Girls going en pointe too young?

[endedans]

Am I right in thinking that lately some children seem to be going on pointe too early?

Historically (I'm thinking early 20th century) you used to see pictures of very young girls en pointe. But I wonder if we've gone backwards a little as the same thing seems to be happening more and more now; many children of 10 years, which is debatably ok, but also many of 8 years and younger. Instagram and other social media are prime examples.

Sorry, not the most exciting AIBU.

I've only mentioned girls as I know of few male dancers who dance/ have danced en pointe, and they're very much older.

We've never done competitions but the minimum age to take Inter Foundation which has a very small pointe section mostly at the barre is age 11 & the most mummy age for Intermediate (more centre work) is age 12

imperfect thank you! Yes, I thought it would be something like that :)

believeitornot If your DD is still quite young then I would let her do ballet for now, and cross each bridge as you get to it. Pointe can be just as safe as no pointe, and just because you do pointe doesn't mean you definitely will damage your feet. It requires a solid technique and good teaching, which you can find, if you're interested then the Lisa Howell youtube channel has lots of good videos around safe pointe work, safe stretching, safe technique etc... she's a dance physiotherapist based in Australia.

YANBU , it is far too early. I never got to the pointe stage, I left just before around 12. My teacher was pushy (I thought) but never put somebody in pointe before 12-13 yo.

Absolutely regarding safe technique.

Well fitting pointe shoes. It is possible to maintain good foot health while dancing on pointe. My DD has been dancing in pointe shoes for 6 years.
Bear in mind that a teenager dancing in pointe shoes will be doing so for only a few hours a week.
The horror stories are from kids dancing in pointe shoes 7 hours a day, every day.

It's when they hit Inter Foundation at my daughter's dance school. And then on a dancer-by-dancer basis. The youngest i've seen is 10 nearly 11, but she was astonishing dancer with incredibly strong feet - a Royal Ballet Junior Associate from a young age, and now at f/t ballet school aged 11/12. The hypermobile girls with weaker ankles have to wait longer

My daughter is 8 and in grade 3, so I can't see her getting there til 12 or so. She's hypermobile as well and her ankles are wobbly as heck, so lots of strengthening needed.

Hmm.. pointe shoes is a tricky one. At our old studio, dd was progressing very quickly and had started inter foundation at 10 when her teacher asked me to take her to buy pointe shoes (dd had done no strengthening or Demi-pointes) I (foolishly!) trusted our old teacher. Dd started pointe with one other her age. Turns out dd has a slightly dodgy right ankle. She eventually fractured it at school (pointe too early had made it too weak) after 8 months (!!!) of physio and no ballet or dance at all- dd wanted to go back to ballet. We found a fab local studio and our wonderful new teacher was very understanding. After building more strength and flexibility- dd did 6 months on pre pointe strengthening (11 years old) then I (slightly reluctantly and nervously) took her to buy pointe shoes (12 years old). She now has no problems whatsoever. Moral of the story: do your research and maybe get a second opinion!)

My ballet school didn't let you go en pointe until you'd started your period (bone density?)
And demi-pointes to start.

MIne was 11, but had to do a year strengthening and Demi-pointe first. The teacher was very strict about it and limited pointe time initially. She danced regularly on pointe for 8 years and her feet are fine. She had blisters and aching feet sometimes but never serious issues.

In practise 12 at the youngest, I think they would have said no to a 9-11 year old.

My daughter was about 14 when she started dancing en pointe. She is 17 now and it is still only a small part of each lesson.

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