What does over the box mean?
I received a PM asking what "over the box" means in the ballet world. I decided the best way to describe what "over the box" means is to show you with a photo.
It's hard to believe that the feet in the photos below are attached to the same person. What you see here is my first pair of pointe shoes, and my most current pair of pointe shoes (5th pair).
The pair on top is what you'd consider to be NOT over or on the box. These shoes are 100% wrong for my feet. I have to stand in a very close 1st position to get over the box, and then it hurts my ankles. I'm standing more in 3/4 pointe than full pointe here!
If you are in class and you can see a gap between the back of your platform and the front of your platform, you are not over your box.
Please be advised that it's not always the dancer's fault for being unable to get over the box. I have the same strength and flexibility in both sets of photos-- but in the top series, the shoes are completely preventing me from stretching my arch and pushing over the box. This is caused by the sole of the shoe, the shank, and the vamp being all wrong for me.
The bottom picture is also my feet, and in this picture I'm over the box. In these shoes, I need to work to not push over the box too far. These shoes allow me to fully stretch and lengthen my toes and arch.
The difference is crazy!
Hopefully that clears things up!
It's hard to believe that the feet in the photos below are attached to the same person. What you see here is my first pair of pointe shoes, and my most current pair of pointe shoes (5th pair).
The pair on top is what you'd consider to be NOT over or on the box. These shoes are 100% wrong for my feet. I have to stand in a very close 1st position to get over the box, and then it hurts my ankles. I'm standing more in 3/4 pointe than full pointe here!
If you are in class and you can see a gap between the back of your platform and the front of your platform, you are not over your box.
Please be advised that it's not always the dancer's fault for being unable to get over the box. I have the same strength and flexibility in both sets of photos-- but in the top series, the shoes are completely preventing me from stretching my arch and pushing over the box. This is caused by the sole of the shoe, the shank, and the vamp being all wrong for me.
The bottom picture is also my feet, and in this picture I'm over the box. In these shoes, I need to work to not push over the box too far. These shoes allow me to fully stretch and lengthen my toes and arch.
The difference is crazy!
Hopefully that clears things up!
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI just found this blog & post on Grishkos, and have to say it's really interesting to read about your experiences. I'm a recreational ballerina who just got back to the 2007 model - after experiencing with Bloch Axioms and Gaynors the same difficulties you were having with Grishkos. This meaning the shank bulging at the metatarsals and not giving support & not going nicely over the box. I have flattish and compressible feet with tapered toes, but after fitting the 2007 again after some years (s, xxx, 4 1/2), I found them to fit like gloves. I could even try to articulate! What I really like about them is the shank contouring my feet unlike the other shoes, and I've never felt them to be "hard", just secure. It's amazing how we're all so different.
Keep on dancing :)
Linda
Hi Linda! Thanks for weighing in!
DeleteAfter I wrote this post I realized my GM's didn't have enough shank support, and I went back to these Grishko 2007's to try and revive them until I could get a new pair of shoes in. I spent a few hours working on the demi area of the shank, fixed the ribbons & elastic and swapped feet (my right foot is much more flexible than and stronger than my left, so the right shoe wears faster) and it was like some sort of bizarre miracle. They looked and felt almost perfect, but by that time they were almost completely dead.
I was fitted a few months ago and purchased two different pairs-- Russian Pointe Almaz and Grishko 2007 Pro, in a narrower width than my original pair of 2007s. I've happily been wearing the RP Almaz in class but they are starting to die. I like shoes to feel almost new, so I'm going to need to break out the 2007 Pro's but I'm a little afraid. My first pair was a Super Soft shank, and these new ones are Hard shank and feel like rocks. It's going to take a lot of breaking in to get them ready for class, moreso than any other pair I've owned. I feel a little out of my comfort zone!
Thanks again!
RB
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