Ballet pointe shoes are the things a ballerina could not live without.
The longer a ballerina stays in the ballet world, the more important ballet pointe shoes become.
They come to be no longer a painful accessory, but a part of the foot which dancing wouldn't feel the same without.
Dancing on flat feels a lot different than when you dance on pointe.
For more information on ballet flat shoes or soft blocks, go to my website.
(See the links below) Finding that perfect pair of pointe shoes can be tricky.
Everyone's feet are completely different, and so that is why there are so many different makes of pointe shoes out there.
It isn't simple though; what might be the perfect shoe for one person, could be the completely wrong shoe for another.
So there's always that question hanging around - which pair of pointe shoes are the right ones for you? Well, there won't just be one pair that you'll find and they'll be perfect for the rest of your life.
As your feet will naturally change and your dance training will increase, you might have to go back to square one to find the right pair of shoes.
The Different Stages for Ballet Dancers For a professional dancer they would have gone through different parts of their dancing: 1.
There's the serious and hard-core part where a dancer is training to become a professional.
It's about cleaning technique and becoming a trained dancer.
2.
Then there's the part where a dancer becomes a performer; it's no longer just about getting this arm or leg position correct, it's about performing on stage and showing the audience the dancer you've become.
For these two different sections of a ballerina's career they will go through endless amounts of ballet point shoes.
At some stage of that ballerina's career, they will most likely change from 'training' shoes' to 'performance' shoes.
Ballet Pointe Shoes Whilst Training Whilst you are training to become a dancer your shoes need to be very strong.
They need to support a dancer through a class on pointe or a ruthless lesson.
I found that Bloch were the most suitable for a training shoe.
Bloch shoes are generally very solid and so you don't feel as if the shoes will give way half way through an exercise.
They are very well-built and supportive.
The alteration from training shoes to performance shoes can vary - a dancer might be doing an equal amount of training and performances so both types of shoes are needed.
Ballet Pointe Shoes for Performance When dancers are performing their pointe shoes need to be light and fitted well to the foot.
They need to fit like a glove and be part of the foot.
At the moment, the performance shoe which works best for me is Freed.
Their shoes have that light quality which is needed; they can be personally handmade so the shoe can have any slight adjustment if needed.
However, I'm always out there searching to see if there's any other makes that will work just as well.
Ballet Dancers Need to Be Prepared Every dancer needs to be prepared to have many ballet pointe shoes on the go all at on time.
For example, if you have a performance which is mostly allegro then a soft pair of pointe shoes is needed.
Or, if a ballet has a lot of bourrées and relevés in pointe then a more supportive shoe is needed.
Most professionals have a big bag of pointe shoes because each pair is needed for a different ballet.
For example, a dancer may write on the back of the shoe - 'Sleeping Beauty Act 1', because that's the pair they want for that part of the ballet.
Which pair is right for you? Let yourself be familiar with the different makes; there are so many designs and shoe makers, you will find a pair suited to you.
Don't panic because as your feet change, your opinion on your shoes will change too.
Searching for the right pair of pointe shoes can be hard for a dancer but, after all, it's part of their job.
Thanks for reading Odette ====================================