a girl be before starting pointe? Her teacher would like her to start pre pointe to strengthen her feet and ankles and move on to pointe in about 6 months. She is a safe teacher, plans to take it slow, but I worry about injury. She is 11 yrs old and will be 12 next summer. I also worry about the effects of pointe on her feet over time. Any advice?

Answer
Hi Carrrie. I get this question almost everyday, so below are two of my answers - but first, 12 years old is the usual guide age for putting a student on pointe, providing that their technique is accurate and strong. Exercises to prepare for pointe are very specific, they are not ballet class exercises.

Pointe work learned carefully will not damage feet. Damage comes from starting too young or too weak, ill fitting shoes, and incorrect movements. Whatever a student does before pointe, she will do in pointe shoes. Any weak technical ballet movement will impair dancing in pointe shoes.

What I'm trying to say is that something that causes difficulty in pointe shoes (that could lead to injury) may not be related to the foot muscles. But basic control and finesse on pointe does require strong foot muscles.

On my blog http://www.balletshoesandpointeshoes.blogspot.com/
there is a list of posts down on the left, related to pointe work. Your daughter may benefit from reviewing some of them. And here's some more on the topic:

".....pre-pointe exercises would be good for your daughters. I don't know how their teacher presents a pre-pointe program, but I would imagine that they could just do the exercises in soft ballet slippers. Yet, you will have to ask the teacher. I doubt that they would be ready to do anything in pointe shoes for a couple of more years.

(Pointe work can be prepared for by doing the correct exercises in bare feet. I always recommend The Perfect Pointe Book.

The author is a world renowned dance medicine specialist who has put together a program for ballet students. That is IF your daughters would want something like that anyway.)"

"Normally, an 11 year old who is not in a professional ballet school would not be put into pointe shoes unless she was physically more mature than the average, and was in 3-4 ballet classes a week. If I understand correctly, your daughter would be put into pointe shoes in both of the programs you have to choose from.

She should be put through all the pre-pointe assessment tests as described by Lisa Howell in The Perfect Pointe Book. This could be done by a ballet teacher, a physio therapist, or the student herself.

The Perfect Pointe Book is used by many ballet students currently to build strength for pointe work (and fine footwork in general). If your daughter would work at home (self-testing is described in detail and exercise and progress charts are provided) and wants to progress onto pointe, she could. She should be able to do all the described exercises before starting pointe. I give the author's link to her book (it's a download) at:

http://www.squidoo.com/balletperfectpointe/

I personally think it is not enough to look at an 11 year old student, and seeing strong or near perfect technique, assume that she can do pointe work. And believe it or not, very few ballet teachers know how to teach the foot exercises needed for pointe work. Now that those exercises and assessments have been made available to all teachers and students, it is vital to use them."

Carrie what I love about all these special foot exercises is that once learned, a student can do them while reading, studying or watching television. Awareness of foot anatomy, foot types, and more allows a student to figure out her own feet, and exercise them as needed all the way through her ballet career. Even professional tennis and football players have discovered ballet exercises for developing footwork.

I hope this helps... and all the best to you and your daughter!