Pointe Shoes

Today I bought some pointe shoes to use as reference for how stiff they are at the beginning of their life as well as for sewing ribbons onto them and slowly breaking them apart. They were £45 including a pointe shoe fitting from a professional, knowing that pointe shoes sometimes last 8 hours and a ballerina can have 4 pairs at a time has made me realise just how costly this art is.

together in the bag

reference of the front and back

back compared to the front of the pointe

detail of the side of the shoe. The shoes are slightly curved its an odd feeling wearing a shoe like this

detail on the back of the shoe

example of the inside of the shoe

foot before on pointe

on pointe

feet together in first position

Putting them on for the first time was odd, they are extremely stiff and you cant bend them which makes me understand why ballerinas do bash their shoes to soften them. Going onto pointe is PAINFUL, it makes me wonder how a ballerina can do it so much especially on stage. Wearing them, I have a better understanding of what a ballerina goes through with her feet. Not only does my big toe hurt but my ankles hurt from the strain of going up onto pointe.