Ballet ( En Pointe)?

Question:How long did it take you to be able to do it?
Im starting ballet in September but I'm not asking becuase I want to rush it but becuase one day I would love to be able to do it Im sure everyone does. And I know it takes years.
Im getting private lessons 3 times a week becuase After high school when i go to college I will have a bit more free time and also the fact I'm 16 and I have never done ballet before =D I don't want a profession out of ballet but I have always loved it but never really got into it Which is my biggest regret.
I have and my friends dance teacher has pointed out that I have strong feet and Ankles (I was not doing Pointe)
I also dance already =D
Flexibleish
I plan on carrying Ballet on for a very long time.

Will I ever be able to get up on Pointe or Am I know to old?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: How long did it take you to be able to do it?
Im starting ballet in September but I'm not asking becuase I want to rush it but becuase one day I would love to be able to do it Im sure everyone does. And I know it takes years.
Im getting private lessons 3 times a week becuase After high school when i go to college I will have a bit more free time and also the fact I'm 16 and I have never done ballet before =D I don't want a profession out of ballet but I have always loved it but never really got into it Which is my biggest regret.
I have and my friends dance teacher has pointed out that I have strong feet and Ankles (I was not doing Pointe)
I also dance already =D
Flexibleish
I plan on carrying Ballet on for a very long time.

Will I ever be able to get up on Pointe or Am I know to old?

Please, please, please ignore the people who told you that there is a set amount of time before you can go on pointe. 6 months is nowhere near enough time to be good enough for pointe, and 10 is also wayyyy too young (I'm talking about specific answers). You are definitely not too old! Your teacher should be watching you carefully and tell when you are ready for pointe. You're usually ready after 2-3 years if you work very hard and get yourself strong. I recommend Pilates and lots of releves (rising up to tip-toe over and over again). Good luck, and I'm glad that you are already pretty educated about getting to pointe and that you don't want to rush into it.

Well, I have done ballet for nine years. In my dance studio, our teacher has a rule that you can get pointe shoes when you are ten- not before. However, if you start after the age of ten, you spend one year in regular ballet shoes, and then the next year you go on pointe.You're definitely not too old. Since you're taking private classes three times a week, you'll probably go on pointe in less than a year, given that your dance teacher says you have strong ankles, and if she lets you. One warning about pointe: I love it, and it doesn't hurt now, but when I first began, my feet burned, especially in the arch. A lot of my friends get feet cramps if they don't get potassium in their system before dancing- I don't, but I know a lot of people do. Also, you'll definitely get bunyons out of this.

well i do pointe now and iam 13 years old and i started when i was 9ish i would say wait about like 6 months or less maybe and then try its so much fun!(just make sure you get the woul pads for your toes becuase the other ones dont help as much)

~good luck~

I started ballet when I was two, and I wasn't allowed to be en pointe until I was nine, but the regulation age is ten. You should definitely not rush getting en pointe, I don't know your unique situation but you probably won't be en pointe as soon as the first answerer estimated. It will probably take one to two years to get a firm grip on the basics, then anywhere from one to three years preparing for en pointe. Since you are only doing three classes a week, it might take a bit longer, but since they are privates the one-on-one might cancel it out. I'd just like to congratulate you for getting into something you love, even though the prime age for starting is past(the prime age is between 2-5.) You should definitely work out your feet and ankle strength outside of dance, I hate to sound rude, but just a teacher pointing out that you have strong feet and ankles doesn't cut it. You also must work on balance and core strength, even if your feet are crazy powerful you won't last two seconds if your core is uncoordinated.
I'm glad that you're willing to stick with ballet, that's neccessary for pointe. You will eventually get en pointe, but here's a warning from a seasoned pointe dancer:
Your feet will bleed, blister, crack and sting. You will cry putting on and taking off your shoes. Your feet will feel like they have been bound in ancient Oriental style every time you wear your pointe shoes. The teacher will have no sympathy and expect you to wear these painful performance shoes for six or seven hours at a time. You will be expected to buy a pair of forty dollar shoes for EACH dance, and EACH performance of EACH dance, plus several pairs for practice. You will never feel good wearing ballet flats, sandals, going barefoot, or wearing open toed shoes because frankly, dancers who dance a lot have ugly feet.
I hope I haven't scared you off, but these are all things that have happened to me in my ten years of pointe experience and they have happened to every other pointe dancer I know.
Good luck!
-India

You are definitely not too old! The amount of time to be able to dance on pointe is different for everyone. You will probably be able to quicker than most others since you have strong feet and ankles. Ballet takes alot of work and you can never stop improving, but it is a great thing that you really want to work at it. The best thing to do is probably to get your ballet teachers input and when she thinks you are ready for pointe, that is when you should probably start.

I have taken ballet for 11 years now, but I started pointe prep two years ago. Last year, I took ballet for an hour, and then pointe for 30 minutes (training). This year, I'm taking ballet for an hour and pointe for an hour. It takes quite a while to get used to pointe, because it hurts very bad, and you want to quit very badly during the pain. Because your feet hurt so bad, you won't dance as well, but trust me, if you get through the pain, and break in your shoes, it's such a beautiful feeling...it's like being able to express yourself through your feet. You are not too old to start pointe! Good luck!

Well i hav been dancing for 13 years now, and i started pointe at nine and it only took me a month, cuz i hav very strong feet, and if your teacher say's you can do it, then you can, and it's good your flexible, i stretch every day for 30 mins, and i can do all splits, which is good to know also, well good luck

It took me 2 years. I took dance from age 2 through college then stopped until I was 30. I started taking ballet several times a week as well as yoga and did pilates at home.

You aren't too old, and if you stick with it you should be able to go en pointe. The reason for all the warnings here is b/c the timing for being ready to go en pointe is different for everyone. Having strong feet is an excellent start, but you will need to have strong core muscles to help with balance (pilates helps this a lot!) as well as good technique. Just being able to "do" something isn't as important as being able to "do" whatever it is correctly. My fav example of this is turnout - I can get a 180 degree turnout if I twist at the knees, but that will damage my knees and damage to the knees will prevent me from doing pointe. It sounds like you're already aware of this :)

Ballet is great exercise and a lot of fun even when it is difficult. Best of luck and don't forget to challenge yourself. The more difficult it is, the more you're learning :)

You can do it, if you reallly work HARD. i am 14 and i just got mine.... but i got them late.