Dancing Body Bits ‘n’ Parts: The Foot

While checking out the Body Worlds exhibit (which is brilliant, highly educational, and a must-see for anyone interested in how their body works), I became absolutely fascinated with feet. The structure and working of feet have always been interesting to me, but being able to see that incredible tangle of nerves, tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles up close and in such detail was positively inspiring. It provides a wonderful kick-off to what I plan on being a regular Healthy Belly feature: in-depth examination of the more visible body-bits integral to dancing well. So let us begin with the bottom-most bit: the foot.

Let us take a moment to appreciate the foot. People often malign their feet for being too coarse, too short, too wide, or too calloused. We curse them when they hurt, whine about our blisters, fret over the state of our toenails, and worry about developing bunions. Meanwhile, these beautiful appendages put up with an absurd amount of abuse as they get pounded, stretched, flexed, and twisted during our daily rounds – never mind during dance!


Basic Foot Anatomy

The following information is from The Podiatry Channel

Quick Facts:

- The foot has 26 bones, which is one quarter of the bones in your entire body.

- The foot has 33 joints, making it a structure that is extremely flexible in multiple directions. This degree of flexibility also means that the foot can be a bit unstable, as anyone who has twisted their ankle while walking normally down the street can attest.

- Your foot as over 100 muscles, tendons (which connect muscle to bone), and ligaments (which connect bones to bones).

- Your foot has three structural parts: the forefoot, the midfoot, and the hindfoot.

The Podiatry Channel’s page on foot anatomy is a great resource for basic foot anatomy. I’d highly recommend studying their gorgeous images of foot anatomy and getting acquainted with the bits of your feet. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Achilles’ Tendon – it’s huge, and has a sort of industrial, built-of-steel type elegance to it.


Foot conditions and injuries

While a belly dancer’s foot doesn’t usually endure the sort of potentially disfiguring strain that ballet dancers’ feet undergo, our tootsies still put up with a lot. Dancing barefoot on hard studio floors, scarred stages, and treacherous restaurant tiles takes its toll. Many of you have likely experienced some of these common foot conditions and injuries:

Calluses - Those thick pads of built-up dead and toughened skin are designed to protect areas that experience high friction and pressure. If they are allowed to get too dry or thick, however, they can crack painfully, with cracks running deep enough to draw blood. This opens us up to the possibility of infection. Also, they aren’t terribly pretty. There are lots of ways you can deal with sore, cracked, or just plain ugly calluses without spending a fortune. For hints, check out Corns and Calluses: 20 Ways to Soothe and Smooth

Bunions - This foot deformity is the bane of many a dancer’s existence. Happily, we belly dancers often have the option of dancing barefoot, although heeled performance shoes are sometimes necessary - restaurant floors can harbor nasty, gooey, and sharp surprised for unshod feet. Still, they can hurt. The link above will give you excellent info on what causes bunions (blame your parents, not your shoes!) , and how they can be treated. I am going in to be fitted with orthotics in about a week

Foot Sprain - Sprains are usually more associated with non-dance activities, but they’re common enough to make them of interest to dancers. We are kind of useless without our feet. The article I’ve linked to contains symptom and treatment info, and provides a nice breakdown as to where foot sprains usually occur.


Pretty, pretty feet!

Pedicures are luxurious. Pedicures are relaxing. Pedicures are also ridiculously expensive, especially if we are going to then go out and ruin our lovely polish with a good night’s dancing. We could just let foot grooming slide, of course, but our feet are as much on display when dancing as our hands or our hair. It behooves us to doll them up as much as we would any other part of ourselves.

Fortunately for us, there are lots of websites with hints for giving yourself a marvelous home pedicure. One of the best I’ve found is RealSimple’s Easy At-Home Pedicure Shortcuts. It has three different kinds of pedicures: the two minute, the five minute, and the thirty-five minute. Top it off with a pretty shade of polish that coordinates with your costume, or workout togs, or whatever, and you’ll have indulged in a bit of bodily appreciation worthy of your feet!

Now if I could only muster up the discipline to stay still long enough for the polish to dry…