How to Prepare For Pointe Shoes and Prevent Dance Injuries

Prepare, prepare, prepare, for dancing ballet in pointe shoes. Learn how to prevent dance injuries like a sprained ankle or a ballet knee injury years before you, or your child is looking for exactly the right fit in pointe shoes. Even recreational dancers who may leave ballet classes for hip hop, jazz, salsa, cheer leading or any other style of dance, benefit from learning how to do basic classical ballet technique correctly.

The basic ballet movements and ballet positions can be executed correctly by almost any dance student. Students who do not have the physical attributes of turnout, flexibility, long legs/short body, long arms and long necks, can still learn to do ballet correctly enough to advance.

In some ballet schools, teachers actually believe that a student will never be able to do certain ballet movements because they lack "X" physical attribute. Unfortunately some students absorb this negativity whether the teacher voices it or not. It's a shame.

If you feel like you are not progressing and you do not get the coaching you need in ballet class, read, read, read. There is detailed information available about ballet technique and also there is plenty of help in the area of anatomy and anatomical correctness in ballet movement. The all too common sprained ankles and knee injuries of ballet/sports/fitness can be avoided, for you.

The trick is how to get YOUR body to do THAT. If you are a few degrees too many from the ballet ideal, your teacher may not be able or may not be willing to help you. However, you can learn what you need to do to develop the correct application of for instance, a demi plie, onto a correctly postured releve with a correctly stretched arch and ankle.

If you aspire to become a performer in another dance style such as jazz or hip hop, your longevity in dance will depend on the correct use of your body. If you aspire to dance ballet in pointe shoes, you need to be sure that your time and effort and the thousands of plies, degages and battment tendus are not being practiced with errors that will lead to injury.

Your basic dance movements imitate the advanced and sometimes intricate classical choreography. Modern ballet and modern dance choreography often cannot be imitated by basic ballet movements, but you are more prepared for that if you know how to move and prevent injury.

Take advantage of the wealth of information available at The Ballet Store in books (print and downloads)and on DVDs. You can learn what you need to know to prepare to dance in pointe shoes and prevent ballet injuries.

How to Prevent Knee Injuries in Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes

If you are among those dancing in ballet shoes and pointe shoes, knowing why ballet technique is the way it is will help you prevent ballet injuries. Healthy knee function is not possible without healthy foot function. Also, in learning how to prevent knee injuries, understanding the function of the foot, knee, hip and spine connection is useful, at least in a general sense.

The knee joint is engineered beautifully. It has ligaments to prevent too much movement in any given direction, and a shock absorber as well, the meniscus behind the kneecap, or patella.

Classical ballet, and other athletic activity involves sudden change of direction, twisting, leaping, and sudden starts and stops.

Fortunately in ballet, we have turnout to assist us with these factors.

If our turnout is not strong, there is risk to the knee joint.

If our posture is incorrect, in the low back and core area, there is risk to the knee joint. Crunched and chronically tense rotator (turnout) muscles, quads (thigh muscles), hamstrings (back of thigh muscles), result from an incorrect pelvic position. This leads to nearly all the other muscles involved in ballet technique, ballet positions and ballet movements, being held in tense positions, instead of being fluid.

While tension is needed to dance ballet, tension should be fluid. The years of repetition in ballet training should result in the reflexes needed to constantly increase and release tension.

Think of your favorite ballerinas and leading male dancers. One of the observable qualities to their dancing is the effortlessness. They make it look so easy. You don't necessarily think of pillars of strength, although they are very strong. You can feel their fluidity when you watch them in difficult roles such as Swan Lake, Don Quixote and other classics.

So, back to the knee joints - ligaments and shocks are in place. We have turnout to make the best use of them.

Foot strength is a major factor. A high percentage of the general population pronates, that is, allows their feet to collapse toward the inner side, when they walk, run, dance, whenever their feet hit the ground.

Proper posture, use of turnout muscles, correcting hyper-extended knees placement, if hyper-extension is present, and strengthening of the intrinsic (exclusive to the foot) muscles can compensate for this factor and prevent knee injuries.

Knowing how to relax muscles after hard work, for instance with a pinkie ball, is a needed element in ballet training, as well. Not many ballet students have the time or opportunity to get regular massages. But hard working muscles must get relaxed, and must be given recovery time, neither of which factors are typical in ballet training.

If you are involved in ballet training and have ANY pain or persistent soreness in your knees, see a professional. A chiropractor, or physio-therapist with experience in dance or sports injuries will help you.

Also ask your ballet teacher to watch the finer details of your posture, turnout, and foot placement on the floor. These factors are never isolated. Educate yourself as well, with the expertly written dance manuals that are now available to anyone on the internet. The Perfect Pointe Book will give you the details you need to review your ballet technique in all the ways that it affects your knees.

Eat a healthy diet to support your ligaments and muscles. You will be able to prevent knee injuries and enjoy your dancing in ballet shoes and pointe shoes.

Prevent Ballet and Dance Injuries in Your Nutcracker Season

Learning how to minimize the chance of dance injuries is an acquired skill. Warming up, having healthy snacks in your dance bag, and perhaps having an extra pair of pointe shoes ready to wear, will help you avoid ballet injuries.

Rehearsal schedules intensify as the Nutcracker season approaches. Everyone wants to do their best.

Muscle aches and pains after classes and rehearsals should not be ignored. Soaking sore and exhausted muscles in epsom salt baths, ( a form of magnesium) elevating your legs while sitting, and using a pinkie ball to rid your muscles of tension is exactly what your muscles deserve.

Knee injuries, sprained ankles and shin splints all result from inaccurate technique, that do not necessarily show up until dance schedules intensify. A little fatigue, emotional distractions, anxiety, poor sleep or poor diet all contribute to that moment of error or mis-timing when an accident happens.

Fresh foods are necessary to keep your strength up. Sugar weakens muscles and also contributes to inflammation. Do your best to eat well. Magnesium is a nutrient that helps relax muscles and can lead to better sleep. Green vegetables and salad foods are full of trace minerals that help carry lactic acids and other cellular wastes out of tired muscles. Lean proteins, and whole grain carbohydrates will put more nutritional support in your diet.


Dance medicine specialist and author Deborah Vogel writes:

"Four Warning Signs of an Injury

* Pain that gets progressively worse during class, rehearsal, work out, etc.
* Pain that comes after your class, rehearsal, or work out, and comes back the next day after less movement is done.
* Pain that appears when executing certain movements (e.g. during arabesque or landing a jump).
* No real sense of "pain" but a definite restriction of movement."

Pay attention to your body's signals. Ice tired and tense muscles even if they don't hurt. Take some deep breaths when you sit down to relax, or when you go to bed. Use a pinky ball to ease out tension, then do some very gentle stretching afterwards. Have a real day of rest, and catch up with non-dance activities.

Even when you are a recreational dance student, you get the most out of it if you act like pro. Ask your family graciously for extra help or rest time that you need, and let them know how much you appreciate their support.

This way you will really get to enjoy your experience of performing in ballet shoes and pointe shoes.

Read more about injury prevention, strength for pointe work, and muscle care at The Ballet Store.

Classical Ballet Training - Recreational Dance - Mechanics and Quality Go Together

The mechanical, or technical aspects of classical ballet training and recreational dance, are meant to be taught together with the quality, or traditional grace of ballet. Whether professional or recreational, classical ballet is a source of elegance for our culture.

I remember a friend's story about doing a Classical Stretch workout at home, with her 4 year old daughter. They were doing warm ups with gentle arm movements. Her dad came along and joined in for a second. "No Papa" she corrected sternly. "It's like water is falling off the ends of your fingers!"

Being a soccer and karate jock, he moved on quickly.....

When I look at the many classical ballet studio websites, I love to browse the photo galleries or the videos they put up. All the aspiring professional ballet schools and more recreational or amateur dance studios show high energy, colorful performances and tons of enthusiasm. It is easy to see from their navigational bars that many have parent committees, and volunteer groups for every kind of support. Those ballet schools which do not contribute dancers to the pool of professional arenas definitely contribute volumes of inspiration and involvement in their communities. Such is the importance of dance and all the arts in our culture.

The inherent quality of grace in classical ballet and other dance forms has inspired the development of movement imagery, a whole field which addresses injury prevention, and pain management in rehabilitation - and much more.

Learning the quality of a demi plie, a tendu, and the way the arms are held in the basic ballet positions should be synchronized with the technical or mechanical details. In fact, how to separate the two should be a problem. Yet I've seen that happen.

I feel sad when I see a gifted dancer show off multiple pirouettes on a you-tube video - where her arms are stiff and her descent is abrupt. Why would she be so neglected, to remain at her current regional level?

I feel the same when I see virtuoso leaps and spins from young male dancers, then see them at the barre slamming into over-crossed fifth positions, knees bent, hips rotating, in a speedy series of tendus. No time for foot pressure or thigh work. Why so fast when there are degages and frappes to develop skills for petit allegro? Will there be knee injuries?

Quality, as much as technique and mechanics, prevents dance injuries. Synchronous mechanical and quality development IS the grace of classical ballet.

Get the best ballet tips to integrate mechanics and quality in classing ballet training and recreational dance.

Ballet Turnout Helps Avoid Knee Injuries Suffered By Soccer and Volleyball Players

"Knee muscles are capable of protecting ligaments and preventing injury," says Edward M. Wojtys M.D., professor of orthopaedic surgery, U-M Medical School, and Director of Sports Medicine at UMHS (University of Michigan Health System). "Female athletes are two to eight times more likely to tear their anterior cruciate ligament because they may not able to achieve the same muscle stiffness across the knee joint." Both female and male athletes could benefit from ballet classes, to learn the principles of turnout. Pointe shoes could pose an equal risk for dancers, because of the extra demand for strengthening turnout.

It is the running and pivoting team sports that this study addresses. Sprinters and runners go in one direction, and do not have to risk knee rotation. This article from Science Daily also reports:

"The thought is, if you play jumping, turning, twisting sports, that you should be better prepared to protect your knee against rotational forces," Wojtys says.

That's why the measurements for the females involved in non-pivoting sports were surprising when compared to females in the pivoting sports. Females in non-pivoting sports had an increase in knee stiffness of 198 percent - 27 percent higher than the females in pivoting sports.

"Women who played jumping, turning, twisting sports actually had the poorest ability to protect themselves against rotational strains," Wojtys says. "

Please note that the above reference to "stiffness" means deliberate tension of the knee muscles, not the kind of stiffness resulting from strain or over training.

Ballet is a pivotal movement system. We do turn and pivot both in adage, jumps and on pointe. But we have turnout to protect our knees, especially, but also all of our joints. We employ turnout to change direction smoothly.

And, of course, our movements are choreographed in advance, and well rehearsed.

The strength of our turnout and placement means we do not have to twist to turn or pivot. This takes years of training. Athletes also practise dodging and twisting movements for speed and reflex, but to date, do not generally understand how to protect their joints.

This study shows that female athletes are more likely to risk knee injuries. What a shame that so far, it is mainly football players who study ballet, to avoid the risk of injuries resulting from twisting and tearing joints.

In the field of Dance Medicine inspired authors like Deborah Vogel and Lisa Howell write about the finer details of functional anatomy, mostly in relationship to dance and working in pointe shoes. I recommend their works to any aspiring female athlete. They could learn some basic ballet exercises to build strength and avoid knee injuries.