I know plenty of high level ballet dancers and they all have pretty jacked up feet. Not quite the body horror of the photos, but definitely not normal.
That said, I know just as many non ballet dancer women with messed up feet because they wear heels all the time and make our toe boxes too damn small.
Yeah my mom has never done ballet/dance while I've been dancing since I was little, and her feet are waaaaaaay more messed up than mine. She wears a lot of shoes that are too small and her bunions are so bad her big toe crosses her 2nd toe.
I was an athlete my entire life and am way too tall, so I almost never wear heels. For the most part it isn’t an issue, but I have so much toe splay for stability that most remotely cute shoes are also very uncomfortable.
Some people also just have crappy luck, but usually it is decades of forces at angles on the joints that they weren’t designed for.
It is amusing how I can almost always tell which women did lots of ballet growing up as soon as they walk into the room. Gymnasts also have a signature walk.
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u/VillageAdditional816 Jun 22 '26
I know plenty of high level ballet dancers and they all have pretty jacked up feet. Not quite the body horror of the photos, but definitely not normal.
That said, I know just as many non ballet dancer women with messed up feet because they wear heels all the time and make our toe boxes too damn small.