DO'S and DON'TS For Starting Pointe Work

 DO'S and DON'TS For Starting Pointe Work

Hi, it's been a while since I have posted and apologies as I haven't been well for some time(nothing super serious no worries). I decided to write a small bit about things NOT to do and the correct thing to DO on Pointe that you will need to know. This post is mainly aiming at those starting Pointe work but anyone can read it of course. I would just like to say am not an expert but have taken dancing lessons for nine years and so am sharing what I have learnt. I am just writing my own opinions and views and I have nothing against anyone who disagrees with what I say as you are entitled to have a free opinion, we all are.


There may be a slight imbalance of DO'S and DONT'S, however these are key points that I think every dancer on Pointe would need to know. But for now, let's get started:

Example of correctly tied Pointe shoes
modelled by me.

1. Don't: Tie ribbons loosely and sloppily, recipe for disaster believe me. When tying your ribbons, you need to firstly make sure they're the right length, to do this, they need to be long enough to cross over, under and around your legs and ankles and to be tied while being supportive to your feet. I started Pointe work with no elastic to keep my Pointe shoes on, so tying Pointe shoes was EXTREMELY important as you need the shoe to hug your foot and support your ankles and feet; reducing chances of injury (warming up also reduces these risk A LOT) and provides a more stable base to perform on so to speak. This will basically be allowing you to perform floor and bare work correctly and to perform to your highest ability, a key for any success in dancing. You will see in the picture of me in my Pointe shoes how your ribbons should be tied. This is how they should be tied and once knotted, the remaining ribbon must be tucked under in the gap on your leg between your ankle bone and tendon on the back of your foot. As you can see, where the ribbons are attached to the shoe there is no gaping or bunched up ribbon. This is a sign of correctly tied Pointe shoes. Remember the key to know when the ribbons are tied correctly, when standing the ribbons should be flat not crumpled or bunched up and should be flat against the sides of your foot.
2. DO: Tie your ribbons and tuck the remaining ribbon under. This will prevent you from standing on them, prevent the knot of the ribbon being knocked and coming undone and to make your feet look presentable and professional. There is nothing more unprofessional than having someone wearing Pointe shoes where the ribbons are trailing on the floor. Not only does this look bad but it can be a hazard to you, especially when fully standing on Pointe as you could trip over the ribbons. So be sure to tidy those Pointes up :)

   

   This is how your feet should look when standing
   correctly. In this image my shoes aren't broken in completely and
   are brand new, making them look straight upright at the back.
   This is normal for new Pointe shoes. To note: at the time my
   ribbons had not been trimmed yet so I couldn't
   tuck them in.

3. DON'T: Stand on full Pointe without any support when first starting. You can cause a lot of strain and damage to your feet, ankles and knees when first starting Pointe and standing on them fully. Not only is this dangerous for your health, but a injury can result in a disability to perform at your best and this can really alter your aims of succeeding on certain steps for Ballet. I don't mean never practice, but what I mean is when your a beginner, it's best to wait for your dance teacher to inform you on things that you can do when beginning. If your teacher says "practice rising up onto full Pointe with support" then you can do that but do it with support to keep your balance and reduce risk of injury.  

   

   Practise can be made easier with cushioning. Try
   Ouch Pouches which protest feet from injury and cushion them
   I fully recommend them :)

4. DO: Work your way up with practise and be patient. Pointe work takes ALOT of practise and patience. It can be physically challenging to hold yourself up on your toes and balance. But with practice you'll master that and when the basics are mastered, you can begin to try harder things. For example, when I was first learning I first started with strengthening my feet, ankles, legs and knees at the bar. Once I had strengthened myself, I was able to move along the bar, followed being able to move across the floor without the bar and then go onto harder things such as Pirouettes. Now I can do multiple Pirouette across the floor however, I can do that because of patience and practice :) If I wasn't patient and didn't practice, I'd most likely be nowhere.  
5. DO: Warm up before dancing. Pointe work can put a lot of strain on your feet, ankle, legs and knees and so having warned up muscles can help with performance and reduce risk of injury. You will learn warm ups in lessons when beginning Pointe work but the most useful I found was to rise up and down from your feet to your toes until you're all warmed up. Not warming up can be risky, can cause injuries and these injuries in turn can ruin your performance chances as it will make it harder to perform certain techniques, making progression even harder. So remember, always and I mean ALWAYS warm up before any exercise.

So there you have it, a few simple DO'S and DONT'S that I believe all Pointe beginners should know. I hope this was found to be useful and detailed.
If you would like to read more about tips for Pointe work, why not check out my previous posts about more important things for Pointe beginners- Key Things To Make Pointe Work More Comfortable: for beginners, and the second part to this post- Key Things To Make Pointe Work More Comfortable: a little bit more to remember

Happy dancing to everyone,

Yours truly
Caris