DD and pointe shoes

I think you are right to be wary OP, i would not be comfortable with that. Perhaps consider asking on a more specialised forum ?

Dd2 went up en pointe when she was 12.5 after 11 years on and off of ballet. I pulled her out of Italia Conti (that’s a while other thread) and moved her to an independent school. Her dance teacher accompanied us to the shoe fitting and oversaw everything. IIRC the criteria to be ready for pointe amongst other things is being able to ‘get over the box’ look it up on YouTube or tiktok there are loads of videos. If your dd can’t do that she’s not ready - at least this is how my dd explains it.
if this was my decision all over again it would be down to how much I trust the ballet teachers expertise and experience.

hope this helps

I did ballet from the age of 3, but only one hour a week. I started dancing en pointe at 12. Perfectly normal (and my feet are fine!)

Agree My dd is 11 and doing pre pointe. 1 hour of ballet. Plus 30 minutes of pre pointe in demi pointe shoes. Teacher has made it clear it will take a long time if ever to reach pointe unless she does two pre pointe lessons a week in addition to ballet.

Fucking up her feet matters to me. I would be wary of any class going straight to pointe missing pre pointe. Unless I'm reassured she is strong enough at a more suitable age than 11 I'd not want her to be on her toes. It's pretty brutal

The dance school my dds attended would have expected them to be doing at least one grade glass and one vocational class to start pointe and would then have expected them to pick up a second vocational class before being considered for the first exam.

one lesson a week doesn’t seem like a lot but if she does a lot of other styles of dance then her ankles and feet may well be strong enough. Her teacher obviously thinks so. I’d be more concerned if she was 10 and only doing an hour a week and being told she could start pointe.

Same, although for less years.

Could you not just check with her teacher of this is indeed the case and if so could they recommend where to get them. She will need to be fitted properly, especially as it is her first pair. I can't see what the problem is, even if she's only doing one class a week.

I did ballet for 25 years, only went to class once a week and danced en pointe. An hour ballet class followed by half hour pointe class. I did all my grades and adult exams and performed on stage too.

Anyone serious about ballet will be working at home several nights a week. I only had money/time for one class a week but I was always doing strengthening exercises at home and doing plies and port de bras in the kitchen, as were the other girls.

I never did ballet so I don’t really know but I think it sounds unusual. My daughter’s ballet school wouldn’t let a dancer who only goes once a week do pointe. They have to do pre-pointe classes in addition to their normal classes from 11 onwards if they want to be considered for pointe from 13. We were told their ankles and legs won’t be strong enough if they have only been dancing an hour a week. They might just be having us on to pay for more classes though!

Don’t understand your issue here. Pointe shoes are hideously expensive but that doesn’t seem to be your concern. She’s old enough developmentally and if does a lot of dance and ballet once a week and has been for a while … and her teacher says she is ready ….??? What is your question/ concern?