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Pointe shoes (sometimes called toe shoes) are a special type of shoe used by ballet dancers for pointework. They were developed by dancers to give the impression on stage that they were floating-like a ghost.They allow a dancer to move on the tips of her toes (en pointe). Pointe shoes are normally worn only by female dancers, though male dancers may wear them for certain roles, such as the ugly stepsisters in Cinderella or Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Originally the pointe shoe was made out of cloth. In early ballets, the ballerina was suspended on wires, and would fly into a scene and skim along the stage on the tips of her slippers. Around the beginning of the twentieth century, technique changed. The Italian style dispensed with wires -- the ballerina used her own strength to support herself on pointe and perform bravura feats. At this time, the pointe shoe became the sturdy creation used today, with a boxed tip fortified with burlap and glue.
There are many different types of pointe shoe, and each fits the dancer in a different way. The pointe shoe should be tight, with only a pinch of cloth at the heel when the pointe shoe is en pointe. Two ribbons wrap around the dancer's ankle, sometimes with an elastic band that wraps around from the back of the heel, to the front, and then back to the back the heel; or across the instep as with ballet shoes; or is attached with a loop on the heel which the ribbons pass through. This last method, however, has been shown to cause achilles tendonitis in many dancers and is no longer recommended. The shank of the shoe comes in two different sizes, 3/4 and full shank. The full shank is traditionally for the dancer who has a strong arch, and needs more support than the 3/4 can offer. The full shank was used in the original pointe shoe. The 3/4 is shorter, and helps dancers go up on pointe with more facility. There is a wide variety of pointe shoes that have different attributes and longevity. The choreography will often dictate the type of shoe required: the supple, lyrical style of the white swan, for instance, requires a softer shoe, while the black swan's dazzling turns are best done in a hard, stiff shoe.
Pointe shoes are usually covered with satin. The shoes have two important structural features that allow the dancer to dance on the tips of her toes:
- the box is a section of burlap stiffened with glue, that encases and supports the dancer's toes. The end of the box is covered with satin and flattened into a platform, upon which the dancer can balance.
- the shank is a strengthened piece of material (usually many layers of glue-hardened burlap, thick leather, or sometimes plastic) running near to the length of the dancer's sole. It provides support to the arch of her foot as she stands en pointe.
Pointe shoes are usually made in light pink colors varying from peachy-pink and bright pink to very pale pink. White and black pointe shoes are also very common, but many pointe shoes can be specially ordered in almost any color. At dance supply stores, pointe shoes retail for anywhere between $35.00 and $110.00. Non-professional students usually pay about $70.00-80.00 for one pair of shoes, which will last (with major fluctuations depending on the strength of the dancer's feet, her weight, the type and strength of the shoes, and the amount of time spent en pointe) for about four months. Higher level dance students, who usually take several pointe classes a week, can often go through one or more pairs monthly. Professional dancers go through pointe shoes much more quickly and order shoes in bulk directly from manufacturers - one pair can "die" after twenty minutes of a performance. Many professional ballet companies offer shoe allowances to their dancers, allotting a certain number of shoes to each dancer per season, depending on her position in the company.
Young girls usually start dancing en pointe between the ages of eleven and thirteen. Before this, their bones have not ossified sufficiently; serious foot deformities can result from starting pointe too early. Girls must not go up en pointe until the bones of their feet are fully developed and the muscles in the arches, legs, pelvic area and abdominals are strong enough to bear the stress; injuries, such as breaking the ankle, can occur because of weak, untrained muscles. They should also have had at several years of proper training. All of this requires careful evaluation on the part of the teacher. Note that we have three requirements here: bones, muscles, and training.
It is also important that young girls be fitted for pointe shoes by a professional. Shoes that are too small or too large can cause serious problems from technique issues to chronic injuries.
Once a dancer is ready, preparation for pointe work is a slow and gradual process. At first, it is just strengthening exercises at the barre - for example, simply going up on pointe and coming back down, and then introducing variations in speed and position -- for perhaps no more than five or ten minutes. It is often only after six months to a year of this that one can start dancing on pointe in the center. The entire process takes time and close supervision by the teacher. Dancing en pointe can place severe stress on the dancer's feet, common injuries related to dancing en pointe are:
- blisters - caused by repeated rubbing of skin against the rough hardened inside of the shoe's box. Blisters can be prevented or lessened by carefully wrapping the dancer's toes with medical tape, or using some type of thin padding.
- bunions - a bone deformity usually in the dancer's big toe, caused by cramping of the toes within the shoe's box. Dancers can prevent bunions by putting a spacer between the big toe and the next toe and wearing properly fitted shoes.
- bruised toenails - caused by heavy pressure on the front of the nail. This can be very painful.
Cuts can also occur between toes as a result of the pressure of a dancer's toenails digging into the toes next to them.
To help minimize pain and injuries from dancing en pointe, many dancers use lamb's wool "toe pads" or gel pads like the "Ouch Pouch" to cover their toes in the box area. Wads of lamb's wool and small gel pads are also used in certain areas where a dancer feels the most pain. Many dancers also use sports tape to tape around their toes in order to further prevent blisters and bruised toenails. However,professional dancers often use only tape, a small amount of paper towelling, or nothing at all, because they prefer greater freedom of movement and sensitivity.
See also
External links
- How to fit a Pointe Shoe
- How to fit a pair of Grishko Pointe Shoe
- How to fit a pair of Sansha Pointe Shoe
"Pointe shoes"