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FIVE TIPS FOR BEGINNER POINTE DANCERS

Type:

Teacher article

Category:

Dance Teachers

Beginning pointe is a super exciting milestone in a young dancer’s life. Receiving your first pair of pointe shoes is definitely a time students don’t forget and will always remember. It should certainly be celebrated and met with enthusiasm and support.

So what happens now, when a dancer is ready for their first pointe class? What should you as their teacher be doing to maximize their success to ensure they have a complete understanding of protecting and taking care of those precious feet?

Here are five pointers to preventing unnecessary pain, injury and discomfort as well as a list of essential pointe shoe supplies!

1)      Make sure that toenails are kept short and are cut on a straight line and not a curved line. This will help to reduce bruising and also ingrown toenails.

2)      Keep feet very clean and use powder to help reduce the chance of blisters

3)      Keep feet moisturized, especially in cold weather as skin can crack and bleed if the skin is not kept supple. Massaging petroleum jelly or olive oil into the skin at night is recommended.

4)      Keep an eye on callous buildup on the soles of the feet and also on the toes. Soaking feet in warm soapy water for at least ten minutes and then rubbing callouses gently with a callous remover should prevent major buildup.

5)      If skin is easily torn, use adhesive tape prior to putting on pointe shoes to prevent tearing or blistering of the toes.

 

POINTE SHOE SUPPLIES

1.      Foot Powder

2.      Adhesive Tape

3.      New Skin

4.      Gel Pouches

5.      Lamb’s Wool

6.      Antibiotic Ointment

7.      Petroleum Jelly

8.      Blister Kits

9.      Band Aids

 

Good luck,

See you in the dance studio,

Jess

 

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Author

Jessica Rizzo Stafford

Jessica Rizzo Stafford

Jessica Rizzo Stafford is a native New Yorker and graduate of NYU Steinhardt's Dance Education Master’s Program; with a PK-12 New York State Teaching Certification. Her double-concentration Master’s Degree includes PK-12 pedagogy and dance education within the higher-education discipline. She also holds a BFA in dance performance from the UMASS Amherst 5 College Dance Program where she was a Chancellor's Talent Award recipient. Jess now works extensively with children, adolescents and professionals as choreographer and teacher and conducts national and international master-classes specializing in the genres of modern, contemporary, musical theatre and choreography-composition. Jess’ national and international performance career includes works such as: The National Tour of Guys & Dolls, The European Tour of Grease, West Side Story, Cabaret, Sweet Charity, Salute to Dudley Moore at Carnegie Hall, guest-dancer with the World Famous Pontani Sisters and IMPULSE Modern Dance Company. Jess has been a faculty member for the Perichild Program & Peridance Youth Ensemble & taught contemporary and jazz at the historic New Dance Group and 92nd Street Y in NYC. She was Company Director at the historic Steffi Nossen School of Dance/Dance in Education Fund and in 2008 traveled to Uganda where she taught creative-movement to misplaced children. The experience culminated with Jess being selected as a featured instructor at the Queen's Kampala Ballet & Modern Dance School. She has conducted workshops for the cast of LA REVE at the Wynn, Las Vegas and recently taught at the 2011 IDS International Dance Teacher Conference at The Royal Ballet in London, UK. She is also on faculty for the annual Dance Teacher Web Conferences in Las Vegas, NV. Currently, Jess is a faculty member at the D'Valda & Sirico Dance & Music Centre and master teacher & adjudicator for various national and international dance competitions. Recently, she has finished her NYU Master’s thesis research on the choreographic process of technically advanced adolescent dancers and is the creator of “PROJECT C;” a choreography-composition curriculum for the private studio sector. Jess is also faculty member, contributing writer and presenter in the choreography and “how to” teaching segments on the celebrated danceteacherweb.com. For more info, visit her website at www.jrizzo.net.

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