Body and sole: Ballet should stick to dancers with flat feet, not stigmatize them | Ballet

pWearing my ballet shoes again after six years was bittersweet. It felt good to return to my childhood hobby but also uncomfortable, knowing that I had originally stopped ballet due to my incredibly flat feet. There’s no doubt that ballet challenges your feet greatly – the tips of your toes support your entire body weight when dancing in pointed shoes. Struggling to keep dancing ballet made me feel like my body wasn’t built for ballet, which couldn’t be further from the truth, as flat ballet professionals are out there and thriving.

However, the industry is still obsessed with “perfect” feet. High arches have traditionally been praised in ballet, and some dancers today use butterflies (fake arches), which give the illusion that your foot is more curved than it actually is.

Alex Morin and Ruth Issel are two black ballerinas from different sides of the Atlantic. Maureen is an artist and dance instructor at New York University. Issel is the founder of the London-based Point Black Ballet School. They both have flat feet but reject the suggestion that it is an obstacle to success.

This idea has been echoed to all of us by teachers. This often manifests itself as a quiet withdrawal and an unwillingness to learn about our feet and how to work with them. “One teacher told me I wouldn’t make it because of my flat feet,” Maureen says. As a teenager, Essel was told: “You don’t have to worry about it so much. Black people usually have flat feet. It’s just the way you are. It means you’ll always find some things very difficult.”

Studies show that black people are more likely to suffer from flat feet, but this is not a foregone conclusion, as there are black people with high and medium arches. Maureen and Issel deconstruct frustrating beliefs about their feet through research and conversations. With her background in psychology, Issel began learning more about anatomy and exercises to strengthen her ankles and improve foot movement. She soon realized that performance on pointe “isn’t just about the arches. It’s a combination of foot flexibility, foot strength, ankle mobility, ankle strength, calf strength, and core strength.” For example, Maureen has a very flexible top of her ankle that strengthens her index finger. Flat feet come in different forms and do not automatically equate to poor performance.

Preventing injury is crucial for dancers with flat feet, who tend to land on their heels. As a high jumper, Maureen was taught the importance of properly distributing her weight by her physical trainer in college after suffering a hairline fracture. Maureen and Essel stress the need for teachers to do their part. Educators have a responsibility to break down stigmas, figure out how to work with different body types and bring in specialists when a problem goes beyond their scope of knowledge.

“To this day, I have never met a black pointe shoe specialist in the UK,” says Issel. “I am grateful that we have black physical therapists that we work with who come to us and take a look at our students to check their posture and feet before we then go to fit the pointe shoes.”

Maureen and Essel have checklists for their students before they can start using pointe shoes. “I would go with them to the store and say, ‘No, no, no, this isn’t going to work. They need a different shoe,” says Maureen, who cuts the shank — the solid part between the insole and outsole — to fit the arch of her foot so the shoe sits comfortably. “It’s not that flat feet aren’t made for pointe work,” she adds. You just need your shoes to work for you, not against you.”

“I’ve heard of people who did ballet up to a certain point, and then when they started doing ballet, they said they felt really uncomfortable and stopped, which is really unfortunate,” Issel says.

I was one of those people. I thrived in ballet until my teenage years, when it became blatantly clear that my pointe strength was weaker than that of most of my peers. I’ve used a resistance band to do specific exercises to no avail. I remember trying pointe shoes for the first time, with my teacher’s approval, and having trouble getting up fully. The fitter told me I wasn’t ready to wear pointe shoes, but didn’t give me an explanation why—or offer me an alternative shoe to try—which ultimately stifled my motivation.

For aspiring ballerinas with flat feet, Maureen’s words stick: “Give yourself grace. Be kind to yourself.” I will carry these words with me as I begin the journey of rediscovering my joy in ballet again. This time, I see my feet differently – as a strength rather than a weakness in my dancing.