shingo2008

"I just wanted to see what I looked like en pointe . I'm blown away by how many comments there are, and how manypeople looked at it," says 18-year-old Nicole DeHelian, whorecently quit taking dancing lessons at New Horizons Dance Alliancein East Greenville, Pa. She posted a video labeled "Steel Toe Shoes"to YouTube in July 2006, and it's now one of the most popularvideos of its kind on the site, having generated 62,423 views and282 comments. The ballet establishment isn't pleased. "To be honest, I washorrified by what I saw," says Rachel Moore, executive director ofAmerican Ballet Theatre, in New York, And even when children are ready for toe shoes,they often suffer through lessons with bloody, blistered toes. "Mytoes are always sore," says 12-year-old Maia Charanis, who dancesfour days a week with the Dancer's Studio/Backstage in Alpharetta,Ga. Do-It-Yourself Approach The risks increase with the do-it-yourself approach. "The personwho teaches themselves how to dance en pointe has a fool for adance teacher," says William Hamilton, a New York orthopedicsurgeon specializing in ballet injuries. Another verity is that there is no stopping girls who want to beballerinas. Next to her YouTube posting, Yaxue Li, a 13-year-oldfrom Boston, wrote: "Despite the fact that I have never takenballet, I decided to get a pair of pointe shoes and just startpracticing. :) Any pointers/suggestions/comments would be muchappreciated, thanks!" Eleven-year-old Baylee Errante says she had been dreaming aboutwhat it would feel like to dance on the tips of her toes ever sincelast December when she saw "The Nutcracker." She begged her parentsto sign her up for lessons, but her dad said she needed to finishbasketball season first. She typed onto Yahoo: "How to Make Pointe Shoes." Then, shejerry-built a pair with soles made of thin plywood, and the restconsisting of cut-up socks, glue and cotton balls. Then she starteddancing, copying videos she had seen online. After school the nextday, she made her own video. She titled it "My Very First HandmadePointe Shoes" and posted it to YouTube. Since Jan. 25, it has beenviewed 1,606 times. When her father, Jason Errante, found out about the videos, he sayshe wasn't mad. But he is now going to make sure she gets lessons."Just seeing that initiative impressed me," he says. Dance physiotherapist Lisa Howell, in Sydney, Australia, for thepast year has been posting videos to give young ballerinas who aretaking ballet lessons tips on improving their dancing. California'sAnaheim Ballet also has a weekly series of online videos. In eachof them, a narrator says, the height of her arch and the shape of herheel influences the kind of shoe she should buy. Dance teachersoften take their students to the store and help them find shoesthat fit. Ms. Howell tells her viewers that her videos aren't meant toreplace real-world ballet lessons, but she isn't sure they'realways listening. She says far too many girls are posting unsafevideos of pointe work, and she quickly singles out half a dozen"horrific" videos featuring girls "sickling" their feet (twistingtheir ankles), wearing unfit shoes and dancing without control. InApril, she posted a video about the dangers of teaching oneself todance en pointe. Ms. Howell's warnings have divided young ballerinas. "I spoke toone of my friends to see what she thought," one viewer wrote, afterwatching Ms. Howell's warnings about the dangers of teachingoneself to dance en pointe. "She taught herself to dance en pointewhen she was 13 and she is really good. Now I don't know what todo. She thinks it is OK. but I know that you say that it isdangerous. What should I do?"