Pointe Work
Dancing Smart Newsletter
November 4, 2005
Announcements
I'm excited to introduce Alicia Zabala, ATC, who works with the Cincinnati Ballet and teaches at the University of Cincinnati. She was gracious enough to answer this week's question on pointe work. For more information on Alicia or Dance Medicine Academic Seminars go to http://www.dancemedicine.net. Thanks, Alicia!
Question of the Week
I have 2 pointe students that have been on pointe for 3 years. They both seem to have weak ankles (I believe) and they break in their shoes incorrectly. No matter how many exercises and instructions I give them both, they lean off their pinky toes and are not coming up on full pointe. It scares me but I see them compensating by either using their backs (they look distorted), or their hips, to help them get onto full pointe, which they have not been able to do. I believe that some students are not meant for pointe, but they won't give it up. Any suggestions to help these students?
Thanks, Fran
Deb's Answer
Having weak ankles is definitely not a good thing in any aspect of ballet, but especially with pointe work! There are several things you can do to help cue and correct their pointe technique. The ankle should be rock solid before even beginning pointe work, but since we are already past that point, the first thing I would recommend is ankle strengthening with theraband or some kind of resistance band. Actively pointing and flexing the foot against the band will help to strengthen the front and back of the ankle, while actively "sickling in" and "winging out " will help to strengthen the inside and out side of the ankle.
Because their tendency is to roll out onto their pinky toes, that tells me that the lateral or outside of their ankle is weak predisposing them and setting them up to flip or sprain their ankles. Try having them practice relevés on flat shoes in parallel squeezing a tennis ball or balled up pair of socks in between their ankles. Doing a relevé while squeezing the ball allows their ankle to stay in correct alignment and restricts their ability to roll out.
The other point you made was the problem of compensation in order to rise up to full relevé on their pointe shoes, and you are correct that the inability to reach full relevé will cause other problems in alignment and compensation. This occurs if the dancer does not have a full 90 degrees of flexion in her big toe to begin with or the big toe is simply weak. Dancing on the back of the box of the shoe is very dangerous not only because they may slip, but because again, it requires more muscle work than necessary just to keep them up on pointe. To help in this situation I would have them do a big toe stretch by simply using their hands to gently pull the big toe back. They can also use the theraband to strengthen the big toe by looping the band around the big toe only and actively flexing and pointing.
Whether or not to begin pointe work is a tricky situation for a dance instructor, but wondering whether to take the dancer off is even more difficult. For right now, I suggest backing them off a little by having them work hard at the barre only and not in the center simple for their own safety and to prevent injuries that could potentially occur. Work on their ankle strengthening, range of motion in the ankle and big toe, and alignment, and assure them that hard work now will pay off and make life as a dancer and pointe work much easier later on.
I certainly hope this helps!
Alicia Zabala, ATC
Until next week!
Deborah