Ballet Pointe Shoes- Balancing on Pointe

by Josie
(Philippines )

Ballet Pointe Shoes- Balancing on Pointe

Hi Odette

I'm Josie, 12 years old, I kinda newly started pointe shoes and I got demoted to a lower level because I stopped ballet for a whole summer and now I'm in the lower class but I made friends and I'm on pointe. I missed ballet pointe classes for a lot of times but I continued already. We started doing bourrée on pointe without the barre. I can't do it without going full pointe and we also do slight one foot full pointe without the barre and I can do it but its not fully pointed up. I'm too scared to go on full pointe and tip over and fall. I really need advices or anything to balance on pointe without the barre, do bourrée without the barre and all of them on full pointe. Thanks! it would mean a lot



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Reply by Odette
To:- Ballet Pointe Shoes- Balancing on Pointe


Remember, just like I did before I went en pointe, ballet students MUST take responsibility for their own strengthening prior to beginning pointe work.
Australian dancer, Lisa Howell has made a video which explains how pre-point strengthening works.
Don't leave it to your teacher!
You can watch this pre-pointe video
yourself here (just wait for the page to load up then the video is on the top right of the page).

Hi Josie,
Thank you for contacting me it is great to hear from you. I have some great advice to give you, but I also suggest you look at Lisa Howell's pre-pointe video which gives young dancers a chance to really learn everything you must know about pointe. There are some pointers only experts can tell you, and this pre-pointe video is perfect to learn what other dancers don't know.

I know pointe can feel scary and unsteady at first, but the sooner you really try to push yourself past those nerves the easier it will get. Especially without the barre, you can feel afraid but if you always take it gradually and slowly you can learn to feel more confident on your pointes.

I would always say to make sure you are engaging all your leg muscles to let you stand on pointe. Don't just rely on your feet to balance on pointe, it is the use of your glutes (backs of the legs) and keeping the correct posture with your abdominals strongly held.

All of these factors will help you feel more steady in the center, but also get used to keeping a light hand at the barre so that it isn't such a shock when you move into the center. If you rely on the barre too much, then you don't use your muscles as much as you should.

I hope this helps!

Best wishes,
Odette