QUESTION: Hi My daughter is 11yrs old and has been doing pointe for a few months. Other dancing schools do not let students go on pointe until they are atleast 12 or 13. Could she be damaging her feet? Her dance teacher said she is strong enough, but she put a couple of other students on pointe who are the same age and they did not look strong enough to me. I have also been trying to get my daughter to change dancing schools as I feel she can learn a lot more, but she does not want to as she is happy. Should I just let her decide?
ANSWER: Hi Nicky. I can't tell if your daughter is strong enough without seeing her. What I would look for is this: if you watched her in the regular class, and then watched her do the same movements in the pointe class, you should not see too much difference in the effort. If she were struggling hard, falling hard off pointe, or clenching the barre, then she needs to be stronger.
Some children work better than others and could be stronger than others in their class. Or perhaps your daughter's technique is exact enough so that her teacher knows she will work well in pointe class despite her age.
In professional schools, at age 9-10, children start pointe after a few months of training, but that is 6-8 classes per week. They are not strong yet, and they only do the most basic of moves. However, their basic technique is very good, and they are unlikely to get injured.
Ask your daughter's teacher exactly what qualifies her to do pointe now. Just be frank, tell the teacher you are a little concerned, and would like to be reassured that your daughter is ready for pointe. The teacher should be able to tell you something specific that makes sense.
Is your daughter aiming for a dancing career? If not, I'd let her stay where she is happy.
Read more on this blog and articles about strength and pointe work. If you are interested, you could read them over, and then watch a couple of classes and get your own feel for how the work is being done.
I also have a series of "How To Choose a Ballet Teacher..." discussing a few aspects of technique, on ezinearticles.com. If you search my name - Dianne M. Buxton, all my articles will come up in a list, and you can read the ones that interest you. I try to discuss ballet technique for a parent who watches classes, so that they can tell if they are looking at good technique, or good presentation of a class, or not.
If your daughter becomes more serious about ballet, you could present her with the idea of a better school again, and she might reconsider. Looks like she's got a wonderful supportive mom, whatever she decides.
Each ballerina in the English National Ballet gets an allowance of 10 pairs of pointe shoes ... every month. That means a pair of pointe shoes lasts just 3 days!
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