Assessing Readiness

There is no set age or list of accomplishments to complete before being invited to be on pointe at BVI. Rather, we look at many factors and, together with dance-trained physical therapists from CHKD, we assess each dancer on an individual basis. Dancing on pointe is serious business and we take our responsibility for assessing young dancers for pointe readiness with great importance.

That said, we do almost always wait until a dancer is at least 10 years old. We also look at physical strength, balance, technique, suppleness of the feet, and both physical and mental maturity. We advise all dancers who are interested in going on pointe to do the following:

• Attend all your assigned classes on a regular basis
• Work hard and smart
• Demonstrate seriousness of purpose while in class
• Augment your training at BVI with the following exercises recommended by our CHKD partners on a regular basis:

• 30 second balance on demi-pointe in 1st position
• 30 second balance in parallel on one foot with eyes closed
• single pirouette en dehors
• 16 sautes in parallel on one leg with other leg in parallel coupe
• “airplane” (arabesque in parallel) then plie and bend down to touch floor 8 times each leg
• 24 eleves in parallel on each foot