Why are the brand new pointe shoes so uncomfortable? Are yours tailored and hand made?
Pointe shoes are made to be hard and rigid in order to support your entire body weight on a platform only a few centimeters wide. I wear custom made Bloch pointe shoes now, and while it did take a long time to find the right fit, I now hardly have to do anything before wearing them.
As we all know breaking in new shoes is hard work. Pointe shoes must be broken in to reach the perfect state. Many ballerinas destroy their brand new pointe shoes even before dancing in them.
Each ballerina has her own routine how to customize the fit and support her dancing style. Hours were spent on scraping, ripping, crushing, sewing, and burning, only to end up with a shoe that is uniquely tailored to the ballerina.
No, they are not made out of wood, and there is no steel in the flat tip! The tip is made of densely packed layers of fabric, cardboard and/or paper hardened by glue. Being extremely sturdy makes it possible to balance the entire weight of the ballerina’s body on a small platform. The rest of the shoe consist of materials such as leather, cotton and satin. The right and the left shoe are identical.
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