Good Feet Obsession

Every dancer who grows up in ballet is obsessed with good feet. "Good feet” means high arches and when you point your foot, the line from the top of your leg to the tip of your toes curves down as much as possible. In the ballet world, it’s one of the best compliments to give a ballerina: "You really have nice feet!”

My feet were built fine but I am not one of the ones who was born already with high arches. So when I look back I realize that I kept practicing and torturing them to improve how they look. So eventually my feet became reasonably good.

About halfway through my career I became more of a contemporary dancer but I still liked the feeling of having my feet pointed 100 % If not, I would feel like I hadn't eaten enough.

Now that my intensive dance days are over and I don’t dance 365 days a year, every time a new project starts, especially in class, my feet and calf muscles get cramped. However, my ballerina-machine-mind still remains and I convince myself that it all comes back to my “good feet” once I pass the pain. So I usually have an internal struggle with almost a 120% over-point for about 2 days then after that I am good.

Being a ballerina is weird. There are even machines that can feed the “good feet “ obsession.

One time when I was in my mid 20s I got a very complimentary review saying something like: “Megumi’s feet were totally pointed inside a skin colored sock ...” etc. and this writer was making such a big deal about my feet. In fact that that was the highlight of the review and I wasn’t totally happy.

By the time I started to take my dancing seriously, I mean in an artistic sense, I wanted audiences to see me as something else, beyond just dance. The technique and the look are just tools.So when I read this review, I realize I was not there yet and I reflect on the fact that my “good feet” were standing out more than the art.

...and my new video work.