Choreographing the annual recital piece for our Senior Pointe Dancers has been a highlight of my time here at Dance Magic. We’ve done classical, contemporary, baseball, and even mixed in a little hip hop. Who can forget the year Miss Christine put together a beautiful dance featuring a live vocal soloist. No matter the theme, our dancers are always willing to “rise” to a new challenge. We thought it would be fun to unlock a little bit of the mystery, and take you on a journey behind the curtain of an exciting milestone in the life of a young ballet dancer: her first pair of pointe shoes.
The journey to pointe shoes starts many years before tying up ribbons- in fact it takes hundreds of hours in the studio working on turnout, technique and building strength to be up to the challenge. There is no perfect age to start, and here at Dance Magic the decision is made by the instructor, after careful consideration of each individual dancer. The students take a minimum of 2 ballet classes and one pre-pointe or pointe class per week.
I recently had the pleasure of congratulating four new dancers on their first pair of pointe shoes. They’ve been prepped on the blisters and the bleeding toe nails… so the next step was to head to the dance store to be fitted. It is quite the process! A trained staff member will work with the dancer to help her find a good first pair. Often her teacher will also come along to help with the fitting process. Many times a dancer will need to try on many pairs in varying sizes, widths, arch profiles and hardness.
For this group of 4 ballerinas we spent about 2.5 hours finding the best available fit. It was a fun experience, and we all learned a lot about everyone’s feet! Like me, I’m sure these dancers will spend the rest of their life noticing a “pretty foot.” It takes time and experience to know just what to look for in a shoe. Eventually these girls will develop a shoe preference, to ensure that they feel strong and secure en pointe.
Pointe Shoe Check List
- Shoes
- Ribbons
- Elastic
- Lambs Wool
- Tape
- Bandaids
- A Whole Lot of Rises!
It took this group of eager ballerinas a bit of trial and error when it came to sewing on ribbons and elastic- but after a few adjustments they were able to get everything sitting properly. I asked the girls how long they spent sewing on their ribbons and elastic. The average was about 4-5 hours to sew their shoes! They took great care not to sew through the satin, or “wreck” anything. I think that gives you an idea of how much this means to them. I assured them that they will get more comfortable with the process, and be able to whip up a pair in 10-15 minutes.
Once we went over how to properly tie the ribbons, it was time to head to the barre to break them in. At this point everyone is buzzing with excitement! It takes time to find the groove of rolling through demi pointe, and evenly distributing their weight on a teensy tiny box once up on full pointe- but with practice and good habits it will come.
Over the last month we have been talking a lot about goal setting here at DM, so I thought it would be neat to ask these budding ballerinas what it meant to reach their goal of getting en pointe…
“It makes me feel successful!”
“It makes all of the waiting and hard work worth it!”
“I feel good knowing that I set out to reach a goal, and now I have! Next up I want to dance in Snow in the Nutcracker.”
“It makes me want to work harder.”
I also asked them how it physically felt to stand up on their toes… and they all said while it was much more painful than they expected, after a few weeks their feet were already starting to get used to it. From our more experienced dancers to the newbies at the barre- I took a poll of what made them feel most graceful while dancing on pointe:
- Arabesques
- Bourees
- Pique Turns
Would you guess that their unanimous least favorite step is…. rises! Sorry girls- we won’t be stopping those any time soon 😉
Their piece of advice to other dancers working towards pointe shoes?
“Work hard! It hurts for the first bit- but you’ve earned that pain of dancing on your toes… the harder you work at it, the more rewarding it is!”
As an instructor I love hearing what it means to these dancers. I have seen resilience, persistence, grace, determination and artistry develop in each of my dancers throughout the years. I couldn’t be more proud every time a ballerina slips into that first pair of pointe shoes and finds her place at the barre.
They are right to attest to all of the hard work it will take, but I know just as in seasons past, this group of lovely dancers will rise to the challenge.
-Miss Ashlea
