My daughter is 10 & wears orthotic insoles in her street shoes because she has a tendency to pronate when she is not concentrating on her weight placement. She is a very keen dancer and next year is keen to apply for vocational dance school. When she is in ballet class she is very focussed on the distribution of weight on her feet and is rarely (if ever) pulled up on rolling her feet. I am keen to understand whether the fact that she wears orthotics in her street shoes means that dance schools wouldn't consider her for vocational training or whether this is something, like hypermobility, which they would watch and prescribe additional physio exercises for? Obviously it is down to each school to decide but I would value your opinion as a dance physio. The orthotist who prescribed her insoles didn't really have a view but isn't a specialist in dance. Your view would  be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Katie (Scotland)

Ps: My daughter has both your perfect pointe and flexibility books and loves them!

Dear Katie

Thanks for your question Katie, and I am also delighted to hear how much she loves the books! It’s great to hear that they are being used all over the world. Rest assured, the fact that your daughter wears orthotics will not exclude her from entry into a dance school. This is especially true if she is able to control her feet in class at the ripe old age of 10! This indicates to me that she has a very good awareness of where her body is in space, and how to control it, and this is rare in one so young. Many dancers have less than perfect feet, and it is our goal as dancers to make the best of all the parts of our bodies. The other wonderful thing is that she is only 10. Her feet are still developing and if they are growing while she is focusing on correct control (and as she is working with all the exercises that I know she is) her feet will develop differently. If she can maintain the alignment and develop good control of all the muscles then she will most probably need less and less support from the orthotic devices over time. I still get the full time girls to use soft ‘Formthotics’ in their street shoes, to support the arches of the feet, and let them rest after a day of full-on dancing. This is by no means a sign of ‘weakness’ but simply a way of caring for the feet so that they are at their optimum performance. I hope that this gives both you and your daughter some reassurance to just keep working on her technique and her love of dance, and help her follow her dreams.

Please let me know if there is any other way I can help!

Kindest regards,

Lisa

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