It is somewhat ironic that the beauty of ballet hides a painful secret that most observers are unaware of. You won´t realise it by looking at the athletic, graceful and fluid movements of the dancer. The secret hides deep within the performer’s shoes. What most of us don´t realise whilst watching ballet, is the pain that professional fulltime ballet dancers experience whilst performing.

Not sure what I mean? Type “ballet dancer’s feet” into Google images and you´ll immediately understand. Warning! Some images may disturb viewers. So unless you don´t mind throwing up your egg mayo sandwich, I strongly suggest you only look at these pictures on an empty stomach. The feet you will see, are not the result of walking across the Sahara desert in flip-flops, no, rather they are from years and years of dancing ballet.

Think about all those movements a ballet dancer performs and it’s not too hard to imagine the results this has on their feet. Corns, blisters, bruises, bunions, broken nails, broken bones and stress fractures are common injuries for the ballet dancer. And whilst I would take a month off work for a scratched toenail and expect my family to bring me dinner in bed as I watch the entire five seasons of Game of Thrones, a ballet dancer continues to perform through all these injuries.

Hmmmmm…….. I guess that going to see Swan Lake will never be the same again.

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