2006-12-25 04:18:04 · 8 answers · asked by I'm better than you 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Dancing
You are not really "on the tips of your toenails"
It's a combination of strength in the ankles and feet and the use of the pointe shoes.
The dancers feet have to be flexible enough and strong enough to help support the work before being allowed to start en pointe.
The shoe itself provides most of the support. The toe of the shoe is called the box, it is hard and strong made up materials like paper products, burlap, cloth, etc. all glued together to be very strong! Each manufacturer has their own "formula" for making their shoes. It is not made of ceramic or porcelain or anything breakable like that.
The dancers wrap their toes in lamb's wool or use a gel type cushion before putting them into the shoe. When en pointe, the weight is dispersed over all the toes, not just on 1 toe. The stiff box holds the toes and top of the foot in place while the dancers is up en pointe.
The shank of the pointe shoe is the part that supports the arch of the foot. It is also made up of cloth, cardboard, etc with lots of glue. Some shanks are made of metal and nowadays many are made of plastic resin the supports and bends and doesn't break so easy.
While the toes are being supported by the box, the shank has to support the arch as the foot is being pointed. It would be like the part of a baseball bat that hits the ball being made of wood but the handle being made of something squishy. You have to have proper support in both the toes and the arch.
All of these things work together to keep the ballerina on her toes and dancing beautifully across the stage!
2006-12-25 05:18:13 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
no, because technically your not supposed to have long toenails, and have you ever stubbed your toe?? it hurts, or if you've ever worn shoes with really long toenails, it hurts too much. They wouldn't do it, but I'm not entirely sure.
2006-12-25 17:48:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You want to keep the toenails short. you dont want to mash you toenails into your other toes if you are doing pointe. it is not so comfortable .i know from experience.
2006-12-26 02:42:18 · answer #3 · answered by Amanda F 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The short answer is... Yes. However, you also have padding between your toes and the shoes and the shoes have wood in the toes so you have that to balance on.
NEVER try this without proper training. You could seriously injure yourself!
2006-12-25 12:25:58 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Im a dancer. & actually its not wood. Its plaster or something. But you have padding around your toes and depending on your ankle strength determines how well you can balance.
2006-12-25 12:46:39 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no there is a little block of wood at the tip thats what you stand on, on your toes
2006-12-25 12:25:50 · answer #6 · answered by Olivia's Mama 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well u stand on the box in your toe shoes and u mostly use your big toe to support
2006-12-26 02:14:57 · answer #7 · answered by ilovemydogii 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no and yes...
there is a block a flat block of wood on ur pointe shoes and u were somthing that i call sockies that also pretect ur shoes...
if u still want more info..
here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointe_shoes
2006-12-25 15:51:39 · answer #8 · answered by im_suuweeet 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋