{the sickle}

Imagine watching a beautifully graceful and coordinated dancer floating across the stage. The music is perfect, the costume is mesmerizing, then all of a sudden, she points her foot only to reveal a SICKLED foot. It might just be a foot but it will ruin the previous picture you had of this once beautiful dancer. YES, that is how important it is NOT to sickle your feet.

Any good teacher will catch this in-correction right off the bat, but it takes practice to point your foot the correct way. A good way to practice is to sit in a pike position, with you feet straight out in front of you, keeping your ankles together, point your feet. Then flex. Once you've mastered this in parallel try it with your feet turned out in first position. You should be reaching your pinkie toe to the ground.


The purpose of this exercise is muscle memory. Once your body "feels" what it is supposed to be doing, it is easier to find that "feeling" in any position. The muscles actually memorize where they need to go and once you get the hang of it, anything different will feel wrong.

For a dancer...the feet is the "cherry on top."