should my daughter keep dancing

[chrissie63]

my 11 year old daughter has been diabetic for 9 years , she has been going to ballet lessons for a few years now , and her ballet teacher wants her to go onto pointes (ballet shoes with a wood block , to stand on her toes) I'm worried this may damage her feet . has anybody had any experience of this ,or any advice?

[jjdancer21]

Being in ballet on pointe, especially if your daughter chooses to do it for a long time, diabetic or not, will eventually damage her feet. Every dancer is at risk for any type of injury that has to do with dance.

[ciw]

why don't you ask your daughters chiropodist they would be able to advice you

[ballendorf]

I danced for 3 years on pointe during my early teens, and my mother was a ballet dancer in a company on pointe for 10+ years and if her ankles are strong she can go on pointe...but about damaging her feet, I don't think it would do much damage unless she was dancing on pointe for years everyday after school for multiple hours.

[Wchadd]

My daughter has danced for 7 years - she is 9 y.o. and has been diagnosed with her insulin dependent diabetes for 11 months.  Her dance is her passion and has been her outlet for her personal frustrations and struggles with her diabetes.  She is not on pointe yet - we prefer to put it off a little while longer while her feet, ankles and legs continue to mature.  BUT - I can not imagine asking her to stop.  Even if your dance studio does not want to allow her to continue without progressing to pointe - you could move her to another studio.  

I would have a heart to heart with her to see what she wants.  We have a number of family friends whose daughters are 11 and 12 and train in pointe.  Their daughters do very well.  

Good luck!

[CCmamalisa]

My daughter danced until it was time for her to go on pointe, and we had her stop.  It was not because anyone told us she had to, but we didn't want to risk injury to her feet.  However, if our dance school had offered a program where she could stay in ballet without going to pointe, we would have left her in.  I too am curious to see what others' experiences are with this & gain insight.

[delgado2134]

I have been wondering the same thing, so I will be interested to know. My daughter dances everything, hip hop, jazz, tap, ballet, modern,and lyrical. We haven't attempted pointe because of this same question. Hopefully someone has some insight.