Beginner pointe

[yankee]

I have been wanting to ask this question for a while so I am now getting around to it:

 

My daughter has achieved a solid 3 years of intermediate study at a very well known pre professional ballet school (following 3 previous elementary years) and is a second year pointe student.

 

Is it assumed that at least 2 years are spent at a more elementary level of pointe, meaning, that the exercises she worked on last year having been more fundamental strength building exercises performed at the barre (with a bit of center work) then lead into more time each week doing the same exercises with possibly the addition of the introduction to more complex steps on pointe?

 

I understand ballet to build upon itself in terms of the basic groundwork which is then strengthened (hopefully) and added to in technical challenge as the years progress but for a beginning pointe student, how many minutes per week are appropriate and does or should the time increase gradually with each subsequent year? How much time should ultimately be dedicated to pointe work when the student arrives at a more advanced technical level?

 

Stated another way, is there an average amount of time spent at beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels of pointe?

 

Last year my daughter had approximately 15 minutes of pointe at the end of a technique class 4-5 days per week. This year she has 30 minutes of pointe following a technique class 4-5 days per week.

[Clara 76]

Good question, Yankee!

 

I think it depends upon the age/level that they are placed en pointe. If they're young, it's probably better to just do the 15 minutes only at barre at the end of class, though.

 

I know some kids who don't go up until later who start off right away at a pretty good pace, so I think your assessment is correct: the time increases gradually with each subsequent year, so if one starts them young, one would spend less time because they're at a less advanced level.

 

By the time a student reaches the most advanced level, they should be in those pointe booties every day, but not necessarily for the whole class. More likely, just for center, rep, variations, rehearsals, unless they are at SAB where everything is en pointe, all the time.

 

Most pros are in their pointes for several hours every day, so the top level needs to take that into consideration when preparing a student for the next step. Prior to that though, it will increase in gradual increments until the dancer is strong enough to bear the full brunt of the work.

[yankee]

Thank you, Clara! This information is very helpful.

[LauraR]

May I piggy-back on this thread? I didn't want start another since it is along the same thread, but I didn't want to be rude, either....

 

My dd is 11.5 and is a 1st year pointe student. She has 30 min of pointe twice weekly after a 90 min technique class, for a total of 2 pointe classes and 4 technique classes per week. She's a good student who works hard and progresses at a steady rate, but isn't the best in the class who advances in leaps and bounds.

 

This semester we had some scheduling shifts at the school and she has a different teacher for each class, so last week the primary teacher had to forego pointe to work on the recital piece. If this is a trend, she will only have 30 min of pointe. My concerns are the progression through the levels of the school and her being prepared for her SI at home. Is this going to give her enough training to strengthen and advance? I have Tuesday evening available and my options are to either schedule another ballet/pointe class for her at another location (same school/different studio) or she was going to to start outside Pilates to build her core. Which sounds like it would benefit her more (without seeing my dd and answering this question solely on the Internet? )

[Guest pink tights]

LauraR--While pilates never hurts, I'd suggest another day of pointe work. Same school/different location hopefully means same teaching methods/syllabus. And since she already has a variety of teachers, yet another different teacher shouldn't hurt her. That said, with only 30 minutes of pointe per week, surely the school is not planning a pointe piece for the recital.

[LauraR]

No, this level of ballet in our school does not perform the recital on pointe. The teaching methods should be the same (Vaganova), the syllabus is definitely the same, and I hear the teacher is very, very good.

[Guest pink tights]

LauraR--That is good to hear.

[wannabe]

Are there any recommendations for how much pointe should be provided? My DD has 3 pointe classes per week- (1) 45 min, (1) hour and (1) 30 min. She will be twelve in a few days, is in a Vaganova based school and has been en pointe for 3 years. Just wondering, because other parents of students in her level think there should be more pointe work. She also take 90 min technique classes 6 days per week and has for several years.

[Clara 76]

Optimally, rehearsals are held outside of technique and pointe classes, but it's sometimes simply not feasible. So, I'd probably do the other ballet class/pointe class at the other location, if that's what my dd wanted. She's still young so....

 

Now, for wannabe-

My question is, why are the pointe classes different amounts of time? That's curious.

[wannabe]

Clara 76: Different amount of time for the classes is a very good question that I will have to investigate. I would never have thought to question this. This is why this site is so helpful!!