ballet en pointe?

Question

what are some characteristics you need to have to starts on pointe? (splits, arch strength, etc)

Answer 1

well, a thing you really need is STRONG ANKLES AND ARCHES. I can't stress this enough. Also, you need your bones to be formed. It changes from school to school, but all in all, you need these three things.
strong ankles-your ankles hold you up when you go en pointe, to strengthen these, you could do releves every morning, starting with 20, then increasing by 5 every day, in each of the 5 ballet positions, also in coupe and passe positions. Ask your dance teacher for more.
strong arches-your arches show how flexible your feet are. Pointe shoes are very thick, it will be a lot harder to bend your foot in them than in normal dance shoes. That is why you need to do a lot of excercises for them. something you can do is to "pop" your arches while doing releves, namely, instead of going straight up from flat foot to demi-pointe, you bend your knees and plie in demi-pointe. It looks a little strange, but it helps a lot. Do around 10 of these a long with your usual releve excercises,and increase by 5 every week, since your arches are rather delicate muscles and need careful handling.
formed bones- I'm afraid all you can do on this one is do the other 2 steps and wait. Usually your dance instructor will tell you when you're ready to go en pointe, and in the meantime all you can do is have a lot of calcium and other bone-enriching minerals to help your bones form well. This is something your body just does naturally, you can't do any excercises to help it a long.
hope this helped, and good luck!

Answer 2

First you need to be old enough that all the bones in your body have fully become bone and are not cartilidge anymore. Unfortunately for young dancers, the metatarsals (toe bones) are some of the last bones to completely form into bone. But this usually happens by the time you are about ten years old. I got my first pair of pointe shoes when I was ten and a half. My dance teacher made me wait a little longer because I was especially tiny and she wanted to be careful with my little feet.

After that, the most important thing you need is a strong center. If you have been studying ballet, you will know what this means. It means that you have extremely strong stomach muscles. Everything in ballet comes from the center. Every eleve, releve, turn, jump, leap, everything. If you don't have a strong center and you try to go up on pointe, you will look like a ton of bricks plopping down on your toes. Do lots of stomach exercises, but not crunches. Your dance teacher knows some, I'm sure and you have probably been doing lots of them already if you are studying ballet.

Ankle strength and arch strength are also important. Your ankles will get pretty beat up if you don't stretch them and exercise them regularly. Ask your teacher for some exercises to strengthen your arches as well.

Good luck, be careful, and most importantly HAVE FUN!!!!

Answer 3

I would suggest if you are starting pointe to do lots of elaves and relaves and be able to balance in pase to build up your strength try to do them in flat then demi then high demi. Do not wear your pointe shoes to practice alone until you are strong enough to wear them. If you can get a thera-band there are several stretching exercises that help your ankles. You could order them on them net or probably from a pharmacy as they are used in physical therapy. Your shoes should first be fitted in person by a store fitter or your teacher. (Preferably your teacher.) He/she should be able to look at your feet in the shoes to determine, width, vamp length, ribbon position, elastic kinds and position, whether you will use padding,toe-pads or paper towels,or toe tape, you will probably get a softer shoe than you will use later as your feet get stronger so your first pair may not last long. Don't be disappointed. You can help them last by using shellac on the arch and jet glue on the boxes and arch inside if you need to stretch the wear out a little longer. As your feet grow and you grow stronger in ballet, be aware that your feet size may change, the shape and width may change. These are normal occurrences and the main reason why people have to change types/styles/brands of pointe shoes. Private lessons at first are good ways to build up your confidence and for the teacher to see exactly how your body is working with your shoes. This way more personal attention is given so that you teacher is aware of problems in technique and potential problems with shoes if they aren't fitting right or your feet have changed. Flexibility is important in ballet but in pointe strength is more important.
Your dance store should have an experienced fitter, Good luck and enjoy !

Answer 4

the expectations before going on pointe vary between studios. but you do have to have strong ankles, a pretty good arch, and have to be old enough that certain bones have fully developed.the most important thing you could ever have before going onto pointe is previous ballet experience!!! some studios require having the splits where others don't. if your interested ask around at different studios and see what the dancers are required to have to go onto pointe. =)

Answer 5

you must have at least 3 90-minute technique classes per week, good turnout (that you can hold while dancing), proper placement, a strong body especially abs and ankles, and a decent arch/ankle flexibility, and you must have been taking ballet 3-4 years, and you should be about 12 or older so that your bones have fully ossified.

Answer 6

good at regular ballet
good pointing foot
relevae
jumps
turns
strong arm and leg