Pointe Shoe: Symbol of ballet
 Dancing
on Pointe
* Marie Taglioni has been given the
credit for being the first ballerina to dance on pointe when she
performed La Sylphide in 1832.
* Dancing on pointe was transformed
into an artistic expression.
*Taglioni’s grace, lightness,
elevation and style earned the adoration of her audience and she enjoyed
a brilliant career.
* She wore well fitting soft satin
slippers with leather soles, which were reinforced, with darning but the
tips of her pointes were left free.
* Taglioni’s alignment was different
and she was less vertical, less straight up and down, with her hips
released back and her upper body tilted slightly forward.
What would ballet be without the pointe shoe for nothing symbolizes
this fine art than the pointe shoe. When one sees the fairies,
princesses, spirits, nymphs, etc flutter and sail across the stage so
effortlessly like feathers flying in the air or the falling snowflakes,
it all goes down to her feet.
It enables the ballerina to dance on the tips of her toes and balance
on a flat surface. For those who watch her dance on pointe, all appear
easy and wonderful but how many years of hard practice does she take to
dance all those magical steps in classics or become a member in the
‘corp de ballet’ of her company. It took me two full years to get on
pointe and that too with the help of the barre.
|
Synchronizing foot movements can only emerge from correct pointe
shoes as worn by these members of the Royal Ballet’s corp de
ballet. |
Athletic physique
It is not only dancing on pointe that matter for she has to be in
perfect health, athletic physique, supple limbs and above all, be in
control of her weight. Over-weight means injury as well as effort for
her partner to lift her while performing. Beautiful long supple legs to
proud to pointe shoes.
Around 7000 pairs of pointe shoes are worn during a season and they
are kept in constant supply. Dancers’ shoes vary depending on the
choreography of the dance being performed. A soft shoe is ideal for a
lyrical style while a harder shoe is necessary for a more aggressive
style with leaps and turns while a dancer from the corp de ballet might
need only one pair. It is a common feature for a principal dancer to
wear out her pointe shoes in a single performance.
The pointe shoe department of the Royal Opera House which is
maintained by Cat Ladd has an enormous job to look into two areas of its
work. The first is maintaining the stock footwear and the second being
fitting and supplying of performance footwear. Occasionally the shoes
will be kept only if they are unique in some way and form part of a
costume in the Royal Opera House collection or if they are of some
historical interest in terms of style and design. These are of little
use after a performance.
Unique variations
A few millimeters out in the shoe’s measurement can make a difference
and dramatically affect the confidence of the dancer who will be
conscious of the fact and have adverse result in what she is performing.
Therefore, the correct fit is very vital. The pointe shoe must give
maximum support to her and an elegant line to her foot. She cannot
afford to be looking down at her ankle and concentrating on it. Shoes
are always custom made since all feet are unique with variations in
strength, arch flexibility, toe length and shape. The pointe shoe
department and the physiotherapy department work closely together with
various manufacturing
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The perfect balance on pointe. Marienela Nunez as Odette in Swan
Lake |
companies who regularly visit the Royal Opera House. This affords the
dancer to sample various shoes. This highly specialized process is very
expensive and costs the Royal Opera House a neat 250,000 Sterling Pounds
per season.
A new shoe is stiff and inflexible and once the dancer has selected
her shoe, comes the difficult part.
Customization process
She has a ‘breaking’ process to employ and make the shoe pliable
before it can be worn on stage for performance. It has to be absolutely
perfect.
At times a dancer will attempt to ‘mould’ her foot to fit her shoe by
soaking in water. Once the shoes are ‘broken’ in, she will customize
them. This involves sewing ribbons and elastic, darning the toe and
padding the inside of the toe box with some type of soft material to
protect the toes. The pointe shoe department provide dancers with lamb’s
wool and secure toe pads.
This breaking and customization process takes up a significant time
in a dancer’s already busy schedule.
At times, it may appear absurd that so much of money, time and effort
is spent in finding and creating the perfect pointe shoe. Then, there
would be no ballet without the pointe shoe. |
