November was a very big month for Anna in dance. (And a big month for Mom and Dad as we learned all of the ins & outs along with Anna.) Dancing en pointe has been one of Anna’s goals since she was a little girl. She has worked hard for many years, training for hours every week to get here. At the beginning of the summer, she began a Pre-Pointe class, along with all of the girls in her level, that met three times a week. In this class, the girls learned proper stretches & strengthening exercises for their feet & ankles to prepare them to move en pointe safely. Then in late fall, they attended regular lectures on the anatomy of the feet, the parts of the pointe shoe, the history of pointe, injury prevention & caring for the feet, & how to treat the various foot issues that will come with dancing en pointe. The girls were expected to take notes & know the information for the written test that would follow. Anna studied well & completed her written test to move on.
The next step was the pointe shoe fitting. Finding the right shoe for each girl is time-consuming & very important. Pointe shoes must fit like a glove yet not be too tight which can cause problems. And, after dancing in their pointe shoes, they’ll likely notice issues they didn’t feel at the fitting & will need to be fitted again. It sometimes takes girls a while to find the right shoe.
The owner/artistic director of Anna’s studio, Kate, fitted each girl for their first pair. Anna tried eight to nine pairs until they found one that felt great. Then Kate marked the inside of the shoes so Anna would know where to sew her elastics & ribbons later. Such big smiles from Anna on this night!
Next came the class where parents & students learned how to sew the elastics & ribbons into their shoes. Since each foot is unique, where the ribbons & elastics are sewn is unique to each girl too. This process was much harder than Anna or I thought it would be, but we made progress. The night of the class we spent close to two hours learning & sewing & almost finished one shoe. After another afternoon of sewing, we finished both shoes, with Anna doing the majority of the work. It took around four hours total to complete this task, so now we know!
And lastly, came the first pointe class! Parents were invited to observe & take pictures. Kate inspected each girl’s shoes to make sure they were sewn properly, then taught them how to tie the ribbons correctly to ensure the shoes are supportive & fitting well. Finally, the girls were up on their feet at the barre!
The Pre-Pointe classes Anna took all summer & most of the fall have now transitioned to Pointe classes. The girls are learning proper technique & balance in their new shoes & are slowly building up their strength. It will be some time before they are ready to perform en pointe.
We so enjoyed walking with Anna through this process. Although somewhat stressful at times, she handled herself with poise & maturity, learning as she went. Our prayer now is that Anna’s feet stay healthy & that she remains injury-free as she dances en pointe. Congratulations to our girl for reaching this milestone!
