Pointe shoe questions?

Question

1.) How do i know if my pointe shoes are dead? In august it will be a year that i've had them. and i have class once a week. The box isn't soft, but not as hard as it was and some of the satin on the bottom has come off. I just want them to last till the end of august..when i get new ones...i only have one dance store where i live and i dont like it..so im going out of town to get shoes..so we cant go til the end of august.

2.)another question is when im en pointe it hurts alot..more than usual. I use lambs wool toe pads so it usually hurts but it hurts alot..and i dont know why..its just started hurting more all of a sudden.

3.) I have russian pointe shoes..and i was wondering if people liked them..i did in the begining but then as the year went on..i started to hate them. also what is your favorite kind of pointe shoe..and why?

Thanks ♥

Answer 1

1) Your shoes are probably dead.  How can you tell?  I know my shoes are dead when 1)  I begin to get more blisters than usual 2) I have to literally jump up onto pointe  3) when they literally start to fall apart, the shank began to break off.  

The box however, has always been as hard as it was the first day I got the shoes.

Dancing in your shoes is not a good idea. My sister, who is also on pointe, was dancing in a pair of dead pointe shoes with out even realizing it, that is, until her ankle got really swollen.  Because she couldn't rely on the shoe to balance she had to rely on her ankle, and the tension caused a pretty painful case of tendinitis  

2) There are two possible reasons why your feet are hurting more than usual is because your shoes are dead, or because the lambs wool pads have worn down, and that hurts.  (been there done that)  I would experiment with different pads that last longer, like the gel pads I have now are the exact same ones I had two years ago (sorry don't know the brand.) they are completely disgusting but work all the same.

3) Russian pointes, the prima ballerina at our dance studio uses that brand, but I LOVE the grishkos they are the best shoes on the planet!  Chaccots, I didn't like so much, or maybe it was the people that sold them to me.  They would only sell me one size, which in my case were too small.  My toes would come out of the shoe and the color would range from dark purple to blue.  These were my first pair of pointe shoes so I was disturbed and assumed that ballerinas were disgusting masochists, then my mom talked to my teacher and my teacher explained that my shoes were too small.  After 2 months, I got blochs.  They were amazing, the shank was soft, the box hard, they were perfect for my simple 1 hour class a week.  then my hours added up then they stopped giving me the support i needed and they were dead after one class, then I tried the Grishkos and I haven't had a problem with them since.

4) As far as buying new pointe shoes goes, tell your teacher about your dilemma and when its time to go out of town to get new pointe shoes do one of two things, 1) Buy more than one pair of shoes so you have a spare in case something happens to your other pair (only do this if you are sure feet are done growing or else you would have bought a pair of shoes that are too small for you) or 2) buy a different brand of shoes and then go home and order them off of www.discountdance.com when you need new ones , they sell you every type of pointe shoe at a discounted price (unfortunately, they sell every brand but Russian pointe)

Happy Dancing!

Answer 2

1) i wear pointe shoes everyday, and i started using jet glue. it makes them last twice as long until you can get new ones. you should definitely get new ones asap though. if you can't get jet glue, super glue works really well to. you only need a couple drops and it lasts a few classes. temporary fix.

2) it's cause they're dead. if it still hurts a lot more than usual when you break in your new ones, just keep dancing. they'll hurt worse before they stop hurting. you have to toughen your feet, and the more often you dance the better it'll get.

3) it all depends on your foot shape. if your feet are average or on the bad side, russian pointes might be alittle hard.  however, if you have good feet, they're great. i have moderate feet and i wear freeds. i love them, they're really comfortable. capezios are c**p, and blochs are sturdy. it also depends on if you have bunions, long toes, short toes, wide feet, narrow feet, flat feet, straight across toes, etc.

keep dancin' <3

Answer 3

im not a dancer yet (will be soon) but it sounds like you need new ones

Answer 4

Hi Tigerlily,

1. When your pointe shoe dies, you'll know it.  It will feel almost completely like a soft shoe.  When the shoe officially "dies", the shank (which is metal) is so fatigued that it snaps in half.  This renders the shank unusable, so it is very dangerous to go up en pointe when it does die.

You mentioned that the box is softer than it was, and that on the platform the satin has torn.  That's pretty dangerous, because if the box fatigues on one side more than the other, it's more difficult to balance.  Check out one of my questions on the subject:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Megan gave a very good answer with a lot of valuable information, so I suggest you read it.

Since you only take one class a week (is that all en pointe or just 45 minutes or so of pointe?), you probably can make your shoes last that long.  Try jet-glue on your shoes.  Ask your teacher how to apply it (it's difficult to explain without showing you).  That will make the shoes last a couple of weeks longer than they normally would.

2.  It's normal that it should hurt.  The fact that it's hurting more than usual doesn't indicate anything serious.  My best guess as to the cause for that is that you have the beginnings of a blister or two on your toes.  Try taping your toes along with the lamb's wool; that should reduce the pain and friction on the blister while you're en pointe.  Try to let the feet air out as much as possible when you're not.

3.  I use Russian shoes myself.  Finding the right pointe shoe depends wholly on your feet.  I have a Russian arch, but it is rather weak and needs support.  Purely Russian shoes, such as Russian pointe and Gaynor Minden, are for very strong, high arches.  I have high arches, but weak feet.  Purely English and American-manufactured pointe shoes, such as Bloch and Freed, are made for a more flat arch in need of support.  There are "hybrids", such as Grishkos (which I use).  They give you Russian arch aesthetic flattery, and English/American support.

4.  To answer your question (I think you were asking?) about music for a solo, try something acoustic or purely vocal.  I choreographed a dance once to a piece by Yo-Yo Ma called "Butterfly's Day Out".  It was very interesting and gentle and soft.  It was classical with a bit of modern in it.  I also choreographed an interesting lithurgical piece to a version of Amazing Grace that was purely vocal, without any instrumentation.  It was beautiful.  For more details about that, here's a question I just answered today:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Good luck and hope that helped!  Remember, always feel free to contact me with further questions.  Keep dancing!♥

Answer 5

You know you can't use your pointe shoes anymore when you can't get on them properly. If they're starting to hurt a lot it's probably a good idea to invest in a new pair. Some people use their old pointe shoes as soft blochs, which isn't a bad idea.

I've never had Russian pointe shoes. I got a pair of Freed's from the shop in London and they didn't suit my feet at all. I've been a Bloch fan ever since. The most important thing is that your shoe is fitted properly to suit your foot. That's why i don't recommend buying on-line.

Answer 6

1) They are dead if: you're sinking in them on the front part of the box and when you're en pointe, you go OVER past the box. (If you feel that part, it'll be mushy). You're supposed to be flat on the box but not pulling back on your heels.

2) Maybe get your feet checked? My feet kind of changed shape somewhere along the way during my ballet training. And a lot of my friends had ingrown toenails.

Lambs wool never gave me enough cushioning. I use jelly pads. You could try those if your feet are hurting really badly.

3) Most my friends who wore Russians liked them, but they all seemed to be very particular people. The popular shoes in my studio were (USA) Gaynor Mindens (everyone raved about them). My shoes were Bloch Suprimas when I just started out. For the past many years, mine have been Chacott Veronese, which I LOVE.

Pointe shoes should be good for use for about 10-20 hours straight on pointe (i.e. not 20 classes but 20 hours in which you are up en pointe).

Answer 7

I'm a pointe dancer as well and i've had problems telling whether they're broken too.  but here's how you'll know

1. if ur foot seems to be over extending when you go up on pointe, there's a good chance it's broken and it could possibly explain the foot pain.

2. if ur point shoes seem worn on the inside that could end up being a problem for ur feet too

3. and finally if ur feet r hurting from ur point shoes i'd suggest getting a new pair immediately. u can really badly hurt ur feet from pointe if ur shoes doin't fit right and i'd hate to see any dancer have to quit