DD and pointe shoes

[CianOFountain]

My daughter is 13 and attends a dance school. They do alot of different classes and my dd came home today saying that they are now allowed to have pointe shoes. I was a little shocked at this as they do a ballet session once a week for an hour and I'll admit I'm not a professional but surely they should do more ballet that that!
What do I say to the teacher without causing offence? Or am I wrong to question it and I should trust that they know what they are doing
Googling only supports my feelings but I'm hoping someone here is actually knowledgeable about this
Thanks!

I can't remember who said it, but there is a quote from someone renowned in the ballet world who said something along the lines of:

"It's no use putting a child on pointe if she can't do anything once she gets there".

This is not sensible. Our ballet school does not allow pointe unless the child is pursuing a vocational path. It's just not worth the potential ligament damage if you're doing ballet as a hobby. Professional opinion has really shifted on this over the last few years - I was quite surprised myself.

My daughter was 11/12yrs when she got her first pointe shoes with her RAD teacher. It started at 10mins a week just with rises at the barre and then gradually increased. She is 18yrs now, stopped at 16yrs and you couldn't tell looking at her feet that she had ever been on her pointes.
The key is they need to be fitted by someone who knows what they are doing and can assess them is a safe way, when shoes are past there best they need to be replaced asap.

I come from a dance family & went on pointe at age 13 with 3 classes a week. I was (still am) very strong through and was able to get up over the box pretty quickly.

You may not know the answer to these questions, but: can she hold her turn out on demi-pointe? and in a relevé in seconde? How are her pirouettes? Can she do a retiré en relevé with a straight supporting leg? Can she work well on one leg without a bent supporting knee or misaligned pelvis?

Will it be one class a week, plus a dedicated pointe lesson of about 30 minutes?

I think you should take tour question to BalletCoUK where there are some very qualified teachers & a lot of knowledgeable ballet parents - far better than Google!

30 minutes a lesson on pointes at the start? My daughter was allowed to start off with 10 minutes with rises at the barre. 30 minutes is a long time.

This isn't a ballet class.

A ballet class for a 12-13 year old should be at least an hour long, and they should be working towards building fitness & stamina to do a 90 minute class (professional standard, although I've been in classes with master teaches where we go for 2 hours and only stop because there's a rehearsal!)

A class should be for at least 60 minutes JUST ballet, and she should e doing at least 2, preferably 3 a week.

And exams are useful only in so far as they give an indication of the standard a child has reached, but they mean pretty much nothing (certainly in the profession).

30 minutes a lesson on pointes at the start? My daughter was allowed to start off with 10 minutes with rises at the barre. 30 minutes is a long time.

As I said, I was very strong, and had been doing ballet class 3 times a week. And I didn't (don't) have "banana feet" or hyperextended knees, so my legs & feet are also (still) very strong.

15 minutes of that would be pointe prep exercises in flat shoes, 5 minutes changing and 10 minutes at the end doing rises at the barre. I wouldn't expect any respectable teacher to allow students to move away from the barre and into the centre for some while.

More senior dancers who have been en pointe for some time might go straight from their regular grade class into the pointe class following immediately after and do most of it in pointe shoes, but that would be from Intermediate vocational grade upwards really.

Yup, @taxi4ballet (love the name!!) When you first wear pointe shoes, you have to get used to the much more solid sole, and learn to balance on a flat foot, as well as en pointe. Adage in pointe shoes is damn difficult even on a flat foot. I actually found it easier to balance in relevé and turn, rather than arabesque on a flat foot. But I was more than usually strong (because I never had the ideal ballet body!!)

I have ballet experience - only one hr a week would often be seen as not quite enough for pointe, however if her feet and ankles are strong enough bc of the other classes she does it cloud very well be fine. It's all down to if her technique is good enough and if she's strong enough. Of course pointe work will develop strength too.

Will the pointe work be an additional class or within the one hour?

I’ve danced for 29 years and I went en pointe at 12 (but I did do a lot more lessons than your daughter). I used demi-pointe first which I would recommend for your DD, and this is what the teacher should be encouraging too. But pointe class was separate to normal ballet - we chose to be there in addition to our usual classes. Now I’m older I only do en pointe. Feet are fine

Demi-pointe shoes are fine - if you are in a pre-pointe class and that's what the teacher has asked you to get - but I know from what one of DD's friends did (who went to another dance school), that there can be too much temptation to try and go on pointe in them whilst wearing the shoes at home. And they aren't designed for that.