| - Don't pull the drawstrings too tightly on your shoes-- you can damage your achilles tendon this way. - Keep your toenails shot--but not too short. Long tonails can be "punched in" by pressure, bleed, and have other painful consequences, but cutting them too short can cause infections and problems of its own. - Always remember to stay on your big toe and second toe. Don't sickle! Sickling can not only cause you to fall off pointe, but can lead to foot/ankle injury and just looks bad. - Make sure you're getting over on your shoe. You can tell if you aren't "getting over" if the lower part of your toe platform (the part that is closer to the pleats than to the vamp) is more worn the upper part. Not "getting over" on the box of the pointe shoe is often caused by one of two things: insufficient strength or lack of an arched or fully stretched foot. Since the latter situation is one that cannot be helped, it can be aided by wearing softer pointe shoes (example include Chacott Veronese II Medium, Grishko Super Soft Shanks, Capezio #1 or #2 shanks, or a Gaynor Minden Pianimissiom Featherflex or Supplex shank), or pointe shoes with a 3/4 or 1/2 shank (for intermediate to advanced students). In wearing softer pointe shoes, the student must have awareness of adequate support: staying upright on the box/shank as opposed to knuckling over on pointe. While soft pointe shoes may be easier to rise up on, a too soft shoe can be dangerous. Students with at least a medium or moderatley stretched foot, in most cases, have the power to change their situation. Some teacher advise students to wear very hard pointe shoes to build strength-- the idea being that trying to work through the hard shank will build the strength for success in further pointework. While this is certainly an option, it is much disputed. Other options include wearing full-sole leather techniqur slippers (full-sole leather shoes offer more resistance than split-sole or canvas), doing theraband exercises, or just doing more exercises more often (see pointe exercises in conditoning) - Dame Ninette de Valois said "When you are on your toes, keep off them." Don't rely on the toe box to keep you up. Not only will it make your dancing look heavy and un-graceful, but it also wears down your shoes very quickly, causing you to need shoes more often and spend more money. Instead, rely on your own muscles, and try to feel as though your muscles are pulling you up out of your toe box. - When you releve, your calf should be the "pushing muscle", according to David Howard. Pull away from the floor when you roll up, and use your calf as the "depressor" on the way down. This way you have better control, since the leg muscles are being used as they were designed. |
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| Pointe Tips |
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