Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 11/16/2007

Question
Hello, and thank you for any information you can give me. I am a beginning student of ballet. I am 21 and have always dreamt of being able to dance en pointe. I was wondering at my age would I be able to learn pointe, how long would it take me get to the point where I'd be ready to take pointe classes.   Thank you again.

Answer
Hi Erika. Generally, once you've worked up to three classes a week for at least a year, a teacher would be assessing you for a pointe class. I don't know if you can do that.

I also don't know what your physical facility for ballet is like, what kind of feet you have etc.

But, I can recommend a book for you that is a wealth of info for dance students. It actually gives you self-assessment guides and series of exercises to strengthen the feet for pointe! I am so impressed with this manual. I got it 2 days ago and have poured over it every spare moment. How I would have loved it when I was a student!

It is called The Perfect Point Book. The sales page is this link:
http://www.linkbrander.com/go/54727 - it is a download. You can print it out or read it on your computer. It's a deluge of info, but beautifully organized.

If you decide to get it, I'd love to know what you think of it. I feel like I could hand it to any of my students and they would find it easy to use.

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!