Get to the Pointe

Ballet dancers may suffer more injuries than any other athlete. As Professional Fitters, we see a lot of mistakes dancers make that contribute to injuries. Here are the 5 most common mistakes you may be making: Curling toes: We see a ton of dancers who curl their toes in tendu in our initial bare feet assessment. This is something you may be getting away in ballet class because it’s hard to tell your curling your toes in ballet slippers. Dancers not only need to use muscles in their lower legs to dance en pointe, we need to use the small...

What is the best pointe shoe brand? I get this question quite a bit from dancers and parents. And the answer is... Depends. It depends on the dancer, the feet, the strength, the flexibility, the skill level, the weight, the shape, the length and so many other factors. Although certain brands and models are more popular and generally better quality than others, there is no single brand that encompasses every type of foot. Just like there is no single shoe for beginners or professionals. This is why you shouldn't be limiting yourself to one brand. We have dancers that come...

An average pointe shoe lasts about 10-20 hours of dancing. Yes, you read that right. 10-20 hours. I bet your parents had no idea what they were getting into when they put you in your first ballet class. The life span of a pointe shoe varies widely depending on how many hours you dance, how flexible or strong your feet are, what you’re doing in class, how much you sweat, how much you weigh and many other factors. We have dancers that go through 5 pairs a month, and we have dancers that go through 2 pairs a year. But...

Pointe shoes are still a mystery to most. As a professional pointe shoe fitter, I found there are a lot of myths that float around in the dance world. Here are 5 of the most common pointe shoe myths: Stronger feet need harder shoes: The strength of the shoe is not always determined by the strength of the feet. If that were true, professionals wouldn’t wear super soft shoes, yet a lot of them do. The hardness of the shank can be determined by many different reasons: flexibility, stability, skill level, strength and longevity. It all depends on the individual...

You should get professionally fitted for every pair for your first few years en pointe. (You can find what to do before a pointe shoe fitting in this article) This is the time when you need to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Even after you find your “perfect pair,” you should still get fitted fairly regularly. Even professional ballerinas have to get refitted every 6 months or so because their feet change. So, here are 5 reasons why you should get a professional pointe shoe fitting: You avoid injuries: This is the biggie. Ill-fitting shoes can lead to...