My Learning Story

Pointe Shoes

            It seems like only yesterday that I slipped on my pointe shoes for the very first time. I remember holding them and thinking, “You expect me to dance on this?” I was nine years old in my old ballet studio. I stood next to the bar in my particular place in that old, scuffed studio. You see, the time had come for my class to begin learning how to dance on pointe. To us, it seemed like a foreign concept. We had seen it done a million times but to actually put the shoes on our feet was terrifying. I never imagined that one day I would be wearing those shoes to take the lead as Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker.

            I remember my ballet teacher—she taught me at least once a week for all of my fourteen dancing years—screaming at us with excitement. She had a flare for the arts, you might say. Bernadette Campbell was not one to be messed with; she had the intimidation of a bull and the drama of a typical prima ballerina. She told me from the time I was three that one day I would be the Sugar Plum Fairy, and as I put on my brand new, hard as rock pointe shoes, she again told me that this was the next step. I had to learn pointe in order to be able to perform like a true ballerina. My choice was simple: learn pointe and continue dancing or quit all together. I was in no way leaning towards the latter, so I excitedly, yet hesitantly, put on my pink, satin shoes.

            Mrs. Bernadette began by teaching us at the bar. We would do pliés and tondus, and every once in a while, we would rise to relevé and begin to break in our new shoes. This practice continued, and before I knew it, I was practicing pirouettes, fouette turns, and grande jetes like it was a walk in the park. Practice became rehearsal, and rehearsal became performance. I took on the roles of Tinkerbell in Peter Pan, Snow Queen in the Nutcracker, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, and finally my dream of Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker. I performed as the Sugar Plum Fairy two years in a row exemplified through the variation, pas de deux, coda, and finale.

            Looking back, I can pinpoint my crossroad—the day I decided to put on my pointe shoes. The day I chose to pursue dance in a way I never had was the day that led me to my dream role. Hard work and perseverance played their part, but learning how to tie the pink ribbons of my pointe shoes was the day that changed my dance career forever.