I want to be en pointe before the end of highschool?

Question

I'm going to be a sophomore and LOVE dancing. I hadn't danced since age eight until last year as a freshman. I took up intermediate/advanced lyrical and intermediate hip hop. I wasn't good at all because I was so inexperienced. I wanted to be the best though, so worked hard, and have double turns (almost a triple on my left leg!), really strong ankles, flexibility, core strength, and tons of grace. My dream is to be en pointe by the time I'm a senior so I can do it before I graduate. If I did this much in one year with lyrical, how much regular ballet will it take for me to go on pointe shoes? My goal is to be on them for my junior year. I really want to do this. Advice please!

Answer 1

you should definitely be able to go on by senior year but i don't know about junior...

Answer 2

It depends on the teacher.

My dance studio had a policy of 3 consecutive years of ballet before they would put anyone on point although I know there are teachers who aren't as stringent.

You really do need to take ballet classes if you want to be a point dancer. According to my ballet friends who take lyrical, it uses very different muscles. Also, while you may have the strength, you also need the ballet technique.

Really the best thing you can do is talk to one of your dance teachers. They are the ones who see you dance and know what you are capable of.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I would say with your determination you can most certainly do it. We have one girl in my class. She joined as a sophomore and she got her pointe shoes sometime during her junior year. So if she can do it I'm sure you can as well.

Make sure that your instructor okays it first though. : )