The Perfect Point
For beginning dancers everywhere, achieving a correctly “pointed”
foot can be a challenge. I usually
prefer to use the term “stretched” instead of “pointed”, because this prevents the
dancer from tensing the foot and clenching the toes. Stretching the muscles of the foot fosters a
more correct elongated curve.
The biggest error most students make involves “sickling” the
foot, that is, stretching the little toe side of the foot further than the big
toe side, resulting in a foot that is sickle-shaped (or a golf club shaped) instead
of a straighter line. I tell the
students to imagine a railroad track running down their foot with the rail on
each side being aligned with – parallel to – the other. Only later is the concept of a beveled foot
in devant and derriere positions introduced.
From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:
Secret #4d:
“To correctly stretch (point) the foot, imagine a railroad track
running down the foot, and keep both rails aligned.”
Link of the Day:
Quote
of the Day:
“The starting point of all achievement is desire.”
-Napoleon Hill
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