by Abigail Rasminsky | Jan 30, 2020 | Health & Body, Instagram, Trending
Pacific Northwest Ballet principal Noelani Pantastico was returning to dance after an injury when she made a “rookie mistake”: After three months of intensive physical therapy to deal with an osteochondral defect—which caused damage to the cartilage and...
by Madeline Schrock | Apr 25, 2018 | Cross-Training, Health & Body
Maybe you weren’t born with gorgeous, overarched feet, but that doesn’t mean you’re completely stuck with what you’ve got. “Strength and flexibility can improve with training, but that’s within the limits of your individual...
by Hannah Chang Foster | May 27, 2016 | Health & Body
This story originally appeared in the April/May 2016 issue of Pointe. With the joy of pointework usually comes the not-so-pleasant experience of having calluses. For most dancers, the hardened patches of skin on the toes and heels come with the territory. According to...
by Kathleen McGuire | Mar 23, 2011 | Health & Body
It’s a ballet dancer’s eternal question: How do I make my feet better? It seems that our ankles and insteps—no matter how supple they are—are never good enough. But while we all might dream of having arches like Polina Semionova or Paloma Herrera, few of...
by Amy Brandt | Dec 1, 2010 | Company Life
I know I need to be supporting my feet and ankles with supportive shoes, but I don’t want to wear running sneakers everywhere I go. What kinds of street shoes should dancers wear to protect their feet? —Katie I spoke with Dr. Alan Woodle, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s...
by Jennifer Heimlich | Nov 28, 2001 | Company Life
I have an odd confession to make: I enjoy watching dancers who have bad feet. And I don’t just mean that I can appreciate good dancers in spite of their stereotypically “bad” ballet feet. I actually like their lack of instep and/or little arch....