Hi I have no arches wut so ever in my feet! Ppl say i have really nice feet but they dont look anywhere close to a ballerina's foot. I read an article on her about how to take care of you feet but thats not exactly wut i am looking for. i hope i can convince my studio director to buy a foot stretcher for the studio and i will get orthotics, but is there anything else i can do? remember... i have no arch at all so how can i get one? thanx for ur help!<P>------------------<BR>*Lil Ballerina* <BR> ~Keep on Dancin!~

Hello Lil Ballerina - welcome to the board - it's great to see you here.<P>May I suggest something first? When you are typing out your questions please try to type out the words correctly - like "what" instead of "wut". We have a large number of people who are members of this board who are in countries that don't speak English as their first language....and they might not understand what you are saying. So please, type out all your words. Thank you very much.<P>Now to get onto the problem of not having arches in your feet. I would NEVER recommend any kind of foot stretcher. Remember that your feet are really made up of quite small and fragile bones, ligaments and tendons. And, your feet have to last you for the rest of your life!!<P>You didn't mention whether you were on point or not. That would be important to know. And also have you spoken to your teacher about this and what does she say?<P>You can work on your arch - by doing your tendus very, very carefully. That is what I did and though it took time, it did work. If you pretend you are ironing the floor with your foot every time you do a tendu - use the floor as an isometric exercise, and articulating every part of your foot - it will grow in both strength and flexibility.<P>You can also sit in a chair and with your bare toes pleat up a towel. That also helps. When you point your foot feel the energy going through the foot and visualize a high arch. I have fairly low arches too, and that is also what I did - and it did help me. It takes time - and lots of work.<P>And never let anyone stretch your feet for you.<P><p>[This message has been edited by Basheva (edited June 25, 2001).]

Great advice, Basheva! Although i do have high arches, i'm going to do this too. Not for my arches, but rather for my tendu <P>Lil Ballerina -if you are worried about your arches (or your not-arches) because you are getting en pointe soon and think it will be too hard... Well look your arches certainly do help you a lot getting on pointe and staying there, but... your ankles do that as much as your arches, if not even more! You have to got very strong ankles to dacne sur les pointes. Ofcourse, they will also get stronger when you dance longer, but if you start with too weak ankles, there is a chance you will 'hang' into your shoes, and besides the fact that this is even dangerous, it looks kind of ugly, and is very boring to watch. You have to let your audience think that you can also walk on your toes without the shoes, that you just put them on for fun. You have to pull yourself up, out of your shoes, up, up... That will let you look as weightless as a feather, so fragile, but so strong... And here your calfs and thighs will help you. If you use them properly, they will hold you up and make the pointe work easier. But... no pointe without a straight back and spine! And saying this I don't mean that you can't do pointe if you have a naturally curved spine, but that you have to pull it up, straighten it, but *do* *not* *let* *your* *weight* *be* *backwards*! That will destroy your balance. . Another very important thing is to use your breath properly. (see thread 'breathing trough your dance'). That will also affect your pointe work in a positive way, even more, you just can't do pointe without using your breath. Oh, and now i almost forgot a good, strong plié to get up on pointe. And your arms, your head, they have to look like there's nothing easyer than dancing sur les pointes. <P>I wrote this all to let you realise that pointe is not only having good arches, it is using your whole body, it is alignment, it is... DANCE! <P>------------------<BR>The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything...<P><p>[This message has been edited by Anastasia (edited June 26, 2001).]

Anastasia, what an inspiring post! And informative, too. I especially liked the last sentence.

Thank you sooo much for answering this post! Thanx for the welcome too! (I will try to keep my spelling under control )<BR> Anyway... I found both of your information very helpful! Yes I am on pointe this i my second year and i am 13 years old. I can always get up all the way on the pointe and sometimes go over but that it only because of my super flexible ankles. People like my dance teachers say I have great feet, but at auditions they always say I need to work on them. My teachers suggested doing the tendu's very carefully and thing like glisses (spelling?) as well. My feet have improved alot from just doing that but it also builds up alot of calf muscles which i dont want anymore of. I dont have big legs or anything but i want that ballerina lengthend look. <P>Thanx again for your help, <BR><P>------------------<BR>*Lil Ballerina* <BR> ~Keep on Dancin!~

Lil Ballerina -Your teacher is right - tendus are a great way to strengthen your feet and make them more flexibile too!!<P>I don't think that will build up your calf muscles. Especially if you are sure to do nice cushy demi pliés, that will help to keep them stretched out.<P>Since your teacher says you have great feet - but at auditions you are told you have to work on them, perhaps they mean two different things? It seems that what your teacher is saying is that your feet are great - but the auditioners are saying you might have to make them "neater" - more precise. You might want to talk to your teacher about this. You might be confusing the two issues. It would be interesting to know.