From the brains behind brains on, this is the Moment of Um. Moment of Um comes to you from APM Studios. I'm Ruby Guthrie.

Um. Are you ready for the ballet? I'm so excited. I've loved dance ever since I was little. I used to choreograph my own solo

routines for my school talent shows. True story. And the music. I mean, Chikovsky is an icon. He's a legend. He is the moment.

It's starting.

Isn't it amazing?

Oh, the beauty, the grace.

A pirouette here, jete there.

It's like they're floating on air.

How do they stand on their toes, though?

I mean, do all valet dancers have, like, bionic feet or something? Or maybe it's those shoes.

What's in there? Tiny magical elves holding the dancers feet up? Maybe not.

Annabelle was thinking about this too.

I'm Annabelle from Louisville, Kentucky. My question is, how do ballerinas stand their toes?

I'm Penelope Free, and I'm an independent contemporary ballet dancer and choreographer.

I teach ballet and composition at the University of Minnesota, and I've been here since 2009.

Point shoes are at the University of Minnesota, and I've been here since 2009.

Point shoes are designed to help dancers go onto their toes,

so they don't go on their toes without these supportive shoes.

In fact, it's dangerous to do that.

And the idea is that their toes are straight and not curled under inside the shoe.

Typically, girls get the go-ahead to go on point around the age of 11, assuming they've built up appropriate muscles.

They're at a place in terms of their development where their bodies can handle it.

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