Why is it Harder to Jump in Pointe Shoes?
SWAK Photography
When I talk to dancers about jumping, there seems to be universal agreement that jumping in pointe shoes is harder than jumping in ballet shoes, barefoot, or tennis shoes. For those of you who have danced en pointe, your response is probably, “Yeah, duh.” For those of you who might even have identified that this difficulty is due to the limited depth of your demi plie in a pointe shoe, you’re onto something…
Yes, jumping could be difficult because your body needs more power training, or you need to recruit more proximal musculature. But I want to address the mechanical, physical, and universal reason why jumping in pointe shoes can be harder… the reason that cannot fully be evaded by getting stronger, training more, or using better technique.
With plie, the foot should “unlock” which lengthens and expands the foot. The talus bone sits at the center of the ankle between the tibia (shin bone) and the calcaneus (heel bone). The talus glides posteriorly (backwards) as we lower into demi plie. Simultaneously, the navicular bone (the highest bone in the medial arch of the foot) drops toward the floor as a person goes deeper into plie, allowing a medial arch “unlocking.” As a result, the foot lengthens and the metatarsals splay in our deepest plie.
Martin O’Connor Photography
So let’s get back to the original question: Why is it harder to jump in pointe shoes? A pointe shoe fits snugly around the forefoot with the big toe in contact with the end of the shoe in standing. Because of this snug fit, pointe shoes do not allow good foot lengthening and expanding with plie. When this metatarsal splay is blocked, the media arch and navicular bone are unable to drop as much, limiting the talus motion, limiting the plie depth. Our deepest plie is where the explosive rebound from the floor begins - we need to ‘go down to go up’, and the shoe is hindering the ‘down’.
This is the mechanical reason why dancers reach for dead shoes for the running/jumping variation (potentially allowing more foot spread and a deeper plie), and for hard shoes for the variations with tricky pointe work.
It is also important to note that every foot is different: some people have a high, rigid arch that pronates and splays very little, and other people have a more mobile midfoot which allows for more pronation and foot spread. It’s the latter who most likely notice more difficulty jumping when in a pointe shoe.
Why does this matter? While pointe shoes are meant to fit snugly, it is important that they do not fit TOO snugly, so as to not limit this critical movement of the foot and ankle. This type of restriction can create issues such as anterior ankle impingement, bruised toenails, shin pain, and more. When being fit for pointe shoes, testing how the shoes feel in plie is just as important as how they feel standing and en pointe. And our foot size can change over time, so your shoe size may need to increase (even if you are done growing in height).
It is also important to understand this normal and natural “unlocking” motion of the foot/ankle, and veer away from teaching that the arches should stay lifted at all times, even in our deepest plie. We need to stop villainizing ankle pronation in dance and come to terms with the idea that pronation is a critical movement of the healthy foot/ankle complex, and critical in proper jump mechanics. Even if (or ESPECIALLY if) the shoes we wear are making it harder for these healthy mechanics.