The Truth About Pointe and Weight…

TW: Weight

I come to you today with breaking news about body weight and dancing en pointe… Body weight matters, but it is not EVERYTHING.

As an overweight dancer, I have struggled with bringing up this topic. Sugar-coating the toll that my weight has taken on my body (in regards to pointe) is much easier than telling the truth. But one of my followers on instagram requested this topic, and if I can make a difference to one dancer- I want to do it.

My first few years of pointe classes often ended in tears. From frustration, from pain, and from embarrassment. I looked around at my classmates improving from week to week when I was still struggling to releve on one leg. It didn’t take a genius to recognize that my weight brought me struggles that my thinner, prepubescent classmates weren’t experiencing.

I began my pointe journey around 9 years old. I was MUCH too young and MUCH too weak to be en pointe. My dance teacher saw that I was beginning puberty and feared that my natural foot and ankle flexibility would disappear as I aged, so we began training.

Unfortunately, the training was no where near what I needed, and I was not savvy enough to find resources to make pointe safe and enjoyable. It took almost 11 years to find the strength and technique to feel comfortable in pointe shoes. Since then, I have been continuing to strengthen in order to create the best possible outcome as I dance in pointe shoes.

The truth is- dancing en pointe while overweight is hard.

There, I said it. But newsflash: Dancing en pointe is hard, period. But if you’re ready to put in the effort, then it is SO worth it. Your weight doesn’t have to stop you- and I have collected a few tips and tricks to make dancers more successful en pointe.

But first, time for science!

A recent study (2019) was conducted to determine whether customized toe caps were more effective in toe deviation and pain management in professional female dancers, (interesting stuff, cited below!). It was found that in “softer” activities such as walking, force in the ankle and foot area can be up to five times a dancer’s body weight, whereas “heavier” exercises such as running, jumping, etc., the force can equal about 13 times a dancer’s body weight.

“During certain complex movements, such as pointe, relevé, or pirouette, a high force is generated on the dancer's ankle-foot area. During “softer” activities, such a force can reach up to five times the body weight while walking and ~13 times the body weight while running”

Salzano, A., Camuso, F., Sepe, M., Sellami, M., Ardigò, L. P., & Padulo, J. (2019). Acute Effect of Toe Cap Choice on Toe Deviation Angle and Perceived Pain in Female Professional Ballet Dancers. BioMed research international, 2019, 9515079. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/9515079

If we do basic math, we know that the less you weigh, the less force will be on your toes. This means that being heavier could potentially cause more pain and create more wear and tear on the legs and feet, thus creating potential for overuse injury.

But from this study, and anecdotal evidence, we can conclude that there are a few things that you can do to make your experience en pointe much more positive.

1.) Cross train/Train outside of class

Pointe requires strength in very specific muscles, and in the beginning of my training, I didn’t realize that I was creating muscular deficits of my body by putting too much focus into ballet. Full body strength has only added to my ease in pointe shoes, and I have found that light weight training, as well as resistance exercises have created a much greater sense of control and stability.

I also firmly believe that you should be doing something every day to support your work in pointe shoes; that could be balance exercises, using a resistance band to strengthen the toes, or rolling your feet out with a golf ball. It makes a huge difference when you go back to class if you are working to improve technique outside of the dance studio.

2.) Customize your toe padding

There are many dancers that choose to go without any padding in their pointe shoes, and that’s great! But if you are carrying extra weight, I want to stress the importance of alignment within your shoe, as well as pain management. In pointe shoes, most of the burden of your weight is carried on your big toe, (even if your second toe is longer). If your big toe is not aligned in your shoe, you are putting pressure on your joints in an unnatural way (as if pointe wasn’t unnatural enough), and this can lead to injury over time.

Toe caps or toe spacers can be a game changer in keeping the bones in the big toe stacked in a safer way, and it can make pointe much less painful- which leads into the next tip.

3.) Listen to your pain

“The cultural expectation that dancers would, and even should, experience pain led generations of teachers to encourage young students to endure pain as proof of their dedication to the art form.”

Molnar, M., & Karin, J. (2017). The complexities of dancers' pain. Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, 21(1), 3. Retrieved from https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A485167479/HRCA?u=mlin_w_baypath&sid=HRCA&xid=eb939165

I grew up listening to “no pain, no gain.” This led to ignoring really important signs in my body that something was wrong. Pointe can be really uncomfortable, and many dancers just work through it. However, I find that if my students are particularly uncomfortable, they start to make tiny changes in their technique to compensate. If their big toe hurts a lot, they might put more weight toward their pinky toe, which ruins the line and is improper technique. If their blisters become really painful, they sometimes have a subconscious fear of increasing the pain, and have less power behind their movements. Over time, these tiny changes can lead to developing bad habits or even injury.

This pain gives you important clues as to things you should fix in your shoes. Maybe you need less or more padding. Maybe you simply need to tape your toes where there is a lot of friction between your foot and your shoe. You should take time to experiment with what works for you- since there’s no “one size fits all” in pointe shoes.

Another really important note: if you begin to feel sharp pains, take a moment to evaluate the cause- there is a huge difference between working your feet and injury.

Please let me know if you have any specific questions about your pointe shoes, pain, or crosstraining! Leave a comment or DM me on Instagram