Noted: Creating the Perfect Pointe Shoe

Lovely post :) Ballerina shoes are just beautiful!

Aww, love it. Sadly, I quit ballet right when I got to pointe when I was young. How I wish I could go back in time and change my mind! ox.

One performance? That's a lot of shoes.

Lovely article & beautiful photos! Sigh...loved ballet & loved en pointe...miss it so ♥

I remember my first pair of pointe shoes - they were not exactly comfortable. When I graduated into my second pair, I found a style that worked perfectly with my feet and body. The fact that pointe shoe creators can craft something so well suited for so many different dancers is truly impressive!

Great article, and the ballet is a lovely

Wow... another story to add to the imagination... beautiful shoes yes but so much more.......

"Greatness is rarely the achievement of one person." Awesome quote!!! Love this article. Thanks.

I am mesmerized by pointe shoes. They are a perfect, beautifully sleek object, and have such a strange relationship to the dancer; facilitating movement which goes beyond normal human capacity, creating elegant elongated lines, extending the body and it's ability to move gracefully, while simultaneously crippling, causing pain and awful injury.

So gorgeous... I love ballet shoe photographs. There is something so ethereal and delicate about them...

I'm with Melissa on this one, they must go through so many shoes! I cant imagine doing something like that with my feet, ouch!

Great article and awesome quote: "Greatness is rarely the achievement of one person."

I am in awe of ballet and ballerinas. Such style...such grace. I am sure that the shoes are an important part of their performance. Thanks for this article.

Beautiful!

Awesome article!

So beautiful. I am in love with ballet shoes, they remind of my childhood!

Art for art's sake - a perfect example.

I love this so much! Reminds me of my dancing days :)

I wished that you had used a photograph of a Freed pointe shoe, The pointe shoe in the photo is made by Gaynor Minden, which is a fabulous modern shoe that uses a plastic box. Freed shoes are beautiful and delicate and would have made the post accurate.

Wonderful post! Love the ballet!

Wow, I remember when Freed's were around $20. They were my favorite shoe. Sad to say I cannot figure out how anyone can even train to be a dancer these days unless they have a wealthy family, who is willing to finance their venture into the field of ballet. It's not hard to go through five pairs in a week at the professional level -- and maybe more.

Lovely article, thanks for sharing.

During a recent trip to London, I happened to be in the Charing Cross area and fondly remembered a trip to Freed as a ballet dancer in my teens. I had gone there with a ballet company and had bought a few pairs of pointe shoes. I wondered where the store was, then I looked up and saw it right in front of me. In the very same spot where it had always been. I am no longer a ballet dancer, but in a sense, ballet has never left me. I went into the store and the familiar smell of new pointe shoes hit me. The store employee who saw me recognized the look on my face and she said, "you used be a dancer, weren't you?"

I love ballerina shoes!

Great post! I am eternally in awe of a local cobbler and his craft, but appreciate your attention to pointe shoes. Personally, I took tap, but kept a framed photo of Suzanne Farrell's pointe shoes on my bedroom wall. As I recently had the opportunity to see her company perform, your post is all the more compelling.

Very beautiful Shoes and great art!

Wonderful post! Love the ballet!

brings back so many wonderful and painful memories!

Love this Post, and ballet for that matter. Thank you!

Wonderful article!!! I still have my first pair of point shoes hanging on my wall.

This was such an interesting post! I danced ballet for 13 years when I was younger, but my mother never let me do pointe. She said she didn't want me to damage my feet, and I suppose I'm grateful for that. I have always thought it was so beautiful though, and I wish she would have let me try it.

Super Post!! Love Ballet!

I have always loved the ballet, and from my waist up I have the body of a dancer. Sadly from the waist down I am in a wheelchair and paralyzed. I, however have found a way of doing ballet that involves snow, skis and a sled (its called a sitski or monoski) The fluid curves in the snow, the pirouettes I make in the air when I go over a jump, is too me, ballet. Its beauty in a different form that is just as athletic and graceful as dance.

Wonderful post, great to read about what goes on behind the scenes! Love ballet.

I love ballet so much, I spent my childhood, teen years and early college ponied up to a barre. I use to go through shoes monthly, my parents thought I was going to drain them dry. I recently took it back up after a 9 year hiatus and have been so happy to be back.

Thank you for this post! Brings me back to the days when I bought my first pair of pointe shoes. I didn't appreciate the beauty as much then as I do now!

I often buy from www.twinelegance.com they have many different new styles of perfect jewellery and others new fashion things.They are much better than others.

Interesting...

I wore Freed when I was a young dancer! Thanks for this.

My daughter admires the pointe dancers so much that have a class before hers. She can't wait to dance "with pretty shoes" like theirs but I fear for her dear feet. Lovely article!

I'm not a pro, so luckily my Freeds last more than one performance. I absolutely love them! Best pointe shoes ever!! Thanks for the post. :)

Incredible ... they only last one dance?!

I have taken classical ballet for a while now, and I have found that Gaynor Minden Pointe Shoes are my favorite. They are so comfortable!

I still have my toe shoes and how do I remember blistered toes we used to wrap our toes in lamb's wool. My toe shoes are so pretty hanging on a wall.

Interesting post.

interesting article ~ I didn't know the shoe lasts through only one performance. It is a beautiful art all around.

thanks for this beautiful article...it took me right back to when i was a young dancer choosing my first pair of pointe shoes. i couldn't decide between two pairs and was allowed to take them both home to ponder. of course, i also remember the blisters, callouses and bleeding too. still, it is such a rich and beautiful experience to have had. i wouldn't trade it for perfect feet!

Thanks for the insight, I love the Ballet and wanted to be a mini ballerina as a child, it never happened as my parents couldn't afford to send me to school. So later I took class for exercise but still love the beauty of the dance so much. I long to see another ballet, I haven't been to one since I saw the Royal Ballet do Swan Lake in the late 70s, I long to see Romeo and Juliet, I love the score...so romantic. There just aren't enough films about the ballet, I long for them. I wish Hollywood would do more but not like the latest film, I don't really want to see it because of the subject matter. I adore the Turning Point, Center Stage and a lesser known film Dancers that isn't on dvd with Julie Kent, Leslie Browne and Misha Baryshnikov. We don't have much to choose from so I read books like Dancing On My Grave.

I grew up on Freed pointe shoes. Each shoe was branded with the symbol or initial of its maker. I always really enjoyed figuring out which maker made shoes that fit best. My sister loved "Swan" and I liked "J".

I've worn hundreds of pointe shoes over the years, and when I found the perfect shoe, it made all the difference in the world. Russian Pointe has been a godsend for me. Each maker is a truly talented artisan. They deserve far more credit than they get.

I thought this article would be about another aspect of the creation of the pointe shoe: the work the ballerina must do to make the shoe suitable for use. One of the most exciting aspects of getting new pointe shoes when I was a teen was the opportunity to mash, crush, and otherwise manipulate the toe box in order to get it softer in the places your foot required it to be. We used judicious slams from hammers, careful sprinklings of hot water, and even painted the inside with Calamine in order to create a shoe that served our personal needs. In this way, each ballerina is her own cobbler.

Great article! Both of my girls are ballet dancers, one with Nashville Ballet and the other with the Atlanta Ballet and yes we go through lots and lots of pointe shoes!!!! And they are expensive but they are part of what makes ballet so beautiful!!!

Lovely story. :)

A painting I created in celebration of the beautiful and elegant Pointe shoe ... http://www.etsy.com/listing/90927785/resting-after-another-magnificent

Beautiful article. I highly respect the craft and tradition that has been held with pointe shoes, but as an adult who dances, ones joints don't seem to care as much about that. I have turned to Gaynor Minden shoes for they make me feel like a feather. Technology does have its pros!

My husband thinks I'm odd for keeping every pair of pointe shoes that I every had. I only did pointe for 6 years and had to give it up when I went into architecture school. I really miss it.

I have to give kudos to Etsy for this selecting this article. THANK YOU for not sponsoring information about Gaynor Minden point shoes. Freeds are the standard of beauty in pointe and are timeless in their effectiveness and support. I danced for over fifteen years and have tried every pointe company around(there are over twenty, by the way), and although I only like TWO cobblers with Freed and they're really hard shoes to come by, I still think they're the most gorgeous shoes around. Two photographs I offer in my shop are actually Freeds, how 'bout that?! I was delighted to see this article. Ballet dancers work hard for their craft.

PS. Rubbing alcohol works better than water to soften the 'wings' of the shoe. Just be careful because it REALLY works and you want to work slowly with it if you've only used water previously.

Thank you for this great article. I miss Ballet so much, I wish I could turn back time and worked harder to get to the en pointe stage (I quit just before to go to college). I find ballerinas so beautiful and inspiring.

Love, love, love ballet shoes. Ballet itself, not my thing, but the shoes!

I'm sorry, but the thought of what dancers go through simply to be able to do a few specialist moves just makes me shudder. I don't know how anyone can watch ballet & believe it to be beautiful if they know the damage being done to the bodies of the dancers. I know they volunteer & in a sense buy into the whole ethos of the art, but in my view anything that involves cruelty cannot be classed as beautiful, not even when the "victims" are willing. (I just know I'm going to get hate mail for this! LOL)

Love Ballet!! Lovely post!!

I love ballet! I have some in my shop to prove it!

One performance. Wow. Expensive profession. I love the craftsmanship.. ♥ ♥ ♥

What a wonderful article! Thank you!

I love ballet shoes, there is such an art in them. I don't do ballet myself and have such a respect for those who do. I don't know the pain they put in, but I know it is more than I could bare, I did do a little dance as a child, and could never have put up with it for long. The shoes are a great representation of the hard work that goes into dance.

I've always been obsessed with pointe shoes- love this post!!

Amazing!

I am stunned. I have never thought about ballet shoes. This is simply amazing.

$100 each pair for a single performance. . . I hope ballet dancers get paid enough to afford such amazing pointe shoes.

SO beautiful! I don't dance ballet, but I would love those shoes! So much effort goes into making them it must feel really special to be able to bring them to life through dancing.

Beautiful article. I'm too clumsy for ballet, but that doesn't mean I can't hang a pair in my room just because, right?

Thank you for bringing to light the importance of the pointe shoe to a ballerina. As a ballet dancer myself, I've been through the rigorous process of finding not just the brand of shoe that works for my foot, but also the model... and sometimes even the particular shoemaker! Before the last time my feet changed shape/size, I was in a brand of shoe where I literally called up the company and ordered a pair from the specific shoemaker that made them perfectly for my feet. And each time your foot changes or your dance changes, you have to adjust your shoe preference. Such an involved aspect of the art form...

@mazedasastoat: Hah, no worries, it's not some form of torture! The toes of pointe shoes are stuffed with all sorts of cushioning, from lambs wool to fleece liners to Dr. Scholl's-type gel pads. Professional dancers are just like any other pro athlete; it does create wear and tear on their bodies, but it's the path they've chosen to do something they love.

Great article! I have much respect for professional dancers and for the pointe shoe makers!

I love ballet! So beautiful to watch.

I loved Ballet Dancing as a teen, and still find that the sight of Pointe Shoes evokes memories of Dedication and loads of Hard Work to do the best I could on the Dance Floor. The Art of Dance taught me a lifelong lesson in acheiving Success thru repeated Practice and Motivation. Lovely article...thank you for helping me to once again remember with Pride! <3

I once tried a pair of sister's point shoes...just to see what it would feel like. OUCH! I have great respect for ballerinas who can stand, twirl and leap on their toes.

Wonderdul post. Only 1 pair of shoes per performance. Very interesting.

Beautiful Love Ballet!!!

Lovely shoes Interesting shop!!!

Interesting! Love ballet,the movements are so fluid. like running water, It's amazing what people do for their art, and I'm glad that they do it! Thanks for posting this etsy!

Amazing post, it brings back memories of getting my first pair. The selection process took all day to find the right fit, but worth it.

I remember those pointe shoes so well. A great article!

I had three pairs that were different prices, brands, and shapes. They each started out feeling quite comfortable and (as with most of my shoes) got less comfortable as I began to break them in. I only did pointe for one year, which wasn't long enough to get past the peak, after which shoes typically suit my foot best, but I just never had the feet for it, so ultimately I count it as a win.

they're such pretty shoes but look so so uncomfortable

I remember reading about how these shoes were only used for one performance. I adore the vulnerability and strength represented by Freed's ballet shoes. Great story!!

I am still LIVID that Chacott decided to discontinue Coppelia II's. The Veronese is dreadful in comparison--hardly more than a slipper. But the Suffolk's Elite? Very, very wonderful shoes. One time makers of Freed's, I believe. Capezio hasn't produced a respectable shoe in years. And I fiercely loathe Gaynor Minden's. It's incredibly hard to find the right shoe so it's a terrible thing when the style is discontinued or the makers begin to downgrade in quality.

Agreed about the Coppelia II, JenJR! I love how this article is brining out the ballerinas of Etsy.

I recently made myself a pair of ballerina shoes. They were black with black ribbon ties, that I could wear on a day to day basis... I've adored them for years! I can't believe that sometimes the shoes only last one performance! Soo much money!

Wow, very interesting information. I didn't want to be a ballerina when I was younger, but I always though it was magical...

Great article! Congrats to my buddy, ccreativity for being featured as a related item! We @ Createability Team love you and all the good things you do!

Makes us nostalgic. Loved the article

My shoes of choice were Chacotts and I loved them :-) $82 every couple of months though.... I miss dancing so much but it was really is expensive. I will always love that smell of a new pair and the crunch in the rosin box in the corner of the old studio...