Typically, foot cramping is caused by dehydration, a lack of potassium which helps keep our body chemistries regulated, poor circulation and lack of oxygen being carried to the feet, and pinched nerves. Some birth control medicines cause cramping in the extremities, so if you are experiencing cramps and take birth control, contact your gynecologist immediately, as this may be a sign of a larger circulatory problem. In order to prevent foot cramping, dancers should be drinking water consistently throughout the day.

Smoking or drinking alcohol can also contribute to this problem, as well as changing hormones in the body, and stress or fatigue in the foot. If the feet are overworked, they are more susceptible to foot cramps. You need to be at your best when it counts, and foot cramps should not hold you back. Every time she stretches her foot, pointing it in a tendu or the like, she has a clenching of muscles in her arches.

Dancers who suffer from foot cramps know how difficult it can be to make it through class or a performance.

Dancers and Foot Cramps A staff member of mine who does ballet twice a week told me that she was getting nasty foot cramps while dancing.