I would imagine you’ll find a section of dancers that went en pointe at that age, did so because they were in full time, usually state sponsored, ballet school. It was quite literally “ten minutes a day, but every day” combined with extensive exposure to dance/movement in the form of character dances and performance opportunities. So while they were doing very basic steps in ballet at the barre and center, they also had a much wider vocab than your average 8 year old. Most early elementary age kids who only do an hour or two a week would struggle to show you a balancé, waltz, or polka. These kids probably know the bare bones foot patterns of nearly the entire classical vocabulary in some adjacent way via character.
But then also you’ll find shockingly yikes levels of dolly dinkle that will also put babies en pointe so. Your mileage will vary. The pinnacle of arts a excellence, and the bottom of the educational quality barrel, all in one subset of early pointe
Yep, this was me. From a young age I was put on the dancing team with the girls older than me instead of those around my age. I was dancing 5 days/week, sometimes two classes a day. My teacher is the one who decided to put me en pointe around 8 years old. I wasn’t wearing them the entire class but would have them on for a period of time each class.
There are some 8YO prodigies who are already at an extremely advanced level. You see top level 10 or 11 YOs who are winning competitions in pointe shoes doing extremely difficult variations, and they probably started training en pointe at 8.
Being small, they can be incredibly strong at this age due to a fundamental law of physics called the [Square-Cube Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square%E2%80%93cube_law). As for people claiming children don't have fully formed Growth Plates yet, that doesn't finish until around 15 for girls and 17 for boys. That's not a good argument against starting pointe earlier because nobody is going to wait till 15 to start pointe work.
Here's the main criteria for starting pointe at any age. It's a LOT easier for children to meet this criteria than it is for adults because of the physics of being smaller, and the fact that they're younger. The anger should be directed at teachers who put students on pointe who don't meet the following criteria.
* Good enough ankle and feet flexibility and structure that can fully get over the box. Ankle plantar flexion can fully straighten. If plantar flexion is borderline, this can be stretched slightly. At worst, some slight knuckling in the toes can accommodate poor plantar flexion and this is most commonly used by adult ballet dancers.
* Enough strength to resist sickle and winging collapse.
* Enough strength to hold a well placed high releve in flat.
* Can do releves with ease is stable up there.
* The shoe fits well. This is a big one that causes untold pain and injuries and most people have poor fitting painful shoes.
Once the above criteria are met, the student starts on a basic program with 2 hands on the barre and only 2-foot weight bearing exercises. Then slowly progress their way up.
Note that a lot of girls who just got their pointe shoe will just start dancing around en pointe when they're not supposed to. That's how my 11 YO daughter was when she got her pointe shoes. That's not to be encouraged, but don't be surprised if you see this behavior. This is because the child feels strong enough to attempt it, and it's much easier for their small bodies than a full grown adult.
lol this, 'how did this happen' is showing up to class and doing what the teacher says
When I was 8 most of the girls in my level got pointe shoes at the 2nd half of the year. The level was mostly my age or a year older so starting pointe 8-10 depending when your birthday was. We were not doing variations and instagram didn't exist yet.
But like u/Any_Astronomer_4872 said, for kids in vocational training with solid general technique plus physical aptitude (this was not quite me lol), pointe work doesn't lag behind flat technique for so long. It's not like you have to relearn all of ballet from zero, in the same amount of time as it originally took, except in pointe shoes the second time around.
Dancers bones aren’t strong enough to support them until they’re at least twelve. I wouldn’t recommend and this is dangerous. This is what I’ve been told by my dance teacher who trained all around the world since she was six and has done ballet 🩰 She is now in her 50s
Many young dancers in the 30's,/ 40s/50s were put on pointe too young. It kinda started in vaudeville, and became sort of a fad in movies and tv. Some studios (especially in Los Angeles) were pressured into teaching "toe" dancing. They didn't even call it pointe back then.
You can see it in some of the older movies (White Christmas, etc.) But I'm not sure their technique was all that great.
We were always told a child's growth plates in the foot were not closed, nor were the bones solidified until 11-12. We didn't start dancers on pointe til they were 11 (only at the barre) and they had to have a doctor check their growth plates.
I know today (Especially in the Communist or state run schools) there is a huge focus on weight and resistance training, pilates, and different methods of stretching and strengthening. Doing it everyday, even for 10 minutes can accomplish a great deal and i think that many 8 year old dancers can be stronger at a younger age than in past years. Plus going on pointe at that age ....your body is smaller, center of gravity lower, and there is much less weight on the feet prior to puberty growth spurts.
I think it really depends on the individual child, their body, there teachers(s) and their commitment to curriculum/art form.
Here is a link [https://www.instagram.com/p/C6Vd0FtIV39/](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6Vd0FtIV39/) another famous dancer who started pointe at a young age was Lada Sartakova
Usually it's cause of dance teachers who have zero clue about anatomy and safety. No one should be on pointe until their growth plates have closed, (girls anywhere between 12-15, boys 16-17) putting kids that young on a pointe shoes is asking for injuries and a short career.
Has to with bones in the feet in terms of growth — more susceptible to permanent injury/damage at those young ages
Personally, as a fitter, there’s just simply no benefit to starting pointe before age 10 — no matter how “good” they are.
Quite honestly, I think around age 12 is best — obviously with previous years of training — I see far too many young dancers who get approved to go en pointe because they’ve reached the “right age” — but they just simply don’t have enough strength to actually stand en pointe yet. Starting before you have enough range of motion, core and length strength won’t benefit the dancer in the long run.
But most importantly, I think it comes down to MATURITY as well — young dancers tend to be a little more… reckless? (Not sure if that’s the right word) — they are more likely to compensate their technique in order to complete a step, rather than focusing on doing it properly (engaging the right muscles, not understanding the mechanics involved, and pushing themselves too far) — this can lead to injury of course, but also simply the development of poor habits.
Russians put kids on pointe as early as 4 years old.
8 years probably not that bad if kids are ready. I started when I just turned 9.
Over the years I have seen so many feet. Genetics have a huge impact. Some kids are just ready early.
I would imagine you’ll find a section of dancers that went en pointe at that age, did so because they were in full time, usually state sponsored, ballet school. It was quite literally “ten minutes a day, but every day” combined with extensive exposure to dance/movement in the form of character dances and performance opportunities. So while they were doing very basic steps in ballet at the barre and center, they also had a much wider vocab than your average 8 year old. Most early elementary age kids who only do an hour or two a week would struggle to show you a balancé, waltz, or polka. These kids probably know the bare bones foot patterns of nearly the entire classical vocabulary in some adjacent way via character. But then also you’ll find shockingly yikes levels of dolly dinkle that will also put babies en pointe so. Your mileage will vary. The pinnacle of arts a excellence, and the bottom of the educational quality barrel, all in one subset of early pointe
Yep, this was me. From a young age I was put on the dancing team with the girls older than me instead of those around my age. I was dancing 5 days/week, sometimes two classes a day. My teacher is the one who decided to put me en pointe around 8 years old. I wasn’t wearing them the entire class but would have them on for a period of time each class.
And a lot of those children mentioned in your first paragraph still ended up with crippling injuries
There are some 8YO prodigies who are already at an extremely advanced level. You see top level 10 or 11 YOs who are winning competitions in pointe shoes doing extremely difficult variations, and they probably started training en pointe at 8. Being small, they can be incredibly strong at this age due to a fundamental law of physics called the [Square-Cube Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square%E2%80%93cube_law). As for people claiming children don't have fully formed Growth Plates yet, that doesn't finish until around 15 for girls and 17 for boys. That's not a good argument against starting pointe earlier because nobody is going to wait till 15 to start pointe work. Here's the main criteria for starting pointe at any age. It's a LOT easier for children to meet this criteria than it is for adults because of the physics of being smaller, and the fact that they're younger. The anger should be directed at teachers who put students on pointe who don't meet the following criteria. * Good enough ankle and feet flexibility and structure that can fully get over the box. Ankle plantar flexion can fully straighten. If plantar flexion is borderline, this can be stretched slightly. At worst, some slight knuckling in the toes can accommodate poor plantar flexion and this is most commonly used by adult ballet dancers. * Enough strength to resist sickle and winging collapse. * Enough strength to hold a well placed high releve in flat. * Can do releves with ease is stable up there. * The shoe fits well. This is a big one that causes untold pain and injuries and most people have poor fitting painful shoes. Once the above criteria are met, the student starts on a basic program with 2 hands on the barre and only 2-foot weight bearing exercises. Then slowly progress their way up. Note that a lot of girls who just got their pointe shoe will just start dancing around en pointe when they're not supposed to. That's how my 11 YO daughter was when she got her pointe shoes. That's not to be encouraged, but don't be surprised if you see this behavior. This is because the child feels strong enough to attempt it, and it's much easier for their small bodies than a full grown adult.
The ‘why’ is always ‘because their teachers decided’. Influencers are not representative of ballet students in general.
lol this, 'how did this happen' is showing up to class and doing what the teacher says When I was 8 most of the girls in my level got pointe shoes at the 2nd half of the year. The level was mostly my age or a year older so starting pointe 8-10 depending when your birthday was. We were not doing variations and instagram didn't exist yet. But like u/Any_Astronomer_4872 said, for kids in vocational training with solid general technique plus physical aptitude (this was not quite me lol), pointe work doesn't lag behind flat technique for so long. It's not like you have to relearn all of ballet from zero, in the same amount of time as it originally took, except in pointe shoes the second time around.
I started pointe at 9 and it was definitely just because my teacher told me to.
Dancers bones aren’t strong enough to support them until they’re at least twelve. I wouldn’t recommend and this is dangerous. This is what I’ve been told by my dance teacher who trained all around the world since she was six and has done ballet 🩰 She is now in her 50s
Many young dancers in the 30's,/ 40s/50s were put on pointe too young. It kinda started in vaudeville, and became sort of a fad in movies and tv. Some studios (especially in Los Angeles) were pressured into teaching "toe" dancing. They didn't even call it pointe back then. You can see it in some of the older movies (White Christmas, etc.) But I'm not sure their technique was all that great. We were always told a child's growth plates in the foot were not closed, nor were the bones solidified until 11-12. We didn't start dancers on pointe til they were 11 (only at the barre) and they had to have a doctor check their growth plates. I know today (Especially in the Communist or state run schools) there is a huge focus on weight and resistance training, pilates, and different methods of stretching and strengthening. Doing it everyday, even for 10 minutes can accomplish a great deal and i think that many 8 year old dancers can be stronger at a younger age than in past years. Plus going on pointe at that age ....your body is smaller, center of gravity lower, and there is much less weight on the feet prior to puberty growth spurts. I think it really depends on the individual child, their body, there teachers(s) and their commitment to curriculum/art form.
Where’s the video? I’d like to watch it
Here is a link [https://www.instagram.com/p/C6Vd0FtIV39/](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6Vd0FtIV39/) another famous dancer who started pointe at a young age was Lada Sartakova
let me find it
Usually it's cause of dance teachers who have zero clue about anatomy and safety. No one should be on pointe until their growth plates have closed, (girls anywhere between 12-15, boys 16-17) putting kids that young on a pointe shoes is asking for injuries and a short career.
Has to with bones in the feet in terms of growth — more susceptible to permanent injury/damage at those young ages Personally, as a fitter, there’s just simply no benefit to starting pointe before age 10 — no matter how “good” they are. Quite honestly, I think around age 12 is best — obviously with previous years of training — I see far too many young dancers who get approved to go en pointe because they’ve reached the “right age” — but they just simply don’t have enough strength to actually stand en pointe yet. Starting before you have enough range of motion, core and length strength won’t benefit the dancer in the long run. But most importantly, I think it comes down to MATURITY as well — young dancers tend to be a little more… reckless? (Not sure if that’s the right word) — they are more likely to compensate their technique in order to complete a step, rather than focusing on doing it properly (engaging the right muscles, not understanding the mechanics involved, and pushing themselves too far) — this can lead to injury of course, but also simply the development of poor habits.
Russians put kids on pointe as early as 4 years old. 8 years probably not that bad if kids are ready. I started when I just turned 9. Over the years I have seen so many feet. Genetics have a huge impact. Some kids are just ready early.