Ballet Pointe Shoes - Wrong Shape in Shoes

by Danielle
(Atlanta Ga, USA )

Ballet Pointe Shoes - Wrong Shape in Shoes

Hi I'm Danielle I'm 12 and have been en pointe for 2 years. I am perfecting my double pirouettes, fouettes, hops en pointe, and extensions. But something has been wrong. Whenever I go in to a photo shoot the pose is right but not the feet. Not because of turn out or arch but because of the wideness and fatness of them. I have really wide feet and a really high crown. My feet do tend to swell a lot too. It makes everything I do look bad. I would say that they are very strong so what makes them swell I have tried a bigger pointe shoe size but nothing works. I have spent a year looking for "the right fit" in pointe shoes but nothing is good they all look the same, where my foot is coming out of the shoe. It looks terrible. Even my teacher said that I look good from the feet up but the feet ruin it. My friends are getting photo shoot and I'm not because of my feet. Are there any exercises I can do to make it look better anything at all I can do!!!!!

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Reply by Odette
To:- Ballet Pointe Shoes - Wrong Shape in Shoes


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 Danielle,
Thanks for your message on ballet pointe shoes. I am trying really hard to imagine what you are describing about your feet, but finding it a bit difficult. Have you got a photo? Then I will be able to see more clearly what the problem is.

At the moment, I still think you should check the fit because it shouldn’t look like your foot is coming out of the shoe. Have you tried different brands of pointe shoe, as well as different sizing? There are many brands of pointe shoes that suit different types of feet. Some include Bloch, Freed and Capezio.

I would suggest you try Bloch if you haven’t already, as there is plenty of choice to suit different feet. Bloch is a good, solid shoe that is popular for young dancers to start training with. Look at my 'Bloch Pointe Shoes page for more information.

You have already tried to solve the immediate things that come to mind like checking the size and fitting of your pointe shoes. The next thing that comes to my mind, is your technique and placing in your shoes on pointe. Sometimes, how you shape your foot can affect the look on pointe.

Even though you have been on pointe already for two years, it is always a good idea to check the basics. Just take a quick look at Lisa’s pre-pointe video and you may find yourself reminded of the essential pointe information that you never knew.

Otherwise, you can send me a photo of your feet in your pointe shoes and I can look more closely at what the main problem is.

Best wishes,
Odette