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My Pretty Feet

January 30, 2015 by 4dancers

IMG_0858
Pointe shoe “gear” – photo by Jessika Anspach McEliece

He looks over at me with that twinkle in his eyes, and I see the mischievous 7-year-old boy gleam through my husband’s 32-year-old self.

“Come on babe… just do it. Just show them your feet… please?” and turning toward his friends – okay more like acquaintances… practical strangers to me – he proudly says, “You guys have gotta see these things…”

I shoot a half glance-half glare back at him and he knows exactly my train of thought. But how can I be mad at him when he’s looking at me like that? When he’s so proud of them for me? How can I really be that embarrassed by my “worker tools,” as he puts it? After all, that is what they are, callouses and all… And it could be worse… He could ask me to put my leg over my head, or have them guess my weight.

I meekly slip off my loafers and hesitantly raise my gaze to meet their slightly horrified faces.

My feet.
My feet.

“Um…. Wow. Aghh… Yeah. So do they hurt? Because they look like they hurt.”


That’s the typical reaction I get whenever pedestrians (non-dancers, that is) see my very ugly ballerina feet – and they are very ugly. Our physical therapist, Boyd Bender, actually keeps a photo of them on his iPhone to show any of his clients who might feel self-conscious about their own toes…

And ever since Center Stage and that scene where Jody Sawyer takes off her pointe shoes to show a very bloody blister (you know the one…), it has been a point of fascination – pun slightly intended.

The funny thing, I find, is what we consider “pretty feet” in the dance world has nothing to do with how pristine they look in flip-flops… That’s relatively easy to accomplish: buff down those callouses and shellac a bit of red nail polish and voila! You’re good to go… ish.

There’s only so much you can do for those bunions…

The hard part is getting those feet to look pretty in pointe shoes… harder still to get the pointe shoe to cooperate with you. To conjure the effect of weightless, effortless floating; balancing or turning on a dime – these are hallmarks of ballet and yet not easy feats by any means. I can’t always blame every problem I have on the shoes, but sometimes they really do have a mind of their own!

Well after 19 years of wearing these mini instruments of torture I’ve learned a few tricks to making them work for me, instead of the other way around… [Read more…]

Filed Under: Breaking In Shoes, Pointe Shoes Tagged With: blisters, boyd bender, breaking in pointe shoes, bunions, callouses, center stage, corns, dance shoes, francia russell, freed of london, jessika anspach, jody sawyer, pacific northwest ballet, PNB, pointe shoes, toe shoes

Are You Ready For Pointe?

January 22, 2015 by 4dancers

Photo courtesy of Mararie on Flickr, Creative Commons 2.0
Photo courtesy of Mararie on Flickr, Creative Commons 2.0

 

I’m so pleased to introduce this month’s guest contributor, Selina Shah, MD, a dance and sports medicine physician based in San Francisco, where she is Director of Dance Medicine at the Center for Sports Medicine. A dancer herself, Dr. Shah is the company physician for the San Francisco Ballet School, Liss Fain Dance Company, and Diablo Ballet, among others.  Her article discusses the different factors that determine when a student dancer should begin pointe work. 

We are grateful to her for sharing her expertise on this topic —pass it on! 

– Jan Dunn MS, Editor, Dance Wellness


by Selina Shah, MD, FACP

If you are anything like me, you are captivated by ballet. You love its grace and its gravity-defying, gentle power. You dream of performing as a prima ballerina. In the years of work it will require to get there, perhaps the single most important milestone you will face is when to go en pointe.

Dancing en pointe is an advanced stage of ballet that requires unique skills. The challenge is to place almost all of your weight on the extreme tips of your toes, yet appear as light as a feather. In fact, no matter how long all of your toes are, research has shown that most of your body weight is carried on the tip of your big toe. It may sound very hard, but in truth, it’s even harder!

How Will I Know When I Can Get Pointe Shoes?

Teaching TipMost likely, your teacher will decide when you are ready to go en pointe. Many factors are involved in this decision. One common myth is that there is a mandatory age requirement of 11 or 12. In actuality, having adequate training rather than age is what matters. Usually, this means at least several years of consistent, high-quality training. Often girls are around age 11 or 12 before this happens, but some girls may be ready sooner, some later, and some not at all. Keep in mind the quality of work is more important than quantity.

You need enough flexibility in your foot to rise fully to pointe. One way to test this is to point your foot while sitting down with your legs extended in front of you. Next, place a pencil on top of the ankle and it should be able to lay flat from the tibia to the foot across the ankle joint.

You need physical and technical skills, such as strength, balance, alignment and control. For example, you should be able to hold passé on each leg with arms in high fifth for at least a few seconds. You should also be able to perform a clean pirouette with a smooth landing.

You also need to be able to continuously accept and apply teacher feedback.

Last but not least, you must consistently maintain your discipline and focus to keep your skills sharp and reduce the likelihood of injury.

Barre is where you form the crucial foundational skills on which pointe, and all other ballet movements are built. Listen to your teachers when they give you corrections and apply them until they become second nature. For instance, “working the floor with your feet” in tendus helps build your foot strength, which is essential for pointe. Working diligently on your turnout (and not cheating!) results in proper alignment. Use your core strength (ask your teacher how to do this correctly) to help you with balance and control. Apply these skills in the center and across the floor.

Various Foot Types

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Photo courtesy of mmarchin on Flickr, Creative Commons 2.0

Knowing your foot type is important when you look for pointe shoes. Most people fall into one of three categories.

  1. The “Giselle” or peasant foot shape is one where the first three toes are of equal length, making this ideal for pointe because the big toe gets assistance from the other two toes in carrying the weight.
  2. The “Morton’s” or “Grecian” foot, in which the second toe is the longest, is more prone to developing callouses, pain, and stiffness in the big toe. Most of the body weight is still carried by the big toe in the Morton’s foot.
  3. A narrow “Egyptian” foot, in which the toes taper in length from the big toe which is the longest, usually requires a cap on the second toe so that it can assist the big toe with weight bearing.

Finding The Right Pointe Shoe

Pointe shoe fitting is complicated because of the variability in shape, size, strength, and flexibility of each dancer’s feet. Most dance stores will have specialized pointe shoe fitters on staff. Your first visit to the store will take some time as you try on a number of shoes until you find the one that feels good and fits properly. As you gain experience in pointe, you will likely change shoes.

With hard work and dedication, one day you may be fortunate enough to hear the words “You are ready for pointe!”


Selina Shah
Selina Shah, MD, FACP

Selina Shah, MD, FACP is a board certified sports medicine and internal medicine physician and the Director of Dance Medicine at the Center for Sports Medicine in San Francisco, CA and Walnut Creek, CA. She has lectured nationally and internationally on various dance medicine topics and has published papers in medical journals and books including her original research on dance injuries in contemporary professional dancers. She is the dance company physician for the San Francisco Ballet School, Liss Fain Dance Company and Diablo Ballet. She is a physician for Berkeley Repertory Theater, Mill’s College, St. Mary’s College, and Northgate High School. She takes care of the performers for Cirque du Soleil and various Broadway productions when they come to the San Francisco Bay Area. She has taken care of several Broadway performers (i.e. American Idiot, South Pacific, Lion King, Book of Mormon, MoTown, and Billy Elliot). She is a team physician for USA Synchronized Swimming, USA Weightlifting, USA Figure Skating and travels with the athletes internationally and nationally. She is also a member of the USA Gymnastics Referral Network. As a former professional Bollywood and salsa dancer, Dr. Shah is passionate about caring for dancers. She continues taking ballet classes weekly and also enjoys running, yoga, Pilates, weightlifting, and plyometric exercise.

Filed Under: Dance Wellness, Foot Care, Pointe Shoes Tagged With: Ballet, egyptian foot, en pointe, foot types in ballet, grecian foot, morton's foot, peasant foot, pointe readiness, pointe shoe fitter, pointe shoe fitters, pointe shoes, pointe work, selina shah, toe shoes

Review : Shashi Socks

January 12, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

by Rachel Hellwig

Shashi socks. STAR style in Sugar Plum.
Shashi socks. STAR style in Sugar Plum.

Shashi socks are designed for pilates, yoga, and barre-style workouts. They sit low on the ankle and feature slip-resistant grippers on the bottom and mesh panels on top. Mine also had a sprinkling of sparkle sequins on the mesh – the STAR style.

I loved the streamlined feel of Shashi socks and enjoyed just wearing them around the house. But, more importantly, Shashi socks achieve their objective of keeping your feet cool while you do pilates, yoga, or barre-style exercises (not traditional ballet barre exercises of course, as the grippers would interfere.)

Shashi socks require a little care when washing. The Shashi website says, “Machine wash warm inside out. Gentle cycle. Line dry.” My pair are purple (sugar plum) so I decided to wash them on a cold, delicate cycle. I noticed that a couple of sparkles came off in the process, but, other than that, they held up well. I dried them overnight (about 6 hours) and they were ready to go for a morning workout.

Overall, I really like this product. It fills the need for exercise footwear that falls in between sock and dance slipper.

Filed Under: Other Footwear, Reviews Tagged With: dance product review, dance products, Product review, Shashi socks, Shasi socks product review

Freetoes Toeless Socks – Interview with Katelyn Lohr

September 29, 2014 by Rachel Hellwig

Katelyn Lohr
Katelyn Lohr. Photograph by Douglas Homer.

4dancers wanted to share this interview with Katelyn Lohr, well…because we like her product. And, because we think it’s pretty cool that she founded a business based on an idea she had.

Read more about her story in this interview…

What Inspired Freetoes?

When I was eight, I wanted to wear my flip flops outside when it was cold out. My mom said I had to wear socks and shoes. So, I came to her with scissors and socks. It was my way of following the rules but still getting what I wanted!

 

How can Freetoes be helpful to dancers?

Dancers have been pulling their leg warmers down around their heels forever. Freetoes are great with leg warmers because they keep the leg warmers from sliding too far down, and they offer a little extra support. I also think they would be great for costumes during performances.

Freetoes give dancers the slip they need to move freely across the floor, but, because the toes are free, they also have that grip that is so important. Freetoes keep feet warm, keep heels from drying out on the wood floors, and can help make tights last a little longer.

 

Freetoes Pink 1
Freetoes Ballerina Pink. Photograph by Douglas Homer.

How can Freetoes be a fun part of your wardrobe in general?

Freetoes are so much fun! They come in so many funky colours and designs. They work with such a variety of footwear too. Everything from flip flops, riding boots, crocs, peekaboo toe boots, sandals, and Vibram barefoot sports shoes. They are fun and extremely practical.

 

 How many different patterns/colors of Freetoes do you offer?

We currently have 12 different colours and patterns in stock…we call them flavors! Variety is the spice of Freetoes. Something we learned early on in developing this product was that people wanted to buy more than one pair because we had such a wide variety of colours and designs. We like to carry some staple colors like Solid Black and Pink, but we get wild with patterns like Electric Zebra and Teal Blue Leopard!

 

Freetoes Stripes 2
Freetoes Electric Zebra. Photograph by Douglas Homer.

Do you have a favorite pattern/color?

It’s really hard to pick a fav because we are always getting new ones in. Right now, I would say Black and White Stripes, but I do wear the Solid Black and Pink ones most often.

 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: 4dancers, Other Footwear Tagged With: business, footwear, Freetoes, Freetoes Toeless Socks, interview, Katelyn Lohr, socks

Review: The Pointe Book: Shoes Training, Technique

July 17, 2013 by 4dancers

the pointe bookby Emily Kate Long

The third edition of The Pointe Book, published in 2012 (previous editions were released in 1998 and 2004), covers aspects of pointe shoes and pointe dancing past, present, and future. This edition has been extensively revised and includes one entirely new chapter of sample pointe classes.

Barringer and Schlesinger have compiled a quantity of hard data related to pointe work and pointe shoes. Included are lists of manufacturers of pointe shoes and accessories, shoe size charts, and diagrams of the foot and pointe shoe with accompanying anatomical and functional information. The authors also offer thoughtful discussion on such subjective matters as pointe readiness, training methods, and the relevance of pointe dancing today and in the future. Considerable space is also given to the issue of pointe-related injuries, their causes, and different treatments and therapies.

There is a wealth of valuable insight in these pages. The authors have consulted teachers, professional dancers, and medical professionals with extremely diverse backgrounds, and do a thorough job of presenting the many (sometimes conflicting) viewpoints of their interview subjects. Barringer and Schlesinger do justice to pointe dancing as both art and craft.

The value of The Pointe Book for today’s teachers and students is perhaps best summarized by a passage from the authors’ interview with Kirk Peterson, from the final chapter of the book, “Will Pointe Work Be Relevant in the Twenty-first Century?” Peterson states:

“A healthy respect for ballet’s time-honored traditions, an educated understanding of twentieth-century concerns for artistic relevance, and a respect for the public’s very real love affair with ballet as a theatrical art form, will point a contemporary ballet choreographer in the direction that will guide him or her in a way that embraces ballet’s traditions, yet stretches its potential and still uses pointe work as a valid tool for creativity and artistic expression.”

In The Pointe Book: Shoes Training, Technique, Janice Barringer and Sarah Schlesinger write with evident respect for the traditions and history of classical dance, and carefully provide the most current information on the state of our art and craft. This compendium also raises provocative questions regarding training methods, injury, and general attitudes of teachers, artists, and audience toward pointe dancing. The authors have given a useful resource to teachers, dancers, and parents for the development of the kind of artists Peterson describes above.

Buy Now

Disclosure: Janice Barringer is a contributing writer at 4dancers.org

Filed Under: Books & Magazines, Pointe Shoes, Reviews Tagged With: janice barringer, pointe shoes, sarah schlesinger, the pointe book

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