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Position:Home>Dancing> Pointe shoes and going on Pointe?Question: Pointe shoes and going on Pointe!? Hey everyone! I have an exam for ballet in july and i will be on pointe in my next grade!
Ive been doing ballet dancing for 11, nearly 12 years (tap 9 years and modern 10 years) and im a bit scared! I dont really know what to expect, i will go for a shoe fitting nearer the time of my exam, ive been working on this grade for just over a year now so im condfident with it! My teacher says my legs are strong enough but if anyone has any advice it would be appriciated!Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Hi, great question!.? First of all, you should start by getting your shoes professionally fitted!. You can probably speak to your teacher about that, because unfortunately, I only know the ones that are in the Pennsylvania area!. But anyway, professionally fitted means that the shop in which you are getting the shoes fitted doesn't sell anything other than shoes!. For instance, Dance Ten is not a professional fit because they are a dancewear and apparel shop!. Therefore, the employees may not necessarily be experts in fitting pointe shoes!. However, in a professional fitting shop, all the employees are highly trained, experienced, and are obviously all experts in fitting pionte shoes!. This will give you maximum security and support whilst up en pointe!. Besides, it costs no more to get your pointe shoes professionally fitted!. I have a high, strong arch!. I recommend a Russian brand for this foot type to my students because the make of a Russian shoe is generally geared toward a Veganova-styled dancer!. Veganova dancers have what I call "banana" feet, meaning they have high, strong arches!. Generally I like the Griskho brand because other Russian brands tend to break in unusually and are very expensive!. Grishkos are made for dancers with high, strong arches but aren't intensive dancers (by that I mean triple-hard shank, 7 days a week, 6 hours at the dance studio, 10 shows a year kind of dancers; although the Grishkos run a little hard so I would recommend, if you aren't softs already, get a shank softer than normal)!. If you don't exactly have a high, strong arch, I recommend an English or American brand pointe shoe, such as the following: -Freed of London -Bloch -Capezio -Sansha -Harmonie -Chacott These are not the only brands though! Explore your options! Make sure you maintain strong, healthy ankles and legs!. One way to do this is killers!. Killers are basically relevés, if you don't know them!. They vary in speed!. The slower, the more excrutiating!. The faster, the easier!. You'll feel a burn in your thighs and possibly some stuff in your ankles popping, but it's normal!. I'd say start out with about 50 if you've never done them before, then work your way up!. But you've got to do them every day! Another way to strengthen your feet and ankles is to take a towel and lay it on the floor!. Bend your knees slightly so that your feet can lay flat on the towel, but not too bent so you're not engaging the muscles all the way up the legs!. Crunch your toes and stretch them out, repeat, to bring the towel forward towards you!. Do this every day about five times!. Your arches, ankles, and underside feet will largely benefit from this excersize!. Please, sew your shoes yourself!. Only you can really know what's best for the shoe, and besides, if you go to a store and get it done, then you won't be able to fix it when you're at a show or something and your elastic pops off!. It's very important that you sew them yourself!. Kudos to you for starting pointe! I remember I was very excited my first few days!. Good luck to you! I also have great amounts of respect for those who seek out outside advice and professional assistance for help in their craft!. Good for you!. Hope I helped!?Www@QuestionHome@Com I think you'll be fine!. You have been dancing for such a long time so your technique will be up to scratch!. Sometimes there are girls who only do Ballet for 3 years and then go on pointe, you are ahead 8 years!. This is my only piece of advice, because this is what I did wrong in my first class and I wasn't every happy lol!. Make sure you sew your elastics and ribbons on very well, do it twice if you have to!. There is nothing worse than ribbons coming undone!. I also recommend buying pointe shoe covers!. They are a lifesaver!. The pointe shoes will not get dirty at all and you don't have to worry about buying a new pair for recitals or trying to clean them!. I wear Sansha ones, they are great: http://www!.sansha!.com/models/psop!.jpg You can also get them in pink or red!. I hope this helps :)Www@QuestionHome@Com Check out this site >> dance!.net just type it in on google and it will tell you all you need to know but here are my fav tips ! * when you go for your fitting be sure to tell the fitter wether it's too tight or too loose , you won't find your perfect shoes straight away and if your honest you'll avoid injury ! !. * make sure you have plenty of time when you go to the fitting , it could take anytime beetween 45 minutes - 2 and a half hours , so make sure your mum or dad knows , the last thing you need is a impatient parent ! !. * ask your ballet teacher if your allowed ouch pads or sheeps wool to make your pointe's more comftable , if she says yes then pick what you want and take it to the fitting because it will affect your pointes !. * do lots of strengthening and don't do anything without suppervision !. If you desperatly HAVE to practice at home then ask your teacher what's okay to attempt !. But most of all !. !. Relax ! Pointe is a very important part of ballet , your not going to be alessandra ferri when you start so don't expect to be able to do pirouettes in them but practice makes perfect !. Congrads of getting you pointes ! Hope I helped x xWww@QuestionHome@Com you will be fine :] im 12 and i started point this year!. just sew your ribbons and elastics TIGHT! and break them in or it will kill!. dip the toe part in water and walk on demi point for about 30 minutes (:Www@QuestionHome@Com You'll rock it!. if you screw up, just smile and act like you ment to do it!! Pointe is soo fun, you will enjoy it!Www@QuestionHome@Com pointe work can be really hard to get used to at first, but it really does take your dancing to another level!. i used to do ballet (now just modern and jazz) and here a few tips i have from when i danced on pointe: - make sure your shoes fit well (try them on with your toe pad to see how they'll fit when you're dancing) - don't worry if the back slips at first!. just put some rosin or water on your tights and it will stay better!. when the shoes are more broken in they'll slip less -try balancing on forced-arch or in releve on the ball of your foot rather than the toe to help break them in!. breaking them in by bending them with your hands is quicker, but it will be better to do it with your feet, so that they mold to your foot more - don't force it!. if you have a class for two hours and after 45 minutes your feet are killing you, just ask the instructor if you can switch into technique shoes for the remainder of the class!. you will get blisters easily at first, and if your feet are in too much pain, it will take away from developing good technique if you're babying a certain area!. eventually you won't get blisters very much and will be able to work through a whole class with them - don't walk on carpet with them!. especially if they're satin-covered!. it will rip up the bottoms very easily - don't let someone who hasn't had proper training "just try them on" ( my little sister and her friend who were 11 at the time wreaked havoc on my new shoes!) - think of really trying to balance on your toe, rather than relying on the shoe to hold you up!. this will help with technique, and make your shoes last longer!. it also makes dancing look lighter, and seem easy to someone watching!. - really concentrate on being all the way on top of the box of your shoes!. it's a bad habit to be balanced off to the back or sides!. ( this can be a problem with pique turns especially) - put calamine lotion on satin shoes before performing in them, so that the shine doesn't catch the stage light too much and make it distracting!. hope that helps! have fun :)Www@QuestionHome@Com I thought that when you first get your shoes that it would take weeks for you to balance by yourself but I see girls getting them at my school and they can just pull themselves up and balance on their first day! Its a really fun experience and you'll love it!. :)Www@QuestionHome@Com |
