Stepping up to Pointe

How do you know if your child is ready to progress from ballet work to pointe? Does it make a difference in a future career in ballet if you start pointe later rather than sooner? How many days a week should a child take ballet or pointe? If you have a child who gets starry eyed everytime she sees a pair of pointe shoes it is sometimes difficult to say not this year, so it is important to understand what makes a dancer "ready" for pointe. Primarily readiness is determined in three ways. First the teacher will evaluate the ankle and foot strength of the dancer. The ankle becomes the primary support for the body when working on pointe. The foot becomes an extention of the ankle, so it must also have sufficient strength to maintain the line of the foot from ankle to toes. Next the teacher will evaluate the level of the student's technique. The technique evaluation and strength evaluation are the sole perogative of the teacher. Finally, it must be determined if the bones of the feet are sufficiently developed to prevent damage. Most teachers will also evaluate this aspect of the student's development, but some don't and rely on the pointe shoe fitter to evaluate the bone development. That is why it is so important to buy that first pair of pointe shoes from a dealer who has sufficient training to evaluate the bone development and either proceed with the fitting or if there is a doubt, to refer the parent to a podiatrist for evaluation. In my store, if we have any doubt about the bone development we recommend the parent take the child to a podiatrist for evaluation before the fitting. It is much easier to tell your child we have to wait another 6 months or a year than to tell your child two years down the road, no more pointe.

Why dance shoes have to FIT

As a retail dancewear store owner, I am often asked "Can you give my child room to grow?", the answer is maybe. For children's ballet shoes (the full sole kind used for 3-7 year olds) we can give the child one thumb width of room to grow. We can do this because the shoes can be adjusted using the draw strings to snug them up to the foot and because in this age group the steps are usually basic and the child is learning positions, does most of their "work" at the bar and turns are minimal. For the older child the answer becomes NO, the shoes must fit properly with no more than 1/4" of room before adjusting the drawstring. This is because as a child advances in ballet, the difficulty of the steps increases, single turns become double turns, and if there is too much room in the ballet shoe it will shift on the child's foot increasing the risk of injury and/or blisters and decreasing stability. For all other kinds of dance shoes there can be very little room to grow because the shoes are not adjustable and extra room in the shoe increases the risk of injury or blisters and decreases stability. When it comes to pointe shoes (pointe shoe use usually begins between ages 10 and 13) the shoes must fit EXACTLY right to avoid injury. More about pointe shoes and proper fit in a later post. A dancer's feet are the tools of his/her trade, and like any other profession the more we do to take care of the tools the longer they will last. For more information about the importance of the dancer's feet and shoes try "The Dancer's Foot Book" by Dr Terry Spilk. You can get your copy from our website by clicking on the link.

Choosing a new dance school

For all the Moms, Dads and dancers out there who have recently moved to a new area and are faced with finding a new dance school. Remember that dance schools come in all shapes and sizes, some are geared toward younger dancers, some toward advanced students, some are all about ballet, and some are all about competition. Know what kind of school you are looking for first, then research what is available in your area by doing a yellowpages search for dance instruction or by finding the local dancewear retail store and asking if they have a list of schools in the area. If the schools have a web site, pull it up and READ the school policies, check out the faculty, and determine whether they are a competition school. Need more info on how to pick a dance school, get our ebook from our website www.stretchdance.com/book/handbook.htm it is $3.95 and takes the Dance Mom (or Dad) from the three year old dancer to the first professional audition. While you are there, check out all the great book links on our books&tapes product page ( www.stretchdance.com/book.htm ) . Have fun and I'll talk to y'all in a couple of weeks.