Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 8/7/2007

Question
I have been taking ballet for 4 years in a very serious dance school with a teacher who has been doing ballet for alot of years.  She  has said that I am ready for pointe but I read the stuff that is expected from you by the time you are on pointe and I can't really do some of those things. does this mean I am not ready??

Answer
It depends on how your teacher approaches pointe work. Many teachers only do very basic pointe exercises for a long time - maybe a whole year, because of the required strength and accuracy of technique needed. Talk to your teacher and go over the things you feel you are not doing well enough yet, and express your concerns. If she has a plan for the learning of pointe work that she feels you can handle, I'm sure she will explain to you why she feels you are ready.

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!