An arch above the ordinary

By NATASHA HARRIS

One of the first things ballet student Heidi Martin notices in other dancers is whether they have nice feet.

The higher the arch, the better. If they have flat feet, it just doesn't look as good, the 16-year-old says.

Just as well she has "extremely nice feet", as her mother, Maureen Martin, puts it.

"She has nice ballet feet, as they're very archy so they stretch and point nicely."

After 12 years of stretching and pointing, Heidi's feet have spun her to the top of the country's ballet scene.

This year, the Mt Albert teenager won the prestigious Sir John Logan Campbell Ballet Trust award, became the only New Zealander to gain entry into the Australian Ballet School, and was one of only two dancers to receive the Solo Seal award from the Royal Academy of Dance. She was also second in the Alana Haines Australasian Ballet award.

The Solo Seal, the highest award given by the Royal Academy of Dance, is something most dancers fail - the other dancer to gain it is with the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Winning a place next year at the Australian Ballet School three-year course in Melbourne will hopefully enable her to reach her goal of dancing ballet professionally.

Heidi dances (ballet, jazz and contemporary) three hours a day, six days a week.

"I really enjoy dancing and I love performing. It's great fun. It takes up most of my time but I don't mind," the petite teenager says.

She goes through a pair of pointe shoes each month, at $100 a pair.

Costumes and standard dance gear such as leotards and tights aren't cheap either, so it helps that Mrs Martin makes them for Heidi.

The Avondale College sixth former shrugs off having to wear skin-tight clothes because she's used to it, and she says appearances don't matter to girls in her age group.

"In New Zealand, it's not that much of a big deal as it is in some other countries. There's not much pressure to be a certain weight.

"You have to watch your diet to a certain extent, but it's not too important," she says.

Heidi lists flexibility, good technique, good musicality and good feet as measures of a good ballerina.

One of her two teachers, Heather Palmer from Mt Eden Ballet Academy, says Heidi's musicality is her strength.

"She interprets the music well. She just doesn't dance when the music plays, she suits her dancing to the music.

"She's a very sensitive dancer and puts her heart and soul into it."

Palmer, who has taught Heidi since she started lessons at age 4, says her pupil has always worked hard and shown great potential.

"Even though she's finished her exams, she still attends junior classes just for extra practice."

Working hard, Heidi hopes, will allow her to reach the greatness of role models Sylvie Guillem and Darcey Bussell, superstar ballerinas in Great Britain's Royal Ballet.

Heidi says she looks up to Guillem's flexibility and "nice feet" and Bussell's stage presence.

And although many a ballerina will turn to teaching at some point, Heidi can't imagine a life without dancing all the time.

"I just like dancing and I justwant to do that for the rest of my life."