I strongly urge caution before using pointe shoes. The bones of the feet need to be hardened from the cartilage of childhood. No pointe shoes before age 11 and until completing 3 years of beginning ballet. This coincides with the beginning of the Intermediate Ballet Syllabi. Read the complete introduction to pointe work here.

Always take care to find your balance and strive for perfect placement while learning and performing on pointe.

For the 1st year ONLY practice pointe work at the barre.

Pointe at the Barre 1st year

1. Relevé in 1st slowly
facing barre, press up through demi-pointe to pointe
hold and feel the center of gravity over toes
slowly press down to lower
repeat 8x

2. Relevé in 1st
facing barre, press up and press down
without holding in place on toes
repeat 8x

3. Echappé to 2nd
facing barre, plié, echappé to 2nd and hold
spring back to first with demi plié and straighten
repeat 8x

4. Relevé in 5th
facing barre, plié, relevé and balance
keeping a closed 5th position
spring down
repeat 8 x

5. Relevé in 5th and balance
face fwd - relevé in 5th, R arm up -
release barre and raise L arm to join R overhead and balance -
spring down in 5th through the feet

Pointe at the barre for 2nd year students - add to those above

6. Relevé in 5th and pas de bourrée
face fwd, relevé in 5th -
small developpé, spring fwd and bourrée fwd, -
circling R arm up and out -
Repeat with back foot - traveling back,
R arm circles out, overhead and down in front

7. Glissade on pointes
slide RF to 2nd - spring to both toes in 5th and spring down through the feet
4x R, 4x L

8. Glissade, posé retiré
slide RF to 2nd, spring to both pointes in 5th,
spring down through the feet,
spring to R pointe, LF across front of knee,
spring down in 5th
Repeat to L

9. Posé derrière
spring back on R pointe, LF front of R ankle,
tombé down on LF, RF in back of ankle
8x RF, 8x LF

10. Posé devant
spring fwd on R pointe, LF back of R ankle,
tombé down on LF, RF in front of ankle
8x RF, 8x LF

11. Trois échappé and relevé 5th
3 échappé changing feet, 1 relevé 5th -
4x in tempo

12. Échappe 2nd and Relevé 5th,
Pas de bourée forward and back
spring out to 2nd and down in 5th,
spring up in 5th, bourrée fwd, arm up and out,
spring out to 2nd and down in 5th,
spring up in 5th, bourrée back, arm over, in and down

Pointe at the barre for 3rd year students - add to those above

13. Glissade Assemblé
glissade derrièrre to right, slide RF to side, spring together on pointes,
brush RF to side and spring together in 5th on points, spring down in 5th -
reverse 4x

14. Soutenu turn on Pointe
spring to 2nd RF, bring LF in front in 5th,
turn right on both feet, spring down - 4x right and 4x left

15. Posé Coupé, Ballonné coupé
RF back, raise on calf,
spring on RF, LF front of R ankle, spring down - LF, RF back of L ankle,
spring to side on RF, L leg low 2nd, bend L knee -
LF back R ankle, lower R heel - reverse - 8x right, 8x left

16. Relevé 5th, Relevé Retiré forward
5th position, LF front -
spring up in 5th, spring down in 5th,
spring down RF, LF front of right knee,
spring down 5th - 4x right, 4x left

17. Relevé 5th, Relevé Retiré back
as above raising leg back of knee

18. Relevé 5th, Relevé Passé
as above - pass leg front and back, spring down,
pass leg back and front, spring down - 4x right, 4x left

19. Relevé in arabesque close 5th on each
face barre 5th, RF front -
spring to right toe,
left leg in arabesque, spring back to 5th - 8x right, 8x left

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Pointe Work Introduction

Classical Ballet Beginning to Advanced by Susan Kramer. Preballet, beginning, intermediate and advanced levels of ballet with hundreds of combinations including a separate section of pointe work. 100 pages. Ebook or Paperback Book


Article by Susan Kramer