The Feet of a Female Ballet Dancer
As a dancer, I think that ballerinas have beautiful feet. However, to a non-dancer, all that is seen is a distorted and unnatural-looking foot.
In some ways they are ugly because of the extreme of work they do. The unnatural pointe work also takes its toll- not only on the skin, with blisters and wounds, but also with the bones, with stress fractures and bone spurs.
Non-dancers don’t realize that ballet requires pure self-disciple, and part of that is disciplining your feet to do unnatural things.
When I see a professional ballerina’s feet, I see the hours of exercises and the years of constant practice that has gone into sculpting that perfect arch. Non-dancers don’t generally understand the amount of work, diligence, physical and mental strength required to achieve the perfect look.
If you want a technical answer, it is because we use basically whatever we can get our hands on to stretch and pull and push our feet into beautiful arches (walls, sofas, thera-bands, etc.). We consistently exercise specific muscles in the foot (metatarsals, tarsals etc.) and dance on our toes with the support of pointe shoes (sometimes known as toe shoes).
Feet are as important to ballerinas as hands are to gymnasts and are used as frequently, which means that our feet are also very calloused and muscular and exquisitely articulate through every single joint from the heel through to each toe. They extend the line of the leg to infinity, and express everything from delicacy and refinement to explosive power and strength. Lusciously worked feet in ballet is a marvelous thing to behold.
Related: 15 Sad Realities of Being A Professional Ballet Dancer
