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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

Dance Blog Spotlight: Inside Ballet Technique

March 19, 2013 by 4dancers

Tammy in The Nutcracker

Can you tell readers about your background in dance?

Yes, I began dancing at a local dance school in my hometown of Greenfield, Indiana when I was ten years old.  Prior to that I had been in gymnastics for a few years.  Shortly after I started ballet and tap, my teacher recommended that my parents take me to the Jordan Academy of Dance in Indianapolis.  They had an affiliation with the Butler Ballet, which at the time had a very reputable ballet program.

My sophomore year of high school I auditioned for the early enrollment program at Butler University and was accepted.  My father was a teacher at my high school (English, Speech, and Drama) and worked with the principal to include me in the vocational program that allowed students to leave school mid-day to study a vocation. For two years I studied with the late Peggy Dorsey, Bud Kerwin, Therese Ragucci, William Glenn, and Karl Kaufman.

I then studied ballet at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana with Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux (now director of the North Carolina Ballet Theater with wife Patricia McBride), Jurgen Pagels, Madame Svetlova, Jory Hancock and Melissa Lowe.  After receiving a BS in Ballet from IU I decided to follow Jory Hancock and Melissa Lowe to the University of Arizona where they had moved to teach.  Jory is now the Dean of Fine Arts at the U of A and the dance department is one of the very best in the country.

Those were some of the best years of my dance life!  While there I also performed frequently with Ballet Ensemble, now called the Tucson Ballet.  After three years I received an MFA in Dance.  I then danced as a guest artist with the Lexington Ballet in Kentucky until Achilles tendinitis forced me to stop dancing en pointe.  Fortunately, I loved to teach and was able to teach at several private schools in the Lexington area as well as at the magnet middle school for the arts.  After dancing, I was also able to start and run a dancewear store called Dance Essentials which was in business from 1993-2003 when we sold it.

When did you begin the blog–and why did you start it?

I began Inside Ballet Technique the summer of 2009.  My family had moved to North Carolina in 2000 and circumstances required that I get a job that would help to support the family better financially.  At this point I had been working for a bank doing computer support for nine years.  I was feeling out of the loop with dance, almost to the point that it seemed like a whole different life that was becoming a distant memory.

When I started dancing at Butler University I had begun writing down combinations from the classes I took.  I continued this practice during my years at Indiana University and the University of Arizona as well as keeping notebooks full of my own combinations from classes I taught in Kentucky.  Somehow it occurred to me that this wealth of information might be useful to other teachers, and after searching the web I realized that no one had offered anything similar yet.  The few books I’d acquired that had ballet class combinations were difficult to follow, so I thought I’d put a few of my combos out there and see if others could read my style of recording them.  The response was favorable!

Tammy Rhodes

What does the blog cover?

In addition to offering combinations for barre, center, and pointe work, the blog covers topics for teachers and dancers.  I’ve written about methods I used teaching creative movement, beginning ballet, and up.  Topics also include how to improve your technique, how to manage pain, nutrition, caring for pointe shoes, issues on weight, and inspirational posts.

I haven’t expanded on it yet, but I want to do more interviews with dancers who are or have performed with companies that my readers would be interested in hearing about.  The one I have out there now is from one of my roommates in Tucson during graduate school, Carolyn Ockert-Haythe, who has danced on Broadway now for several years!  She gives some great advice to dancers hoping to break into New York City’s dance scene.

What has been the best part about participating in the dance community online?

The best part are the friends I’ve made.  Catherine Tully from 4dancers and Nichelle Strzepek from Dance Advantage have become personal friends that I really admire.  I’ve also learned a lot from the LinkedIn group Teachers of Classical Ballet, where discussions on technique are held with extreme detail among teachers all over the world.

What other dance blogs do you read?

In addition to 4dancers.org and danceadvantage.net, I enjoy reading 2pointesocial, tendusunderapalmtree.com, and I like following Daniil Simkin from ABT.  For a ballet dancer he’s very techie too, and is able to share a lot of his experiences of dancing with the online community.

BIO: Tamara Rhoades has an MFA in dance from the University of Arizona, 1992 and a BS in ballet from Indiana University, 1988. She also studied dance at Butler University for two years as a high school student. She danced professionally in Arizona and Kentucky, and taught ballet at Indiana University, University of Arizona, University of Kentucky, and Eastern Kentucky University, as well as the School of Lexington Ballet, School for Creative and Performing Arts in Lexington, KY, and Town and Village School of Dance in Paris, KY.  She has also performed with the Indiana University Opera Theater in numerous productions and with the IU Musical Theater as Laura (Larry) in A Chorus Line.  Tap was Tamara’s favorite class growing up.  She has published a book, “Classical Ballet: Combinations for Ten Complete Advanced Classes”, and writes at www.insideballet.com.

Filed Under: Dance Blog Spotlight Tagged With: ballet combinations, ballet technique, dance blog, pointe work

Student Spotlight: Charlotte Jeffery

September 26, 2012 by Ashley David

Next in our “Student Spotlight” series, meet Charlotte Jeffery…

Charlotte Jeffery

1. Can you tell readers how you became involved (and continued to be involved) with dance?

The start of my dance love affair began with ballet. Like hundreds of thousands of little girls across the world, when I was four, my Mum asked me if I wanted to do ballet, I said yes and it spiraled from there.

I began my ‘training’ (if we can call it that) in a drafty school hall with good toes, bad toes and winning little silver cups for my brilliant portrayal of a Siamese cat. I took all my ballet exams, and jumped around from syllabus to syllabus, I even spent one summer school at the Royal Ballet School, at White Lodge and was a Junior Associate of the Arts Educational School in Tring.

I was a ballet girl for a very long time (and still am in reality) but started contemporary when I was twelve or eleven – this incredibly cool teacher came to teach at our school (where we had dance as part of the curriculum) and introduced contemporary to all of us.

It was only natural therefore that when I continued dancing into GCSE and A level that I would take it higher into degree level. I have just graduated from Middlesex University with a 2:1 in Dance Studies.

While I was there I had the most incredible opportunity to study abroad. I traveled to the east cost of the USA, to Goucher College, in Baltimore where I stayed for four months and continued to train. I can honestly say now, that although it was one of the hardest four months of my life, emotionally and physically, it was also one of the best!!

Training in the states opened up yet more options for me and more choices for career paths. I trained in aerial dance (very scary but amazing) took contemporary, ballet, pointe work, a very intense choreography course and even got to work with some underprivileged children in the poorest area of Baltimore helping them to learn how to read and write by using movement as a tool for learning.

Now as a recent graduate I have decided to take the freelance route. I feel that there are far too many options for me, and I want to do so much, that I’m going to try and do it all; I call myself a freelance teacher, writer, community artist, dancer, arts administrator, choreographer… and the list is growing!

This has meant that even since I’ve graduated I’ve written reviews for up and coming companies, am currently in rehearsal for the opening ceremony of the Paralympics (29th August 2012), I have taught workshops at primary schools, and as of this week (until about Christmas time) I am working at the Royal Ballet School as an Interim Development and Publicity Coordinator. (See I told you I was a real ballet bod at heart!)  As of September I will add a new title to my belt, Artist in Residence, at a school in Buckinghamshire teaching lots of the extra curricular dance and some admin there too.

2. What do you find you like best about dance class? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Student Spotlight Tagged With: Ballet, Charlotte Jeffery, contemporary dance, dancer, freelance dancer, Goucher College, pointe work, the royal ballet school

Bunions 101

November 1, 2009 by 4dancers

bunion

First of all, the disclaimer–I’m no doctor, I am not a nurse–don’t take anything I say as medical advice. This is for informational purposes only. That said, this is about bunions. If you are a female dancer who has done pointe work for any length of time, you know what I’m talking about. Not all dancers get bunions, but many do–and they can be painful. If you want to learn more about them….start by visiting the Calgary Foot Clinic (photo is from them as well) for a good primer.

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Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: bunions, calgary foot clinic, dancer, pointe work

Featured Studio: Nunnbetter Dance Theatre

October 18, 2009 by 4dancers

nbdt_mahboeb

Name: Nunnbetter Dance Theatre

Location: 25 South Washington Avenue, Bergenfield, NJ

About: Nunnbetter Dance Theatre was created by Leath Nunn in 1999. There is a both a school and a company here, and for those who are serious about pursuing a career in dance, they have a pre-professional program as well.

The pre-professional program is fairly new and it looks very well thought out, with instruction in specialty pointe work, nutrition, yoga and Pilates in addition to the ballet, jazz and modern classes… [Read more…]

Filed Under: 4dancers, 4teachers, Studios Tagged With: Ballet, dance, jazz, leath nunn, modern, new jersey, nunnbetter dance theatre, nutrition, pilates, pointe work, summer camp, yoga

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