Point your feet

"You've got what it takes, but it will take everything you've got." -Anonymous
           Many people who watch dance but are not dancers and haven't been very involved in dance don't realize how much effort goes into it. Most people can see when dancers toes aren't pointed or when they are sickled (which is never wanted), but they don't usually realize how much effort dancers have to put into that before it becomes natural.
            Some people say "pointe your toes," but what people should really say is pointe your feet because if you just pointe your toes it is not the proper line so you must engage your leg and pointe all the way through your ankles. Yes, crazy enough there is a right and wrong way to pointe your feet. When your toes are pointed your Achilles tendon should go up your calf not clench. Many people who arent properly trained just clench their Achilles tendon not thinking anything about if because it looks pointed but what they don't know is that their pointe is not reaching its full potential and it could cause injury in the future. Stretching your ankles can help improve your pointe but some people have shorter Achilles tendons than others. This makes all the difference because shorter Achilles tendons means that you wont be able to pointe your feet as well as someone with longer Achilles tendons.
            Yes, some dancers naturally have beautiful feet and they can pointe them with no problem, or if you are properly trained from the moment you start dance it is easier to pointe your feet than for people who started dance with improper training. This is because it takes three times as long to retrain and correct your bad habits. To retrain people to naturally pointe their toes it takes a lot more than just practicing pointing your feet, their are pointing exercises because you have to gain muscles and create stronger neural passage ways.  So next time you are giving a correction to "Pointe your toes," actually say "pointe through your ankle" or something of the sorts, and don't be too hard on your self if you are a dancer with not the best feet because sometimes its genetic and other times it is improper training, and it takes a lot more work than most realize.