There’s nothing more beautiful, more glamorous, more elegant than a pointe shoe. But the creation of each pink satin shoe—the process by which canvas and thread and glue are hammered and sewed and baked into submission? It’s so humble, so ugly. And so eternally fascinating. GROSS! But also, COOL! (inside the Freed factory; screenshot from […]
Finding the right pointe shoe can be challenging—and with tons of shoes on the market, there’s a lot to consider. Dance Spirit asked Josephine Lee, expert pointe shoe fitter and owner of Dancer’s Choice Dance Supply in Irvine, CA, to walk us through the best shoes for each foot shape.
Four ballerinas walk us through their pointe shoe rituals.
Ah, pointe shoes. That magical right of passage that every bunhead dreams about. They look so beautiful…but they can hurt. so. much. As a dancer, your feet are two of your most important tools. That’s why it’s essential to take care of them—and why making sure you have the right pointe shoe for your foot […]
(Courtesy Lesia Trubat, via Designboom) There’s been a lot of buzz lately about new technology designed to capture to capture the movement of dance. The latest development? PREPARE FOR THE ATTACK OF THE ROBO-POINTE-SHOES! JK. But you have to admit, they look a little Terminator-y. This new invention, which is actually called E-Traces Pointe Shoes, […]
Ah, pointe shoe rituals: Few things are more fascinating—or more personal. Discovering the tricks that work best for your shoes and feet is part of figuring out your dancer identity. Should you crush your shoes in a door? Soak the boxes in water? Scratch up the soles? Three-quarter the shanks? Sew the ribbons on the inside, or the […]
OK, not exactly. But Saratoga Springs’ National Museum of Dance is about to launch a nifty giant-pointe-shoe-related art project, dubbed Saratoga En Pointe. The museum has chosen 24 artists to decorate 5-foot-tall fiberglass pointe shoe sculptures. On May 31, the creations will be revealed at the Museum; after that, they’ll be displayed at locations around […]
Nothing compares to that magical moment when your teacher says you’re ready for your first pair of pointe shoes. I remember bursting out of the studio doors, clutching a precious piece of paper with the phone number of the nearest pointe shoe fitter. Finally, my years of hard work had paid off! Ever wonder why […]