Pointe shoes are worn by female dancers when dancing. These shoes allow a dancer to go up on her toes and dance. These shoes were created to give the dancer a light appearance.
The History of Pointe Shoes~
In 1681, women started dancing ballet. The ballet shoe, back then, had heels. Marie Camargo was the first to wear a ballet shoe without a heel during the mid 18th century. This made it easier to dance ballet. Soon after, heels were completely eliminated from the ballet shoe.
In 1795, Charles Didelot invented the first version of the pointe shoe. This shoe allowed dancers to dance on pointe. Soon enough, choreographers started to incorporate more on pointe foot work.
Marie Taglior was the first to dance La Sylphide on pointe. Since early versions of the pointe shoes did not give as much support to the dancers feet, they relied on the strength of their feet and ankles to support them.
In the late 19th century in Italy, a new version of the pointe shoes came out. They had a more sturdy platform and the boxes were made out of layers of fabric. They were not held together with nails at this time, making the ballet shoes very quiet.
The modern version if the pointe shoe is quite different. Every dancer has a different type of foot. One might have a more flexible arch that the other, another might have a stronger foot. Because of this, companies such as Grishko, Russian Pointe, Gaynor Minden, Freeds, ext. have more than one model.
Parts of a Pointe Shoe~
- The platform is the flat part of the pointe shoes that dancers dance on.
- The vamp is the front part of the shoe that gives support in the front.
- The wing is the side part of the shoe that gives side support.
- The shank is the back of the shoes that gives the most support so that dancer can go up on her toes and balance there. The shank is made out of leather, plastic, cardstock, or layers of glued burlap. Different strengths of the shoe can be made depending on the material.
- The box is made out on layers of fabric glued and nailed together. This part of the shoe actually allows the dancer to go up on her shoes. The box is flattened at the bottom.
- The ribbons and elastic keep the shoe on the dancer.
Breaking in the Pointe Shoes~
Dancers break in Pointe Shoes by doing releves or by using hard surfaces to slam the shoes against. This softens the shoes so it is easier to dance on. Using your hand to bend the shoes or warming them up also softens the shoes. This unfortunately these methods shorten the life time of a pointe shoe.
Essential Accessories~
Spacers- these are used to place between the toes so that the foot is aligned and the there is no pain from the bunion joint and first toe.
Toe Pads- these are put on the foot between the box and the foot so that some of the pain is relived. They also prevent some blisters and bruising. Lambs wool is also and option because the wool compresses to the shape of the dancers foot.
Toe Tape- tape is used to wrap around the toes to try to prevent chafing and blistering.
Life Time~
The life time of the shoe all depends on the dancers foot. Professional dancers dance more so theirs last for a shorter amount of time, even only for a couple of hours. Some can last for months but usually they last from 1week to 3 months for non professionals, it again all depends on the dancers foot. Point shoes normally coast 100$, so when the box becomes soft or the shank breaks they are worthless and you have to get new ones.
Injuries can happen and do happen. For an example falling off the pointe shoes, having you ankle roll to the outside, toe nails failing off, blisters, bunions, cuts, and bruises, Achilles tendentious, ext. That is why it is important to do everything correctly but you can't 100% prevent injuries because that is the price dancers pay to do something they love.
citation
"Homepage." Gaynor Minden. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
"Pointe Shoe." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
"Homepage." Gaynor Minden. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
"Pointe Shoe." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.