Starting pointe!!! Leg help?????

Question:Within this next month I am starting pointe work! I would like to have strong legs and ankles, so are there any excersizes that can reallllly build muscle on my legs and ankles? Thanks!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Within this next month I am starting pointe work! I would like to have strong legs and ankles, so are there any excersizes that can reallllly build muscle on my legs and ankles? Thanks!

I will give you techniques, steps, excersizes, and stuff you need to know to go en pointe.

Your ribbons should be tied neatly tight enough to support you but loose enough to leave your ankle free to move. Make sure your draw strings are tucked in.

Darning pointe shoes- This makes the pointe shoes look new. Every month or so darn the tips of your pointe shoes by taking a needle and sticking it through the threads.

Glissade- Start with a demi-plie in fifth position and slide your leg forwrd. Transfer your weight forward exactly onto your right pointe at the spot reached by the toes. Close your back foot tightly behind to form fifth position on pointe.

Releve- Stand in first position. Move smoothly into a demi-plie keeping your heels firmly on the floor. Holding your turnout, push strongly up onto pointe. Roll through your feet carefully back into a demi-plie.

Echappe- Demi-plie in fifth position, then spring up lightly onto pointe in second. Skim your toes across the floor to escape from demi-plie. Keeping lifted and light, close your legs simultaneously back to demi-plie in fifth position.

Strenghten your feet, body, and legs- Sit on a chair and put marbles on the right side of you on the floor. Pick up the marbles with your toes. Do this until all of the marbles are on the left side. Then bring them back to the right side. Keep your back straight and your toes pointed.

I remember when I wanted pointe shoes. I wanted them really bad. When I got them, they were clean and new. Now my pointe shoes are old because I danced on them. It is hard work and really you should work hard if you vwant them because it is a big job. Pointe shoe sizes are not the same. You need to go to a pointe shoe factory to get a pointe shoe fitting because when on pointe, noone has the same feet. If you are really good, and have trained hard for several years then yes you should get pointe shoes.You should have had at least 7 years of ballet to go onto pointe. if you started when you were ten, and are really good, you can be on pointe when you are 12. Pointe make you feel light and graceful. It is a wonderful feeling to be en pointe. I'm 13. I've been dancing since I was 3. Ballet is really hard work. All the hard work pays off when you are so strong and you see those beautiful pointe shoes in your dance bag. Pointe makes you feel tall. You feel really delicate on pointe because you have to be able to lift yourself up, and take yourself down carefully again. I love pointe. It's awsome. Pointe shoes are awsome too because they are hard and they are fun to use. Here are some things you should know about pointe:

Darning pointe shoes- Take a needle ( a sewing needle) and stick it through the threads of the tips of the pointe shoe. This will make your pointe shoe look new and unused. If you want them to look new and unused.

Pointe shoes are made of- The tips of pointe shoes are made of satin, paper, and a coarse material called burlap, glued together. New shoes feel stiff and hard and have no left and right. It takes time and care to break them in and make them conform to your feet. You need to feel as if your shoes are a second skin. Then you will be able to "speak with your feet."

Perfect positioning- Do not try to dance on pointe until your body, legs, and feet are strong enough. Try to keep a vertical line through the center of your feet. Don't allow your feet to sickle or tilt sideways over your big or little toes. Sickling can lead to permanant injury.

Strenghten your feet, body, and legs- Sit on a chair and put marbles on the right side of you on the floor. Pick up the marbles with your toes. Do this until all of the marbles are on the left side. Then bring them back to the right side. Keep your back straight and your toes pointed.

Here are some exercises to help...
1. grand battments to the front, side, and back (on both sides)
2. frappes in all directions on the floor and on releves
3. arabesques
4. plies (grand and demi)
5. tendues
Do these at a barre every day
If you have any other questions email me krobinson94@gmail.com
Happy Dancing

hey the BEST thing to doo is just rises on demi point hold on th e a wall or bar and slowly rise up and down like you are aqishing an orange. do about 25 in each position to start out with and eventually you will be able to do MANY more

i wouldnt agree with that list person the one underneath thought im in pointe do and we do that evry day

releves are he best thing you can do to strengthen your ankles and they even strengthen your legs a little. remember, its the ankles that do most of the work pulling you up so those should be the strongest.