As many of you probably know, at the end of this year I will have been dancing for ten years. And as I'm sure many of you know too, I have only been en pointe for nearly three years.
I had to do seven years of ballet before I could go anywhere near a pointe shoe.
Why? Well, your feet need the strength before you can put all your weight on them. Plus, you rely a lot on them for your balance.
To make your feet strong for pointe, there are some exercises you can do to help strengthen your feet. I know you would have all heard me say this before, but you have to do lots of releves.
A lot of the work you do at the bar, especially the demi pointe work, is set to help prepare you for your pointe.
It's there to strengthen your feet and ankles so that by the time you reach a grade where you need to dance with pointe shoes, you will be well prepared.
Some other thing you can do to help strengthen your feet for pointe is to do ankle circles every day. Twenty-five on both feet in each direction.
Rolling your arch with a tennis ball also helps. Do it 35 times on each foot. Once with your foot parallel and then with your foot turned out.
If you are wanting to get stronger feet, I hope this post has helped you. If you have any questions or perhaps any other ideas on how to strengthen your feet for pointe, be sure to leave a comment.
Thanks everyone.
15 comments:
cool! What pointe shoes do you wear?? I have gaynor minden's at the moment, cause i was breaking the bloch shoes in way to fast..... they are so good!
pointing and flexing with a theroband also helps a lot : )
Love ~*Chantelle*~
Our teacher encourages us to do those stuff too!
I have a award for you at my blog!
melissa
Hey Chantelle,
Thanks for reading my post and commenting.
I use the brand 'European Balance,' for my Pointe shoes. As you just said, I appear to be wearing them out pretty quickly. Perhaps I should try Gaymore Mindens next time.
Izi :)
Hello Melissa,
Yeah, those exercises are sooo true hey? They really help strengthen your feet.
Izi :)
instead of just doing ankle circles, which can be a bit dull, i was taught to draw each letter of the alphabet with my foot in the air, it also strengthens more muscles case its not just going round in circles
Hi Izi!
my Gaynor Minden's are really good. They come partway shaped (in a curve) and they supposedly never actually break, but they do get softer. My only problem is trying to keep them clean for exams + concerts on black tarkett which rubs off when you have to go on the floor!
~*Chantelle*~
hi!
i've made a new blog:
www.a-mad-life.blogspot.com
hows your dancing going?
Love ~*Chantelle*~
Hi Childlike Empress,
Yes, I totally agree with you. Just doing ankle circles can be pretty boring.
Drawing letters with your feet sounds far more interesting, hey. Thanks for the advice.
Thanks for reading/commenting on my blog!
Izi :)
Hey again Chantelle,
Wow, those ballet shoes sound great. I will just HAVE to get a pair the next time my ones wear out. They are breaking soooo fast. Like, yesterday at ballet I thought 'wow, they're almost useless now!' Weird how your foot can get so strong that it breaks something as hard at that!!
I will sure check out your new blog. Looking forward to it - thanks for the URL. I'll TRY to follow it. Hopefully my Google Account will let me.
Have an awesome day!
Izi :)
WOW !
My exam done!
So scary though I think I have a higher mark this year than last!
mel
This is the first time I'm visiting your blog - I found you via Melissa, actually. I am a dance teacher and these are good suggestions - I too teach my students to draw the alphabet with their toes as a nother poster said. You might also be interested in this video I did a while ago showing "toe sit-ups" for strengthening: http://youtu.be/tHEObpf_bC8
Glad to have found your blog! Dance and dream out loud.
Nichelle
Hi Nichelle,
Thanks a lot for visiting my blog. I'm glad you like it.
Yeah, ancle circles really do help a lot, hey? I had never heard of the one where you draw the letters of the alphabet with your feet, but it sounds interesting and like it would work.
Great, I'll watch that YouTube video soon. Thanks for giving me the link for it.
Have a great rest of your day.
Izi :)
Hi Izi,
they're sooo good! Mine were are also fitted pretty well, so they don't hurt (only if i've actually been on my toes as such for 3hours, they get sore), but they are twice the price! I think mine have lasted so far at least 3 or 4 times bloch pointe shoes
Love ~*Chantelle*~
Hi Chantelle,
Thanks a lot for all the advice you have given me on pointe shoes.
Sorry I have been SO VERY slack at replying to comments and updating lately.
I guess that if they are twice the price but last 3 - 4 times the amout of time they are still worth it.
Are they really hard to break in at first, or is it easy to break in, but they just don't totally 'break,' like, quickly.
Sorry, that sentance was all messed up, I don't really know any other way of putting it, though.
Do you get me?
OK, have an awesome rest of your day/night.
Izi :)
Hi Izi,
mine have definately lasted me WAY more than Bloch shoes.
Well, they come pre moulded/arched so they are slightly in the shape of an arch and mine have softened (I have the hardest ones) but are still totally fine to dance in. At first demi pointe is rather hard, but you can still do it (just make sure your ribbons and elastics are sewn on very well!).
hope that helps!
Love ~*Chantelle*~
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