Carefully choosing pointe shoes is essential to a great start on your toes!

echoactionteam
Oct 15, 2017
3 min read

There's a reason why I always take new pointe students to their first fitting, and often to subsequent fittings while they are beginners. A dancer's teacher knows how the student works and what their needs are. The teacher also knows the student and can help alleviate nerves and encourage the dancers to patiently keep tweaking the styles until the right fit is met. New pointe students don't know how their feet are supposed to feel and may accept discomfort as the price they'll have to pay to dance on their toes.

It took quite a bit of time to get new pointe students Samantha and Jordyn fitted for the perfect pair of pointe shoes. Shoe styles are chosen to suit each individual dancer's feet. They must be appropriate for their foot shape and toes, the size of the heel, arch, strength of the dancer, etc. They must be able to stand "en pointe" so that the platform of the shoe is on the floor.

The right pair of shoes supports a dancer, but she must still do the work to maintain the correct position. Allowing dancers to take the time to have toes lay flat on the floor in their shoes, without buckling is important. If a dancer doesn't have the right shoes and struggles, she may give up.

Asking dancers to describe how their feet are feeling and what is not comfortable may be difficult. New pointe shoes are very stiff and feel hard until broken in. If the shoe is too wide, a dancer can sink down into the shoe and have all the weight of their body on their toes. If the shoe is too narrow, toes may be scrunched under each other.

Jordyn was able to pull right up on her toes, but her inscrutable expression belied that the shoes she was trying were workable, but not comfortable. When she finally had the right pair on, the smile we were waiting for beamed right out at us and we said, "Woo-hoo to the new shoe!"

It was clear to anyone looking on that Samantha's first few pairs of shoes were not right. She struggled to keep her legs straight and to pull up onto the platform. After several tries, she was able to stand with correct posture and placement. We knew she had the right shoes for her feet and we all said "woo-hoo!"

New students may like their shoes and stick to the same style, but it's a good idea to try other brands and styles before replacing them. You never know when you can find improvement! Knowledgeable and patient dance store staff, with the time to work with dancers, is a gift that not all dance schools have access to, fortunately, we do!

It is ill advised to choose pointe shoes at a retailer that only carries one or two brands. Samantha and Jordyn have different feet and had different needs for their shoes. They ended up with the same brand, different styles after trying on shoes from 5 different makers yesterday. On dance store trips with up to 4 students at a time, they may all come out with different shoes. Different makers and styles offer a shorter or deeper box, more supple shank or lighter shoe.

Whatever style a dancer chooses, a comfortable fit, and just the right padding, makes pointe work all the more rewarding!

~ Miss Stephanie

* See the video below for how to sew ribbons and elastics into your new shoes!

Some videos that demonstrate how to sew in pointe shoe ribbons show far too many shoe adjustments for new students. This video is exactly what a new student needs to know when sewing the ribbons and elastics into their shoes.