Pointe shoe shanks?

Question

wen i went to see a ballet they had the proffesionals pointe shoes on a table and all the shanks were ripped out. why?

Answer 1

uhmmmm maybe they broke them and they just ripped em out? or maybe to make them easier to dance in?

Answer 2

some dancers split their shanks to break the shoe in quickly for a performance or fi the shank is a harder style than they normally dance in. It has a similar effect as removing the nail in the shank.

Answer 3

professionals rip out their shanks because they get a new pair of pointe shoes for each performance so they don't have time to break in the new ones.