What you should know before buying ballet pointe shoes for your childHow many times have you heard your little girl say that she can't wait to go on toe? And most likely you said, I can't wait either! Girls who have taken ballet for 2-3 years and are of age 11-12 should only be on pointe at the recommendation of their ballet teacher. However, some girls at that age group may or may not be ready for ballet pointe shoes. This is due to their physical strength in the legs and very important, watch out for their feetfirst. Certain types of feet require a certain style of ballet pointe shoe. So, always think, feetfirst. This should be decided by their ballet teacher and by a teacher who has had experience of working herself in ballet pointe shoes. PLEASE do not have a male ballet teacher decide if your girl is ready to go on pointe. After all, did he ever dance on pointe? No, I did not dance on pointe but when I was a l5 or l6 year old teenager studing ballet in New York, one of the girls who was taking pointe class asked me if I wanted to try on her pair of ballet pointe shoes. I thought she was kidding. OK, so I put them on, tried to go on pointe by holding on to the barre. Once up on pointe I told her that from now on she can wear them and I will partner her in the next adagio class. By the way. There are male dancers who do dance in pointe shoes. But that is another story for another day. Starting a child in pointe shoes is a very expensive endeavor. The shoes do not wear like other ballet shoes. A professional dancer can wear out a pair of (broken-in) pointe shoes in one performance, whereas a student may take 2-4 weeks or 2-4 months depending on how many classes she takes during the week on pointe. A pair of pointe shoes can cost anywhere from 50-90 dollars a pair. Yes, one pair! For girls who eventually want to make it their career in a ballet company, pointe work is just the beginning of the hard work ahead of them. Not only do they takes classes 2-3 times per week, eventually 5-6 per week as they get older, they may even take up other forms of dance. Such as jazz, modern, ethnic, character dancing and this is all during their growing-up period. By the time they are 16 or 17 years of age they are, most likely, in a professional ballet company. So, there is a great deal of work cut out for them. Oh yes, mothers. Do teach your daughters how to sew on ribbons on their pointe shoes. It will come in handy when they are on their own. A lot is involved to being a dancer beside just taking dance classes. What about knowing something about music. A good idea for them is to take up a musical instrument. They don't have to become professional musicians but it sure will help them to dance on the music. You may be surprised to know how many dancers do not dance on or with the music. There is another subject the future ballerina should know about. Dance History When did and where did Ballet begin and how did it develop to where it is now. The history of dance in general is fascinating. It opens us a whole new aspect to the dancer of "why is it that I want to dance". You should try reading up on it. This is for you Moms. Start a collection of dancers for your daughters by acquiring dance posters through Pointeshoes-posters. You'll find the page when you scroll down a bit. Through allposters you can find just about any type of posters, music, sports, dance, pointe shoe posters, children posters etc. And if you need more, Hear what a 6 year old girl has to say about her MOM and SBI!
And for those who may be interested in other products beside dancewear or pointe shoes, scroll down to marketing information for affiliates,home based businessess to find something that catches your interest. Such as, "You a Millionaire Writer?" And speaking of hard work, dancers have to eat a proper diet to sustain all the dancing they have to do on pointe. Something that we will discuss later. Somthing to remember for Dancers and all Professional people. I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. Confucius Chinese philosopher & reformer (551 BC - 479 BC) Before going to your local dance shop, dancewear or the O.K. Dance Shoppe, please consider the following. There are many dance suppliers around the country. Where you live is where you will most likely go to find and buy pointe shoes, dance leotards, ballet tights. ballet shoes, dance costumes and even a ballet tutu for your girl. A dance shop generally carries all the ballet accessories one can imagine. But for now, you need to look for ballet pointe shoes. Think FeetFirst! Your child's feet first. Then you can think about your own when you get home from all the walking and standing you've done today. Are you sitting down? Good. Let's go to shoes that you were afraid to ask or did not know much about them.
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