By Ava DiPalantino – Freshman
Recently, actor Timothee Chalamet remarked on ballet and opera. He stated to the press, “I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.’”
His statement triggered major backlash from performing arts students, schools, and companies, as well as famous performers like ballerinas. Many celebrities have called him out on his ignorant take. Ballerinas are extremely strong and even dance on the tips of their toes wearing pointe shoes made of fabric glued together like paper mache!
Although pointe shoes provide some support, to dance en pointe, you must have an extremely strong core, ankles, and calves. A dancer’s feet also must be mostly developed, usually by age 13. Most dancers can only go en pointe after at least five years of ballet training and one year of pre-pointe, depending on age and skill.
Dancing en pointe can be very dangerous if a dancer is undertrained. To protect their bodies, they must have the strength, skill, and flexibility to maintain proper technique while on their toes
From their very first class, ballerinas are instructed to always be “turned out”, meaning to keep their heels toward the audience and legs turned to the side from their hips. They also learn how to engage their core muscles while keeping their head, neck, back, and even shoulder blades in line with each other. Try it, it will most likely be extremely uncomfortable!
One of the first questions I get asked when I say I dance en pointe is “Does it hurt?”. The obvious answer is yes, but not as much as you would expect!
When you get your pointe shoes, you have to get them professionally fitted for your feet to minimize the risk of injury and pain. Your fitter will also give you toe pads, a thin fabric pad to put over your toes while you dance. Some dancers like to stuff their toe pads with lamb’s wool depending on their preference.
Although dancing en pointe is not excruciating, it can still be painful, especially as a beginner. When your shoes are new, they are very hard and usually leave bruises on your toes and ankles. When a dancer is en pointe, there can be up to 12 times their body weight on their toes! This immense weight makes foot pain, bleeding, blisters, and bruising inevitable for almost every dancer en pointe.
If I explain this to somebody, they usually ask me why I do it. My answer is usually just a simple sentence, “Because I love it!” I say this because there is much more to ballet than pointe shoes and discipline. Ballet can also be a form of emotional expression and a way to push yourself to almost perfection to achieve amazing feats! There is nothing irrelevant about that!
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx281xz2qjqo
https://pointemagazine.com/history-of-pointe-shoes
https://www.britannica.com/art/ballet
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/apr/20/charlize-theron-timothee-chalamet-ballet-comments
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