Preparing Your Pointe Shoes For Performances

It's always a thrill when you get a brand new pair of Capezio dance shoes for your pointe class

. En Pointe, meaning on tip, is a classical and beautiful form of ballet dance. It requires a special pair of shoes called pointe shoes or toe shoes. Because these types of Capezio dance shoes are a type of specialty equipment, they require special care and attention.

Pointe shoes are entirely covered in satin. This means that while you are standing on your toes, you are on a slippery surface. Graceful ballerinas are used to this and generally keep the satin on their practice pair of pointe shoes. However, ballerinas use a new pair of Capezio dance shoes for each performance so it is very important to remove the slippery satin covering on the tips. To do so, slide a sharp pair of scissors under the satin (and only the satin) and cut. Be sure you do not cut all around the box of the slipper because you need enough on the tip to burn so that the satin does not fray.

Once the satin is cut, take a lighter and carefully burn the edges of the satin on the tip so that it melts only a little. Do not put the lighter directly to the slipper. Instead, keep the flame about three to four inches from the shoe.

After you have prepared the toe, it is time to prep the shank of the shoe. Each pointe shoe has a shank that is held in place by a nail. You will want to soften or even remove the shank. To do so, merely pull up the bottom fabric of the shoe and remove the nail. Sometimes, it just pops out; sometimes it requires pliers to do the trick. Once the shank nail is removed it is easy to bend and soften or remove the shank. There are different ways to do this and each ballerina has a different method. I have seen them shut into doors, bent back and forth, or even doing a roll through (or a thousand) at the barre.

Regardless of how you prepare your shoe, you will need time before a performance to do so. There is actually a lot more that you can do that is not covered in this particular article. You will learn from experience and practice until you get a practice all your own that makes your shoes work for you.

by: Mark Etinger

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