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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

Writing About Pointe Shoes – Janice Barringer

January 18, 2013 by 4dancers

Janice Barringer knows more than most people about a subject that is near and dear to the heart of ballet dancers — pointe shoes. She is the author of the most comprehensive book I have ever seen on the subject, The Pointe Book, and since one of our themes this quarter is footwear and foot care, it seemed only natural that she should be the person to talk about pointe shoes…

I’m sure readers will find some interesting tidbits in the interview below!

the pointe shoe bookWhere did the idea come from to write this book?

A dear friend of mine, Sarah Schlesinger, was a writer, a lyricist and the owner of a Capezio Dance Store.  Her mother was a ballet teacher and her godparents were part owners of Capezio.  She knew I had contacts in the ballet world, and also felt strongly that a book about pointe shoes needed to be written.  Several customers were furious that the shoes they had bought from her store were wearing out.  The father of one ballet student actually struck an employee in anger because he thought they had been cheated—–given defective shoes.  Sarah said, “if only there was a book that I could pull out to prove that pointe shoes are built to wear out.  This was before some of the new types of long-lasting shoes were on the market.

She repeatedly asked if I would take on this project.  At the time I was dancing professionally and teaching a guest class now and then.  The idea of writing a book did not interest me even though Sarah said she would write the proposal, and guide me if I provided the information.  (The Second and Third Editions I wrote by myself).  One day I was in my chiropractor’s waiting room.  Dr. Nathan Novick was a kindly, older man that took care of many professional dancers as well as his normal clientele.  There sat Martine Van Hamel right across from me.  I have no idea why, but suddenly I decided, “today I’m starting the book about pointe shoes.”  I grabbed some scratch paper and asked Martine if she would tell me what shoes she wore, what size, how did she prepare the ribbons, elastics, what did she do to break them in, what kind of padding did she use etc.  She answered graciously, and the book began.  I couldn’t wait to call Sarah to tell her that the inspiration had struck!

From there it was easy.  David Howard was my teacher and his classes were and still are filled with some of the greatest dancers in the world.  I saw them everyday.  In the dressing room at the end of class I would ask dancers all about their shoes.  Alessandra Ferri had just finished the movie, “Dancers”, and she told me in detail all about her shoe issues, and also about something that was new to me at the time—-vamp elastic.  After talking to many wonderful dancers, I decided I needed to go to the leading schools to find out how they set up their pointe programs.  Since I was in New York, I started with The School of American Ballet.

It snow-balled from there.  I kept getting ideas of knowledgeable people to interview and no one ever turned me down.  The two years that followed were the most exciting years of my life.  I went all over the country and to Europe twice.  As I interviewed leading dancers, teachers, directors of schools, owners of pointe shoe companies, and medical professionals, I also attended performances, rehearsals, classes, meetings of the greatest people in the ballet world.

What are the main topics that this book covers?

It begins with a short history of pointe work.  There are some humorous moments in this chapter.  It then moves to the structure of the foot and the pointe shoemaking process, fitting, preparing and caring for the shoes.  Top teachers like David Howard, Suki Schorer, Peff Modelski and others have contributed to The Basics of  Teaching Pointe chapter.  There’s a chapter with interviews of the men in charge of pointe shoes for both American Ballet Theatre and The Birmingham Royal Ballet where they tell us all kinds of amazing facts about securing, dying, and caring for shoes for their dancers. I have put in a chapter that is 44 pages long that is called Pointe Shoe Characteristics.  This is a cross-reference which helps a dancer find the shoe that will best meet her requirements.  It has categories in it such as very narrow shoes, very wide shoes, shoes for high insteps, shoes for a longer second toe, very light shoes, unusual shoes, long-lasting shoes and on and on.  There is a chapter about the pointe programs in many major ballet schools.  Included in this is The Paris Opera Ballet School, the Royal Ballet School, The School of  American Ballet, Canada’s National Ballet School, The Goh Ballet Academy in Canada, The Kirov Ballet Academy in Washington D.C., and many others.  I have notated classes I observed at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre, The San Diego Ballet School, Ballet School, NY,  and others.  In this chapter there is a very informative interview of Franco De Vita, Principal of the JKO School.  Other chapters include pointe shoe accessories, a pointe shoe sizing chart, pointe related injuries and their remedies and conversations with leading ballet dancers about their shoes, their feet and how they solved their pointe shoe issues.

What was the most surprising thing you learned while writing the book? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Pointe Shoes Tagged With: ballet dancers, capezio, janice barringer, pointe shoes, the pointe shoe book, toe shoes

Pointe Shoe Products: Bunheads Ouch Pouch Jr.

January 25, 2012 by 4dancers

Cassady from Motion Unlimited Dancewear shares one more pointe shoe product with us this month…the “Ouch Pouch Jr.”…

Ouch Pouch Jr./Color

 

This is by far our best selling toe pad!  With a thin layer of gel inside a fabric pouch, this pad will be your best friend.  They easily stretch over your toes to give you all-over padding that you need–and nothing extra to take up space in your shoes.

The Ouch Pouch Jr. comes in two different sizes so it can fit every foot.  The small sizes fit small or narrow feet and the large fits larger or wider feet. You can even cut it down to make it the perfect fit. It hugs toes nicely and does not stick to the skin like most gel pads. They are easy to clean and last throughout many pairs of pointe shoes. You can even get them in three reversible color combinations!

With comfy padding like this, you won’t need much else to keep your feet happy.

Plain Ouch Pouch Jr.

Order your own Ouch Pouch Jr. (Plain/LG)

Order a color Ouch Pouch Jr. (LG)

Filed Under: Pointe Shoe Products, Pointe Shoes Tagged With: bunheads, ouch pouch, ouch pouch jr., pointe shoe pads, pointe shoes, toe shoes

Pointe Shoe Products: Daniel’s Pointe Shoe Glue

January 17, 2012 by 4dancers

Cassady from Motion Unlimited Dancewear is back with us today to talk about another pointe shoe product–pointe shoe glue…

Daniel's Pointe Shoe Glue

Everybody knows pointe shoes are expensive! For most people, it’s important to try to preserve them as long as they can.  There have been many tricks out there, but the best seems to be gluing them. Of course you can use many types of glue, but the very best has to be Daniel’s Pointe Shoe glue.

Daniel, the man who invented it, did a lot of research on pointe shoes and came up with a great formula designed specifically for dancers to repair, restore and renew dead pointe shoes.  You can use the glue in a variety of ways to help harden and uphold your shoes.

Most commonly, dancers will put the glue on the areas of their shoes that become soft. To get the best results, you have to let your shoes dry completely after wear. After they dry, you just apply the glue to the soft areas inside or outside of the shoe and again let them dry completely. Even though this glue seems like magic, it will not make your shoes brand new again–but it will give you the ability to continue to wear them for a while longer.

Another way to use help extend the wear of your shoes is to use the glue before you dance in them. Take your brand new shoes (before any wear) and put glue on the areas that tend to “die” quickly.  This will add an extra hardness to the areas that seem to need it, giving your shoes more life. As they soften, you can always re-apply more glue.

Keep in mind, if you are newer to pointe work, you’ll want to get your teachers advice before trying to glue your shoes on your own. You don’t want to ruin a pair of pointe shoes!

Save your shoes–try Daniel’s Pointe Shoe Glue.

Filed Under: Pointe Shoe Products, Pointe Shoes Tagged With: daniel's pointe shoe glue, motion unlimited dancewear, pointe shoes, toe shoes

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