Why do ballerinas destroy their shoes

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Cover Letter What can you use instead of pointe shoes? Cover Letter. Ben Davis February 27, What can you use instead of pointe shoes? Can you go on pointe without pointe shoes?

What can I do with dead pointe shoes? Does Pointe ruin your feet? Why do ballerinas break their shoes? What do ballerinas do on their period? Home » Family. With the holidays upon us, ballerinas of all ages become a bit more inspired. One of the primary reasons is that various renditions of The Nutcracker are being interpreted and performed widely, from local community dance groups to large scale professional productions.

For me, The Nutcracker experience has now come full circle. It was a family tradition for my grandmother, my parents and me. And it now has become a tradition with my own family and my daughters.

As is customary in every ballet performance, ballerinas literally dance their shoes off in each production. It is common for the principal dancers to wear out a new pair of pointe shoes in a single performance. My daughter seems to go through a pair of pointe shoes every week or so. It allows them to be on their toes, spin pirouette , balance and simply perform.

Much like a new baseball mitt, a pair of cleats or racecar engine, pointe shoes must be broken in to reach the perfect state. However, unlike the traditional breaking in process that happens over time, many ballerinas practically destroy their brand new pointe shoes even before dancing in them for the first time. An important thing to note though, every ballet dancer breaks in their shoes a bit differently.

Some do all or even more of the steps outlined below while others do only a few things shown. A good dance instructor can help the dancer figure out the best process for to do.

There are also plenty of videos online that can help as well. As there are many different ways to break in a pair of pointe shoes ranging from simple bending to full fledged destruction, be sure to talk to teachers and instructors as well as more seasoned, veteran dancers. Most importantly, it is what the dancer feels the most comfortable with. The steps that I show below might not be the best for other dancers so be sure to talk to your teacher or instructor.

And if the customization process involves knives, scissors or needles and you are a child, be sure to have adult supervision! Oh, and be sure to scroll down to the end of this article for the video slideshow of this process. Each of these pointe shoes has a different feel, some are harder, others softer. Some are narrow while others are wide. Be sure to get professionally fitted unless you know exactly which make, style and size you want.

Some shoes have very hard shanks while others are much more soft. Again, it depends on what you want, and a dancer may break in different pointe shoes distinctly. Specifically, the Leatherman Wave. I have had this multi-use tool for many years and for this particular break-in process, it is fantastic. For the pointe shoe customization process, I use: the pliers, the knife, the serrated knife, the saw sometimes and the scissors. The Jet Glue is used to harden any part of the shoe and, as my daughter says, makes the shoes last just a little bit longer.

The needle and appropriate thread is used to sew on the ribbons. And the lighter is used to burn back any of the frayed edges of the ribbons or the cut satin of the pointe shoes themselves. I will go into greater detail below. Oh, and you need time.

Remember, this process is customized based on her requirements. If you are looking for a how-to on this process, work with an expert on this as your customizations may be completely different. However, I do know that there are many dancers who follow a process similar to the one listed below. First you need to fit the new shoes properly. These pointe shoes are hand-made so they are not entirely identical.

Also, people actually have different sized-feet. So before you start any customizations, see which shoe feels better on specific feet. Once you figure out which shoe fits best on the feet, be sure to label them inside.

You can see the L and R indicated below. The box is where your toes are going to be in your shoe. You can use your palms to crunch the box a little each way. You can also soften the box by stepping on it lightly. Video: Are your pointe shoes dead? After breaking in the box, the next part of the shoe to break in is the shank.

This is where the arch of your foot is. Put your foot up to pointe to find out where the heel of the shoe ends. This is where you bend the shank. Move your heel back and forth in the spot where your heel will rest. Use your hands to gently bend the shoe back and forth at the three-quarter point. Be extremely careful not to snap the shank! If the shank is snapped the shoe will be unwearable. Relevant: Explore our range of pointe shoes. After you break in the shank, the last step is to walk around and do some exercises in your pointe shoes.

Walk on demi pointe and then do some roll-throughs. Starting at first position, push your arch all the way up and then switch feet.