My purpose is to determine how much pressure is put on toes while on pointe in different positions. Weight is the amount of force you put on something or someone. When you go on pointe you rely on the shank and the platform to keep you up (Wikipedia, Pointe Technique). The shank of the shoe is the outer sole of the shoe. Many prior studies have said when dancers dance on pointe they have a higher risk of injuries. This …show more content…
Back then when they performed woman had to wear bulky and heavy dresses that were weighted so much that they could hardly stand in them. These dresses we so heavy and yet they still had to dance in them. One day a choreographer made a piece for his daughter. When she performed she came out in a skirt that was a little below her knee and a shirt without sleeves. The crowd was shocked when she came out. She became very famous and now lots of other ballerinas dressed like this. Many dancers in the 1800 found it hard to dance in pointe shoes because they were soft and weak, especially for turning and leaping. When a choreographer asked the dancers to do turns and leaps they were kind of stuck because they had to find a shoe that was soft enough for turning, and on the other foot a shoe hard enough for jumping. Many dancers used a softer pointe shoe on one foot and a much harder pointe shoe on the other foot. Today, ballerinas have pointe shoes that are soft enough to go through demi-pointe (a position on the balls of your feet) (Dictionary.com, Demi-Pointe) and hard enough to jump (The History of Dance, The History of Ballet and Pointe).
Many dancers get injured because of the pressure of the pointe shoes. There are many different versions of injuries from pointe. Going on pointe has a certain element of risk and can potentially harm a dancer who is not prepared or strong enough. Ethically, I will make sure that everyone