Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 8/17/2007

Question
last year i was at a dance school and they told me i was to go on pointe next year(this year) but then my mum made me change to an all-ballet academy. i have to get into and used to this school so i cant go straight onto pointe right away and its horrible. its all i really want in the world right now and i have to wait for it longer. i was thinking i could buy pointe shoes and just practise so that when the time comes, i would be used to it and therefore better, is this a good idea? also im not sure of the sizing.

thankyou for your help
Callie

Answer
Hi Callie. It's possible that the all-ballet academy has stricter technical requirements and they just want to see your work before they put you in a pointe class. And maybe they will.

I don't recommend that you buy shoes and try pointe on your own. You need to learn it in class with a teacher watching you. You need help with buying and fitting on your first pointe shoes. At http://www.theballetstore.com there is an article on strengthening the feet for pointe shoes before you do pointe. There are also articles on fitting pointe shoes and breaking them in. The book section has a book written all about pointe work. You can learn about pointe work now, and it will probably focus your class work better knowing what you will be doing in pointe classes.

I understand your enthusiam to start pointe - that is what ballet technique and strength is for - but let your new teachers see you, and if they want you to wait to go on pointe, ask them exactly what you need to strengthen to do pointe work sooner.

They might want your turnout to be stronger, or your posture landing from jumps and coming down from releves to be more accurate. Who knows. And they might decide you CAN go on pointe right away.

I hope you tell me later how this turns out.

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!