Tell if You Are Ready to Go on Pointe

Ballet is a rigorous style of dance that makes great demands of your body. Going en pointe is a big step, and a landmark moment in a young ballerina's career. Dancing en pointe can be very dangerous if the dancer is not strong enough or trained enough to do it, so don't attempt to dance en pointe unless your instructor tells you you are ready. However, this article will give you a sense of how close you are to being ready to dance en pointe.

Steps

Making Sure Your Body Is Ready

1. Make sure you’re old enough. Experts argue that it’s unsafe to begin dancing in pointe shoes before 11 or 12 years of age, because the bones in the foot are still hardening when you’re young. Dancing en pointe at a young age, before your bones are strong enough to support your weight, could result in permanent injury to your feet.
2. Take at least two years of prior ballet instructions. Though some students may be asked to wait longer, especially if they are not old enough, nobody should be considered for work on pointe until they have received, at minimum, two years of instruction in the fundamentals of ballet.
   • This doesn’t mean that you took one ballet class a month for two years, and are now ready to go on pointe. You need regular, rigorous training to prepare for pointe shoes.
   • You should have consistently received at least 3-5 hours of training per week for the two years of prior instruction.
3. Check the bone structure of your foot. Unfortunately some people will never be able to dance en pointe, no matter how hard they train, simply because the bone structure of their foot would result in injury if pointe were to be attempted. The ideal foot for dancing en pointe will have the following characteristics:
   • Toes should be about the same length, to provide a “squared-off” platform for stability. The most difficult foot shape is one in which the second toe is longest.
   • Ankle flexibility
   • High arch on the instep of the foot
4. Make sure you are at a healthy weight. Because all of your body weight is distributed across your toes when you dance en pointe, instructors might hesitate to recommend you for pointe work if they worry your toes will not be able to handle the amount of weight you will be asking them to support. Calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) to make sure you fall within a healthy weight category before attempting pointe.
5. Check if you have a strong, straight core and upright pelvis when dancing. Have a teacher or parent evaluate you, or take a video recording of yourself dancing. It will be difficult to evaluate yourself in a mirror because craning your neck to watch your reflection might have a negative impact on your posture.
   • Your back muscles and lower abdominal muscles should be engaged in holding the trunk of your body straight.
   • You shouldn’t sink down into your pelvis or hip bone when placing weight on one leg.
6. See if you can do 16 relevés in a row in demi-pointe. Demi-pointe, also known as half-pointe, is when you balance on the balls of your foot rather than the toes of your foot. If you cannot perform 16 relevés in a row on demi-pointe from center, your muscles are not yet strong enough to go en pointe.
   • Stand at a bar or other flat surface (like a table) to support yourself if you lose your balance.
   • The releve can be performed from any position, first through fifth.
   • Roll up onto the balls of your feet and hold that position for a few seconds.
   • Keep your weight centered over first three toes. Don't let your weight shift so you're balancing on your little toes.
   • Don't "release your turnout" by letting your heels turn backwards. Engage your rotators and abdominal muscles to keep your heels pointed inward so your toes point outward.
   • Roll back down until you're flat-footed.
   • Repeat 16 times.
7. Be able to maintain correct turnout while dancing on flat foot or demi-pointe. If you can’t maintain correct turnout normally, you will have a lot of trouble maintaining it en pointe, because it’s more difficult to maintain turnout then. Your foot should stay in line with your kneecap and hip joint, with your ball of your big toe acting as the balancing pointe for your body weight. You should maintain straight knees and keep your heels forward to avoid sickling.
8. Ask your teacher to assess your foot and ankle strength. Although there are general rules of thumb, ballet instructors are more and more relying on individual assessment of students’ feet and ankles to determine whether or not they are ready for pointe work. Either the instructor or a physical therapist recommended by your instructor will know what to look for in evaluating your body. If you think you meet the other benchmarks and are ready to begin pointe work, ask your instructor for an evaluation.

Building Strength and Technique

1. Build ankle strength. There are many exercises you can do outside of ballet steps that will build up ankle strength to ensure you’re performing technical steps safely.
   • Play balance and catch: standing on one leg, throw a ball back and forth with a partner. The heavier the ball, the better the workout will be for your ankle. Have your partner throw it all around your center — above you, to your right and left, etc. — to further force your balance to shift.
   • One-legged squats: Extend one leg in front of you, then do ten half squats. Swing the leg out to the side and do 10 more half squats. Swing the leg behind you, and do ten more half squats. (Adjust reps up or down based on comfort level.)
2. Exercise with a Theraband. A Theraband is an elastic resistance band that can be used for both strength and flexibility training. Do the following exercise for 10 to 20 reps, or as much as you can.
   • Sit straight-backed on the floor with legs extended in front of you.
   • Loop the Theraband around the ball of your foot and pull backward to create tension.
   • In a slow, controlled motion, point and flex your toes, making sure your feet do not sickle.
3. Practice metatarsal doming. Metatarsal doming exercises strengthen the small, intrinsic muscles in the foot that you don’t think about on a day-to-day basis, but which are very important for proper technique.
   • In a standing position, tighten your toes to provide a stable base for your foot.
   • Pull your foot back, arching your instep as far as possible.
   • Hold this position for a count of six seconds, then relax for ten seconds.
   • Perform ten reps of this exercise on each foot.
4. Practice going on demi-pointe. Although it’s safer than dancing en pointe, it’s actually more difficult to hold positions in demi-pointe. Practice dancing on demi-pointe to strengthen the muscle groups you’ll need to dance en pointe and work on your balance.
5. Practice steps and exercises that will prepare you for pointe. Instructors will expect you to perform a specific set of steps when they make their decision about whether or not you are ready to graduate to pointe. Although you should ask your specific instructor what he or she will be looking for, in general, instructors are looking for the following abilities, which you should practice:
   • Hold a passé balance, in which you pull one leg up and tuck the ball of your foot into your knee, while standing on half-pointe for as long as you can.
   • Maintain perfect form during pliés, in which you bend your knees while maintaining your turnout, so your feet are pointed outward.
   • Pointe your feet when dancing; pointing when dancing on demi-pointe strengthens the muscles you will need en pointe.
   • Perform a piqué passé with straight leg: standing on one leg in demi-pointe, bring the other leg up into a passé balance, then bring it down to touch the ground, before bringing it back up into a passé balance.
   • Do 16 relevés in the center in a row.

Tips

• Use your turn out muscles (your rotators) and don't curl your toes when you point.
• Go to a ballet physiotherapist for a fitting for pointe shoes.
• Don't force your turn out, while it is important, if you force it, you will injure your knees, which would ruin your chances of getting on pointe.
• Practice pliés and relevés every day. Make sure you have good turnout when it comes to pliés, arabesques, relevés, and pirouettes. Having a good turnout is essential to good pointe technique. Also practice your fifth position, because in pointe, third position isn't as often used.
• Don't be discouraged if you have to wait a while before going en pointe. After all, it just means you have more to look forward to! You would have also had extra practice on demi-pointe.
• Having strong back muscles is what I found key to getting en point, but they are hard to exercise as we hardly use them. Practicing arabesques every day helps to loosen them up and strengthen them so you can gradually lift your leg higher and higher. But before all of this your technique should be correct. Your teacher shouldn't care if you get you're leg {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of the floor, as long as the technique is right you shouldn't worry to much. Remember as soon as your leg gets to 90 degrees you can start to tilt your pelvis, but your back must remain upright!
• Make sure that you can see yourself in the mirror well. Then you can self correct better.
• Never tilt your pelvis, and always hold your arms correctly.
• Just pointing and flexing your feet will help a lot. Do it slow and show Demi-pointe first, then full pointe.

Warnings

• Pointe can do serious damage to your feet if you are too young. Make sure you know how strong you are, and how much your growth plates are developed. Don't make your children do it, or it will cost you lots of money in medical bills.
• Do not go en pointe without permission from a professional ballet instructor. Beginners should not dance en pointe unless they are under the supervision of a professional ballet instructor.

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• Make a Ballet Bun
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• Choose Ballet Slippers
• Be Fitted in Pointe Shoes

Sources and Citations

See also

• Ready a Young Child for Ballet Class
• Go to a Ballet Performance
• Prepare for Your Ballet Recital
• Ballet Dance
• Become a Ballet Dancer
• Do Ballet at Home
• Do Well in a Ballet Audition
• Dance En Pointe
• Make a Tutu
• Start Ballet As an Adult

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• Make a Ballet Bun