Winging

[Susanne]

I have noticed that professional dancer "wing" their feet. I can understand that when doing penchées so you will get a more horizontal line. But why do some dancers do than on pointe?

 

I have seen a dancer who does turns and almost everything that's on pointe on wingin feet, which means that she only stands on the edge of the platform on the big-toe-side. It looked really dangerous and she didn't seem to have any good balance either. So I cannot see any positive effetects whatsoever by winging the foot except when it's off the floor.

[Mel Johnson]

It's no good whoever does it, Susanne, for exactly the reasons you give. The only time a winged or "sickled-out" foot should be used is as a last resort when a dancer is unable to give a good straight point at the end of an arabesque, and then only on the extended "working" leg. Check those photos again, though, with a ruler. I'll bet that you'll find that there is a straight line from the knee to the point of the big toe in most of them, which is a straight point.

[Guest joodiff]

But what about a winged arabesque foot? Is that solely for aesthetic purposes? How important is it for us to display a winged arabesque foot?:confused:

[Mel Johnson]

Please see the sentence which contains the words "last resort" above. It is important for the arabesque line to be carried out through the body and legs, and that line is a spiral. If it flattens out or worse, turns down at the end of the spiral, it's wrong. Maybe less than ten percent of dancers cannot correct the line of the foot in arabesque, and have to resort to winging.

[balletowoman]

Yes, a bevelled foot has to be a last resort, but sometimes, there is no other option, even if it's not only in an arabesque. I don't bevel the foot as Suzanne says (the plateform is always flat on the floor) so maybe that's not a total 'bevel' I do ;) but for example, in an echappé relevé to 4th position, the foot bevels quite a lot... Is that a bad idea? My teacher used to say 'if you can avoid it, do (so, don't exaggerate it) but if you can't, use it well...' as if to say that when it is used in moderation, it can actually be quite pretty...

[citibob]

There is a certain alignment of the ankle that gives maximum stability en pointe. That alignment probably varies for most people, but it could look winged at times.

 

Also, what sometimes looks like winging is actually a spreading of the toes --- leading with the heel in tendue front and leading with the baby toe in tendue back. The results of this spreading are very different from winging, even though they look similar at times.

 

In some arabesque lines, a winged foot and a not-so-pointed foot can also look similar.

[Mel Johnson]

Échappés to fourth aren't an everyday thing, even in most pointe classes. That should be all right as long as the platform of the shoe is still flat on the floor, and you're not leaning back onto the back foot and putting most of your weight there. And turns of any sort with a winged, flagged, beveled, or otherwise sickled-out supporting foot is almost a guarantee of eventual soft tissue damage, at least!

[Guest joodiff]

Thanks for pointing out the sentence Maj Mel!

Actually, I was referring to a winged working leg in arabesque, the one held in the air. I've seen many pictures of dancers in a beautiful arabesque with a winged working leg.............or was that what you were referring to in your reply in the first place and I have misunderstood your answer? Apologies for the confusion.

[Mel Johnson]

Right, in the very first response, I think that if you take a ruler and run lines down the photos of some dancers' legs from their knee to the point of the big toe, that's a straight line. That's what we're looking for.

[Guest joodiff]

I see, thanks a lot!

[Susanne]

But I'm still wondering, why do they do that en pointe? Is it because the dancer has been poorly trained? Or are there any schools out there which emphasises winging en pointe? Because this particular dancer that I've seen is in a major company, actually the biggest in Sweden and when I saw a performance in which she danced a solo all I could think was that praying for her not to fall, even though she has beautiful arms and everything, I got distracted by her pointe technique.

[Mel Johnson]

That's a tough question to answer. Ordinarily, I'd say that it was improper training, but it's also possible that she was always pre-disposed to sickling out, and it either didn't get totally trained out, or appears when she's tired. Too many variables to give an answer that would mean anything. There is no school or method that trains dancers to sickle out on pointe intentionally.

[balletowoman]

Mel, you're probably right about my weight being ever so slightly on the back foot... I'll have to look for that a bit more carefully.

[Guest beckster]

Just a thought I have been wondering about for awhile - if one was in fourth position on pointe, and the weight was in the middle. For stability, should the front foot be slightly winged and the back foot slightly sickled (so the platforms are flat on the floor), or should one not use the whole platform and keep the feet straight? It seems that winging is sometimes allowed, but sickling is never acceptable, so I wondered how a dancer on pointe gets a stable fourth position.

[Mel Johnson]

I'm afraid the answer to that one is the old one: proper use of rotation and turnout and an even apportionment of weight between the feet. A lot will also depend on the foot and how many carrying toes there are. A narrower "footprint" on pointe will look better, somehow, in fourth than a broader one. Pavlova understood this very well, and retouched her negatives personally to show a tiny little pointe. She grew to be quite expert at it. Those negatives not under her control show feet in nearly dead shoes and rather lumpy-looking.