Pointe Shoe Policy

Dancers desiring to go en Pointe should understand the commitment and seriousness required to advance to this level. At Elevation Dance Studios, students must be INVITED by our classical Ballet teachers to commence the necessary steps in attainting their first pair of pointe shoes.

Age is NOT a factor in deciding who is ready for pointe shoes, nor is the number of classes a student attends during a week.

At Elevation we base our decision off the following standards:

• Students attend a combination of two ballet classes and a pre pointe class each week.

• Students demonstrate an acute physical awareness, technique and commitment during class.

• Students have reached a physical maturity required for the demands of pointe work.

• Students have obtain clearance from a Dance specific Physiotherapist. We recommend you book your pointe assessment with the very knowledgable practitioners at Physio on Collins.

Once Students have obtained clearance from the Physiotherapist, it will be time to book in for a Pointe Shoe fitting. There are numerous styles of pointe shoes out there, and for this reason your teacher will recommend a specific retailer for you to attend for your fitting. We also recommend you call ahead, as most places have a strict appointment only option due to the time required for each fitting.

We will attempt to attend your first fitting, as our experienced instructors will be able to help guide you through the different shoes. However if one of our EDS teachers can not attend your fitting, we ask that you refrain from sewing on the elastics and ribbons so we can assess them during your next class. Please note, that once you sew on your ribbons and elastics you can not return them, and your teacher has the final say in style.

Teachers at EDS reserve the right to take any student off pointe, if they do not meet or maintain the above standards. As each shoe is unique and specific to the dancers foot, students are not to share their shoes or let a younger student ‘try’ them on.