Are you really standing on your tips of your toenails when you're dancing on poi

Question:

Are you really standing on your tips of your toenails when you're dancing on pointe in ballet?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: You are not really "on the tips of your toenails"

It's a combination of strength in the ankles and feet and the use of the pointe shoes.

The dancers feet have to be flexible enough and strong enough to help support the work before being allowed to start en pointe.

The shoe itself provides most of the support. The toe of the shoe is called the box, it is hard and strong made up materials like paper products, burlap, cloth, etc. all glued together to be very strong! Each manufacturer has their own "formula" for making their shoes. It is not made of ceramic or porcelain or anything breakable like that.
The dancers wrap their toes in lamb's wool or use a gel type cushion before putting them into the shoe. When en pointe, the weight is dispersed over all the toes, not just on 1 toe. The stiff box holds the toes and top of the foot in place while the dancers is up en pointe.
The shank of the pointe shoe is the part that supports the arch of the foot. It is also made up of cloth, cardboard, etc with lots of glue. Some shanks are made of metal and nowadays many are made of plastic resin the supports and bends and doesn't break so easy.
While the toes are being supported by the box, the shank has to support the arch as the foot is being pointed. It would be like the part of a baseball bat that hits the ball being made of wood but the handle being made of something squishy. You have to have proper support in both the toes and the arch.

All of these things work together to keep the ballerina on her toes and dancing beautifully across the stage!