The Power Of Point Shoes!

If you are new to ballet then you may well be very confused as to what type of ballet shoes to wear for your first class. There are two main types of ballet shoe and these consist of soft ballet shoes (sometimes known as slippers) and point shoes.

Soft Shoes

Beginners will usually wear soft ballet shoes – these slide easily onto the feet and they will come with or without straps depending on your preference. Ballet dancers will wear these during practice and for floor work. They keep your feet properly aligned giving suitable muscle control and for learning steps and moves before advancing to point shoes.

Point Shoes

Ballerinas and advanced ballet dancers are required to carry out techniques and moves that other ballet dancers are not, and for this reason they require a completely different set of ballet shoes. These shoes are known as point shoes. Point shoes are a vital tool which enables ballerinas to dance en-pointe. In other words, dancing on their 'tip-toes'. These ballet shoes allow the dancer to appear weightless while dancing. Point shoes appear to be delicate but they're not. They are strong shoes, and they need to be in order to support a dancer dancing 'en-pointe'. There are three main parts of a point shoe and these are known as the shank, the ribbons and the box. The shank gives the shoe its strength and is made of heavy leather and it forms the hard inside sole of the shoe. It helps the dancer transfer her weight from the toes over to the arch which is the strongest part of the foot. The ribbons are fastened to the point shoe in order to hold the shoe on the foot. The last part of the point shoe, the box, consists of layers of cloth that have been hardened using adhesive. This forms a stiff inner part of the shoe which gives protection to the dancer’s toes and softens the impact made by certain steps and jumps.

When to Buy New Point Shoes

If you have just started wearing point shoes then it is vital that you know when to invest in new ones. They can only withstand around 4-12 hours of dancing, depending on the manufacturer, and then the shoes are no longer efficient and may not be able to do their job properly. They need to be replaced when the platform loses its stiffness; the box becomes soft, or when the shank is no longer supportive. You will know that it is time to change shoe when you start to feel pain in areas of the foot that you have not felt before or you may also start falling off pointe when you try to stay balanced.

Where to Buy

There are many retailers that specialise in selling ballet shoes and many of these can be located online. Many online retailers offer special cut-price deals that you will not find in-store and so for this reason it is wise to buy through the Internet.