Pointe shoe

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New (not danced) pointe shoes

The pointe shoe ( French. : Pointe or majority pointes , Engl .: pointe shoe ) is a shoe for the ballet -Tanz without right-left distinction (einballige shoes) covered with satin and a stiffened completed toe (toe box), at the outer end there is a flat (usually covered with leather). The shoes are also attached to the ankle with satin ribbons. With pointe shoes you can dance on tiptoe with your feet stretched out ( pointe dance ).

Construction and development

Pointe shoes represent the best possible compromise between support and protection of the foot on the one hand and maintaining its mobility on the other hand (left in the picture the edge of a gel protector between shoe and foot is visible).

The stiffened and internally padded front part of today's pointe shoe closely encompasses the forefoot and distributes the pressure evenly on it. On the outside of the toe of the shoe, it offers the dancer a flat surface. The only partially reinforced sole of the pointe shoe supports the foot so that the dancer can carry her body weight over the arched instep and balance it on the standing surface.

The ballerina Marie Camargo introduced the heelless dance shoe around 1730 to increase her freedom of movement. The shape and design of the pointe shoe has changed significantly over the past 150 years. It is particularly noticeable that the standing area has become considerably wider, so that the illusion of floating above the floor, which is strived for in romantic ballet, is no longer fully achieved due to the visibly greater contact with the floor. On the other hand, the pointe shoe in use today enables step combinations and tiptoe movements that were unthinkable with Marie Taglioni's shoes .

Fit

Ideally, pointe shoes fit snugly like a second skin on the foot. How to find the pointe shoe that fits your own foot and how to adapt it to your own foot with various tricks is described in the literature. Nevertheless, every dancer has to find out the best solution for her by trying it out. Many professional dancers wear custom made pointe shoes. But even in this case, a great deal of time and effort has to be invested before pointe shoes are so supple and fit on the foot that they can be worn during a ballet performance. Pointe shoes are quite delicate and, depending on the intensity of the dance, must be changed due to wear and tear during a ballet performance.

In order to be able to dance professionally and safely with pointe shoes, the feet must be systematically prepared and strengthened over several years through suitable ballet training under expert guidance. For this purpose, so-called slippers or soft points are worn in addition to pointe shoes during training .

Others

Signed pointe shoes of the former solo dancer of the Vienna State Opera Ballet, Margaret Illmann

Due to the high stress on the feet when dancing toe, it is generally recommended not to start too early in childhood. The bony structure of the foot should first be developed so that the growth plate is closed, which is why the tip dance is mostly recommended and practiced only from a ballet student age of 10 to 12 years, depending on the individual level of development.

Well-known ballet dancers often sign the pointe shoes they have worn for their fans. In the past only women danced on lace, but for some years there have also been men's size pointe shoes.

Historical pointe shoes in museums

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Antonius Lux (ed.): Great women of world history. A thousand biographies in words and pictures . Sebastian Lux Verlag , Munich 1963, p. 92.

literature

  • Janice Barringer, Sarah Schlesinger: The pointe book. Shoes, training & technique. A Dance Horizons Book . Princeton Book Company , Pennington, NJ, USA 1991.
  • Esther Juon: Pointe shoe secrets . Brighton, UK 1995.
  • Angela Reinhardt: The right pointe shoe. Tips & tricks for buying, tuning and maintenance . Henschel-Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-89487-525-9 ( online ).
  • Angela Reinhardt: Pointe Shoes. Tips and tricks for choosing, tuning and care . Dance Books, London 2008, ISBN 978-1-85273-115-1 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Pointe shoes  - collection of images, videos and audio files