Your feet are not designed to support yourself on your toes. Therefore, they need to be strengthened and trained so that they can safely support you. You should begin your ballet education with demi-pointe shoes because they support your feet in the strengthening and training process.
Demi-pointe shoes are recommended because they:
- Have thicker soles that help with ankle control and balance
- Make the muscles in the foot stronger by working them harder than regular pointe shoes
- Acquaint the foot to the more confined working space of a pointe shoe
- Are fashioned to look like pointe shoes thus giving a beginner an encouraging, elegant look
- Follow the same sizing guidelines as pointe shoes so fitting will be easier and result in the best, most supportive choice
- Provide the gradual transition needed to prepare dancers for the demands of pointe work, allowing them to reach pointe quickly and confidently
- Reduce the possibility of injury when graduating to pointe work