Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 6/5/2009

Question
i want to learn how to do ballet and i never tried
before...actually i want to do pointe so do i have to do
regular ballet before i try pointe?

Answer
Hi Tonya. Yes, you need to do ballet for 3-4 years, and depending on your age and strength you can begin pointe work. Your ballet teacher will tell you when you're ready.

Working in pointe shoes is not easy, and one way you can prepare, as soon as you begin ballet classes, is to get The Perfect Pointe Book. The site at http://www.theballetstore.com gives the author's link, and there is a short video of her telling you about it.

The only reason to get it when you start ballet is that it gives wonderful exercises for your foot muscles, and gives photos and video of the basic ballet technique, posture, turnout, and balance, with strengthening exercises for all of that. The author is a dance medicine specialist and teaches with the idea of preventing dance injuries, in other words using your muscles properly.

If you're still deciding about ballet, there are many articles about it you can read at theballetstore.com, to find out more.

All the best to you Tonya!