Box of the pointe shoe question?

Question:

Box of the pointe shoe question?

OKay, I have tried several different things to fully rise onto the box of my pointe shoes, but I still can't get all the way up onto them. Does anyone have any suggestions or tricks to help me with this?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: First you have to put in the hard work needed to begin dancing en pointe. Then if you are still needing help, here are a few suggestions that could be causing problems:

Could be several different problems:
-Your shoes are new and not broken in well yet. Work with the shank to soften it up a bit, get it bending into a good arch with out breaking it.
-Your shoes are not a good fit for your foot. Make sure you have your shoes fitted by a professional. Maybe changing pointe shoes would help.
-Your feet are not strong enough yet. Your arch may be weak, your ankles may be weak. Are you exercising your feet regularly to strengthen them? Ask your teacher for exercises.
-Your feet aren't flexible enough. Hopefully this is not the problem, you should not have started en pointe with feet that weren't ready for it.

Try this exercise (if you are not already doing it):
With your feet in 1st, demi plie, the slowly roll onto pointe. Staying in plie, stretch over your pointe then straighten your legs. Make sure you are really forcing your feet to stay en pointe correctly as your do this, keeping them over the correct area of your shoe. You can also do this in a turned in first position.