What would be your best advice for a beggining pointe student?

What do you wish someone had told you when you first started pointe?


-tips


-tricks


-excercises


-etc..What would be your best advice for a beggining pointe student?
Be positve! An exsercise i learned was to stand at the bar in first position and releve through your feet for 8 counts and through your feet down 8 counts do that 16 times i know it seems like a lot and it will hurt but after a while it will get easier, it helps strengthen your feet and ankles. Good luck! oh and after your done doing that exsercise make sure you stretch out your claves!What would be your best advice for a beggining pointe student?
Make sure you wrap your feet and toes properly and keep good lamb's wool padding in the toe of your shoe so you are comfortable (but not so padded you can't move). That's always been the scariest part for me, thinking about people's insane-looking bunions and gnarled toes after years of pointe. Obviously all of it can't be helped considering what you're doing, but my teachers were always very meticulous about the way you prepared your feet before putting them in the shoe. I can't remember much else because I stopped a while ago. Good luck though, I hope you're excited :)
Most often, you will use pointe steps in ';bourrees';. These are little continuous runs (often called ';pas courus';--or running steps) on pointe to make the effect that the ballet dancer...especially the ladies.....is ';dancing on air';. Start the bourrees demi-pointe first before you do this fully on pointe to see if the rest of the body can tolerate it without straining the whole feet and ended up with a painful injury later.





Make sure that you stretch the ankle, feet, and calf muscles through things like releves, tendus, fondues, and developpes, as well as rondes de jambes, as well as plenty of piles in half and in full, for at least 20-30 minutes at the barre...whether or not you are attending a full ballet class.





Other good ballet exercises is doing ';passe'; foot movements with the supporting foot on pointe at the barre...hold the passe for 15 seconds on one foot, and then alternate feet for the other ';passe';. Start with demi-pointe for the supporting foot first, and then fully on pointe on alternation. Do the same thing as for doing ';pointe'; on supporting feet when you do such things at the barre as the cou-de-pied, pas de cheval, passe en avant, attitude, arabesque, arabesque en tournant, grand battement, and the echappe.
Exercise your ankles very well. Make sure they are very strong. Also make sure to stretch your legs and feet often. When I first started, lambs wool didn't work well for me, so I used a gell pad with a song on the top so it would slide in easily, you can get these at dance stores. Find a good toe pad and things will be easier. Practice often so you can break in your shoes well. Break a Leg!
make sure you always get all the way up on the box. Rosin always helps, but not too much. Don't do anything until your teacher tells you to. try hard not to sickle! do releves a lot, flat footed too.