How many of you do pointe work and how much?

[Guest Giselle83]

I was wondering how many of adult students do pointe work. I'd like to hear how much do you do it also. And when did you start?

 

I started pointe 4 years ago when I was 16 (after 1 year in ballet) and I do it in the end of technique classes and in variations classes, total 1-2 hours a week. I think it's not enough having practised 4 years! at least we quit doing releves a la barre a year ago.

 

And if you dont mind telling me also a little bit what kind of movements your pointe work includes! thanks we do the releves, ballottès, pirouettes and valse or grand allegro.

 

 

*Giselle*

[Guest karenfixe]

Hi Giselle,

 

I started pointe work at 14 and continued for about 3 yrs. I took a break from ballet, went back in my 20s and have been dancing since then (I'm 35 yrs old). So, I guess I've got maybe 7 solid years of pointe work? I'm tall, and that doesn't always make controlling long limbs all that easy while turning either.

 

I take pointe class 1-2x/wk when I can, but I've found that the more time spent in non-pointe classes, the better my pointe work. About 4 yrs ago, I took classes in DC, but the pointe class was all of 15 minutes and mostly at the barre.

 

Hmm... what do I do now? Pirouettes en dehor and en dedans, pique turns, pique arabesque, passe releve in combination with entre checat (sp?) or pirouettes, just about anything you would do in a regular class, including grand adagio and grand allegro. The toughest combinations for me (of course... it's simple) are doing a pique turn then stepping into a soutenou... then back to pique turn. SO HARD!!! (Major Mel or Miss Leigh... any comments here? Must be a weight change thing...)

 

Some girls are fearless enough to do multiple fouette turns, but I leave that for the barre (on pointe here) only! I just marvel at how a 12 yr old is absolutely fearless. I wish we could do other things sometimes, like Italian Fouettes or other things just for variety, but hey, I can't complain. This teacher gives us enough tough combos to keep me busy for years to come.

 

Hope this is helpful.

[Guest Giselle83]

oh that is so ineteresting!!!! thank you for the reply! we havent started doing fouettes en pointe at all yet

and we dont practise Italian ones at all. I'm just worrying that I'm not receiving enough pointe work...it takes so long time to progress in it. I'm still not doing my double en dehors well at all... and sometimes I simply get cramps!!!

 

I'd like to hear more experiences!!! please answer

[Guest CP]

I did pointe for about 2-3 years when I was 12-15 years old. I picked ballet up again as an adult in my 20s. I started back on pointe about 4 years ago. I currently take pointe classes twice a week. This is the first year I have been able to consistently take class twice a week without a lot of interuptions. I travelled a lot with my job during the previous years. The consistency has made a big difference in my strength. I am able to do a lot more this year than I was able to do last year. My center work has improved quite a bit.

[Guest CP]

I forgot to answer the part about what the point work includes. The hour long class I take includes a lot of releves and eschappes. It includes a lot of basic pointe work. This has actually been good. This teacher started working with us 2-3 years ago and she went back to the basics and it has been very helpful. She has focused on getting us to roll through our shoes and being able to control coming off of pointe. In addition to all of the releves, we do pique turns, en de hor and en de dan, chainnes. We have started working on pirouettes this year. We do different combinations in the center with passes and coupes. The level varies with who comes to class. It 's a small studio. The other class I take is a half hour and is a real mix. Various people have taught it and there isn't a lot of continuity. We have done similar pointe work to the other class and we have done variations for the past few months. That has been fun but the class is mostly teenagers who take 5+ classes a week and I am a bit behind them in my pointe ability.

[Guest angelwings]

I am a newbie to pointe, only been taking it for 2 years. I currently do 1 hour a week, but I hope to increase the amount of time soon. Dancing on pointe was a dream of mine, and when my teacher asked me if I wanted to try it, I was so happy. I feel that the blisters and bruised toenails are all worth it, because I have so much fun dancing on pointe!

[Arabesque]

I'm fairly new on pointe, too, I've probably had a total of about 6 month of pointe training. I started on pointe in grad school for a few months, stopped ballet for a few years, then took it up again and am now restarting pointe (I'm 29 now). I'm still at the basics, doing releves, echappes, piques and bourres at the barre. I don't do much in the center yet, only some echappes and passe releves and such. Right now I'm only doing pointe once a week for about half hour, but I want to add another beginning pointe class along with another technique class if I can find the time. It's hard to find time when you're married with two kids and working full time!

[Jaana Heino]

I have just began pointe work this month. I'm in beginner pointe classes; we have pointe work for 15 minutes after a regular technique class. We don't do much anything yet, only simple barre work like relevés and echappés and such! But I've just done my first combinations with only one hand on the barre, and I'm very proud about how easy that was (for me, beginning pointe has gone very easily, no pains or blisters or other problems at all).

[koshka]

For now 1/2 hour per week after a regular 1.5 hour class but starting in the fall the same 1/2 hour plus a separate 1 hour class on another day.

 

The 1/2 hour class is pretty basic--a few warmups, then some releves, echappes, pas de bourrees, etc. then in the center more of the same plus simple turns (I'm working on getting turns around right now!) and jumps.

 

The 1 hour class is more like a regular class but with some pointe-specific stuff. I have only taken this class once so far, so that's about all I know.

 

Added 8/25:

During the summer we have youngsters in the adult classes, and they are quite a bit stronger, especially on pointe. The 1/2 hour pointe classes were correspondingly tougher. One night we did changements on pointe, which scared me a bit at first but turned out to be quite fun!

[skippy]

Hello. I started pointe work when i was 13 yrs old and studied it until i was 15/16 as i had to give up dancing due to knee problems, saying that i have been dancing again about 6-7 years and been pretty much on pointe since then.

I do pointe work minimum once a week somtimes twice. what we do varies to which syllabus we are doing. If we are doing a free class then our teacher will experiment with us and see what our limits are (safely of course). I like doing mini jumps on pointe not so much on one foot though, I think pointe work is the best thing since sliced bread and i wish i had more time to do it.

 

Skippy x

[Guest sorcha]

I started pointe work when I was 11 and stopped around the age of 17. Ten years later I began dancing again. About one year after I began dancing for the second time I put my pointe shoes back on. For some time I took a dedicated pointe class in addition to 15 minutes or so after technique class 2x a week. I was even able to perform a character role en pointe in a local ballet school's end of the year performance. I had forgotten how much I loved it. There is just nothing like dancing on pointe. In addition, pointe work has reshaped my whole lower body from my calves to my waist line. There are so many choices in pointe shoes today. I am trying every style I can in the search for the perfect shoe. I am having so much fun. Thanks for asking.

[psavola]

I started pointe work little less than year ago. Last year I had pointe for 15 minutes twice a week at the end of a normal 90-minute technique class.

 

As far as the steps go, most of our centre work is "two-legged" (sous-sus, eschappes etc), one legged things are mostly piques (pas de bourrees, different walks etc). So far everything that turns has been on two feet.

 

At the barre things are, of course, more varied. I find sissonnes, piques to the back and different balances the hardest. As yet there is very little port de bras attached.

 

Päivi

[Guest bunion buddy]

I danced on pointe 3-4 days a week when I was younger, then stopped during college. I danced another two years when I was 26-28, then had a couple of kids. Now, at 36, I'm taking pointe again for an hour a week, following an hour technique class. I put on my shoes once or twice a week at home for releves, etc but never more than 20 minutes. I returned back to pointe in March, and my feet love my new shoes and blue gel pads!! I would have never stopped had these been around 20 years ago! I've decided that I was never properly fitted for pointe shoes before this March. Previously, I danced with terrible pain. These shoes feel like part of my own feet. The high school kids that I dance with don't know how lucky they are to have such shoe and padding options!!

[antbobby]

I started pointe work last year about now, doing it about 2x per week - taking 3 to 4 classes per week, had a recital in December with simple pointe work.

 

Right now I'm doing a little bit more center work - primarily pique turns and bourres and a few other things.

 

I am really enjoying it, I'm not having too much pain trouble, but getting the shoes and padding right sure takes a lot of time and money

[Guest kristinene]

Like many of you I started pointe work when I was about 10, and continued for about 3 years. I then took a break from it until my junior year of high school, when i realized how thankful I was that my first teacher had us do all those releves and strengthening excerices! Although it hurt unbelievably to go back up, and I lost some toenails (I had used my shoes from when I was younger 'cause I didn't have time to get anything else, and they still were the right length - though my feet had changed dramatically!), I was thrilled that I could still keep up, more or less, with the other girls. I didn't do any pointe in college, and for the past year I've been doing it again - this time with better shoes, though I'm still on the hunt for a more 'perfect' pair! I agree that young students today don't know how great they have it with padding options, when I started we were ONLY allowed to use lambswool, and since going back I refuse to use the stuff - jelly toes are so much better!

 

I take 1 - 2 pointe classes a week, as my schedule allows. Sadly, it is only 30 minutes after a 1 hour class - it is a pretty small studio - small town. We don't do much at the barre. Releve in sixth, then sit over the foot (I guess to help break in the shoe and stretch the foot), come back up and roll down. Ronde de jambe a terre to a releve on one leg, then rolling down in coupe. Stuff like that. In the center we do echappe, passe, pirroutte combinations. And across the diagonal, turns and bourres with a balance at the end.

 

Note: One of my favorite pointe warmups from when I was a child we don't do anymore. Simple releves in all positions, but stopping at 1/4, demi, 3/4 and full, and going down the same way. Is this still done, or was it chaged for some reason. I think it really helped to stregthen my feet, but if it was found to be harmful I want to avoid it. Any ideas?