happens far too often and usually ruins young dancer’s careers. <G1 [photo] Chapter 2 C>The Making of a Pointe Shoe B3>Pointe shoes are made by cobblers; <C they make the pointe shoes by putting several layers of fabric, slight cushioning, glue and satin to make the box of the shoe. H>The shank, which runs down the length of the shoe, is made out of layers of fabric and paste. Cobblers sew the shank in to the sole of the shoe and then glue and sew the satin sides of the shoe onto the shank. <B3 <H G1>Because pointe shoes are so difficult to make and take so much time to make one pair usually costs 60 to 90 dollars a pair. <G1
Chapter 3 C>The Parts of the Pointe Shoe The most important part of dancing en pointe is the shoe. In the diagram it shows the parts of the pointe shoe. <C H> D2>The ribbons keep your ankles supported; the vamp helps your toes stay in place, the drawstring helps the shoe stay on your foot; the toe box and the platform make it so that you can actually stand en pointe. <H G1>All of these make up the perfect pointe shoe. <D2 <G1 [Illustration] Chapter 4 C>The Importance of the Perfect Fit B2>If you don’t get the right size pointe shoe <C you could really hurt your feet. If it’s too big it could fall of or it might not support you enough. If it’s too small it could give
you really bad blisters or your toes could scrunch, you can really hurt feet by doing that. <B2 H>That’s why at pointe shoe fittings there are people who fit your pointe shoes. <H They go through dozens of pointe shoes from all different brands, Grishko, Gaynor Minden, Freed of London etc… then they ask you to go en pointe to see if they are the right size. G1>If there too small then the fitter gives you a bigger size and so on, until they find you exactly the right fit. <G1 [photo and caption] Chapter 5 C>Pointe Shoe Accessories To be able to dance on pointe shoes you have to have padding in your shoes. D2>B3>The most common padding is just an ordinary toe pad <C that goes around your toes. Some dancers put paper towels on their shoes. Also some
dancers use toe spacers and toe tape with lamb’s wool. <D2 Depending on the durability of the shoe and the dancer’s preference they will either put in more or less padding. <B3 [2 photos, 2 captions] Because sometimes studio floors can be slippery, D2>some dancers darn the end of their shoes; you cut of the satin covering on the platform <D2 and start sewing a covering for the platform of the shoe by making tiny stitches onto the harder fabric underneath. This makes the platform that is less likely to slip. D1>Although this makes it harder to slip it is very time consuming. <D1 Some dancers just cut off the satin on the platform and sew the edges. And if you’re really lazy you can just cut the satin off from the platform and not sew it or not cut it off at all. D2>Also if you don’t want
shank, and sometimes the sides to “re-strengthen” pointe shoes to make them last longer. [video clip] Chapter 10 C>Company Pointe When you get into a professional company such as the New York City Ballet, the company usually pays the pointe shoes for you. <C B1>They have a HUGE room called the shoe room that stores all of the pointe shoes. H>Each of the dancers have J4>a “bunny hole” [as they call it] to keep their pointe shoes. <B1 <J4 And when they need a new pair, they go to the shoe room, find their cubby and take as many pointe shoes as they need. <H NYCB spends around half a million dollars each year on pointe shoes. [photo]