There are basic requirements that all our Melbourne Ballet Company students and dancers must meet in order to train on pointe or participate in pointe classes/rehearsals/choreography. Meeting the below criteria is very important to keep the dancers safe and to help prevent injury. We recommend that all students get a

Pre point assessment with a physiotherapist who specializes in working with dancers. Minimum age to commence pointe work is 11 years and students must be attending a minimum of 3 classical ballet classes weekly in order to maintain the technique and strength required.

1.         Point Flexibility

Generally more than 180 degrees is advisable for pointe work. When the flexibility is stiffer than 180 degrees the dancer will battle to get up onto full pointe and will compensate elsewhere in the body. Balancing on a stiff pointe can also be very difficult as the body tends to be pushed back.

2.         Calf strength to Rise

Students must be able to demonstrate 25 controlled rises on the right foot and 25 on the left without fatigue before being considered strong enough in the calves to commence pointe work.

3.         Intrinsic Foot Muscle Strength

Toes must not curl under when rising to demi pointe – this indicates weakness in the intrinsic muscles of the foot. These muscles are required to keep the toes straight when rising and pointing the foot. Intrinsic muscles assist with demi pointe stability and control when moving onto full pointe. Intrinsic muscle use is important for straight toe alignment within pointe shoes.

4.         Medial/Lateral Ankle Strength

These muscles assist with the stability of the ankle and are important for reducing the risk of sprains.

5.         Big Toe Flexibility

A minimum of 90 degrees flexibility is required in the big toe joint for perpendicular floor alignment. When stiff the height of the demi pointe can be reduced and also the foot can be pushed laterally into a sickled out position.

6.         Calf Length

Tight calf muscles reduce the size of the demi plie and can cause difficulty keeping the heels down when landing from jumps. Tight calf muscles will also encourage rolling in (pronation) of the ankles. It is very important to keep eye on students with Mortons Toe (2^nd toe and metatarsal bigger than the big toe) This means that when on demi pointe more weight is borne through this bone instead of being shared evenly across the whole ball of the foot. Students with this kind of foot anatomy have a higher incidence of stress fractures.

7.         Knees

Look for straight tracking of the patella, watch out for patellae that move outward instead of remaining in line with the thigh. This is known as lateral tracking and can lead to an aggravation of the underneath surface of the knee caps. Students may need assistance in leg alignment control and may require exercises to improve the strength of the medial knee muscles. Stretching exercises  can be given for lengthening the outside thigh muscles.

8.         Turnout Strength

Ballet students ideally need minimum of 45 degrees external rotation for safe pointe work. For optimal control and muscle support over the mobility, we aim for the strength value of the external rotation to be within 5 degrees of the flexibility value. As classical ballet students improve their turnout strength many aspects of their technique will improve. Turn out strength is very important for the leg alignment control