A pointe shoe (, ), also referred to as a ballet shoe, is a type of shoe worn by ballet dancers when performing pointe work. Pointe shoes were conceived in response to the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-like and have evolved to enable dancers to dance en pointe (on the tips of their toes) for extended periods of time.
History
Women began to dance ballet in 1681, twenty years after King Louis XIV of France ordered the founding of the Académie Royale de Danse. At that time, the standard women's ballet shoe had heels. In the 1730s, dancer Marie Camargo of the Paris Opéra Ballet was the first to wear a non-heeled shoe, enabling her to perform leaps that would have been difficult, if not impossible, in the more conventional shoes of the age. After the French Revolution, heels were completely eliminated from standard ballet shoes. These flat-bottomed predecessors of the modern pointe shoe were secured to the feet by ribbons and incorporated pleats under the toes to enable dancers to leap, execute turns, and fully extend their feet.
The first dancers to rise up on their toes did so with the help of an invention by Charles Didelot in 1796. His "flying machine" lifted dancers upward, allowing them to stand on their toes before leaving the ground. This lightness and ethereal quality was well received by audiences and, as a result, choreographers began to look for ways to incorporate more pointe work into their pieces.
As dance progressed into the 19th century, the emphasis on technical skill increased, as did the desire to dance en pointe without the aid of wires. When Marie Taglioni first danced La Sylphide en pointe, her shoes were nothing more than modified satin slippers; the soles were made of leather and the sides and toes were darned to help the shoes hold their shapes. Because the shoes of this period offered no support, dancers would pad their toes for comfort and rely on the strength of their feet and ankles for support.
The next substantially different form of pointe shoe appeared in Italy in the late 19th century. Dancers like Pierina Legnani wore shoes with a sturdy, flat platform at the front end of the shoe, rather than the more sharply pointed toe of earlier models. These shoes also included a box—made of layers of fabric—for containing the toes, and a stiffer, stronger sole. They were constructed without nails and the soles were only stiffened at the toes, making them nearly silent. By 1880s, shoemaker Salvatore Capezio also improved the construction of pointe shoes after a series of work for repairing pointe shoes.
The birth of the modern pointe shoe is often attributed to the early 20th-century Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who was one of the most famous and influential dancers of her time. Pavlova had particularly high, arched insteps, which left her vulnerable to injury when dancing en pointe. She also had slender, tapered feet, which resulted in excessive pressure on her big toes. To compensate for this, she inserted toughened leather soles into her shoes for extra support and flattened and hardened the toe area to form a box.
Men have not historically performed in pointe shoes except for comedic effect. Examples of this include Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, and characters such as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream and the evil stepsisters in Cinderella. As ballet culture evolves, male dancers en pointe are becoming more common. Some male or male-presenting dancers may choose to study pointe work in order to better understand the mechanics involved in partnering work, in which the female role is usually performed en pointe. Some teachers and dancers believe that pointe technique is a beneficial supplement to traditional male ballet steps, as the increased foot strength and articulation may improve jump height and technique. Non-comedic male performances en pointe are also becoming more common, although they are still rare in large classical companies. For example, Ballet22 is a recently founded company with the stated aim of showcasing men and male presenting dancers en pointe outside of a comedic or drag setting.
Controversy Pointe shoes supposedly employ structural reinforcements in both shank and toe box in an attempt to distribute the dancer's weight load throughout the feet, thus reducing the load on the toes enough to enable the dancer to support all their body weight on fully vertical feet.
But this claim is disputed. Nothing in pointe shoe design prevents a foot’s "slippage", in which, when en pointe, the dancer’s weight forces their foot down into the shoe until their big toe meets the end of the toe box. Measurements have shown that most of the dancer's weight en pointe is borne by the big toe(s) regardless of the length of the second toe. Hence, such reinforcements cannot and do not distribute the weight load throughout the foot as claimed. However, the pointe shoe does have some effect in distributing pressure; approximately 80% of the total force is applied to the ends of the toes with most of the remaining 20% absorbed by shear forces on the skin.Selinah Shah “Pointe shoes complicate the biomechanics of ballet” LER April 2010. R.G.Torba & D.A.Rice “Pressure analysis of the ballet shoe while en pointe.” Proceedings of the Twelfth Southern Biomedical Engineering Conference, New Orleans. LA, USA 1993, pp48-50. Most dancers proficient in pointe technique are not capable of supporting their own weight in the pointe position without specialised shoes.
Construction
Every dancer has unique feet, with variations that include toe length and shape, midfoot and ankle flexibility, and mechanical strength. Consequently, most pointe shoe manufacturers produce more than one model of shoe, with each model offering a different fit, as well as custom fitted shoes. Regardless of the manufacturer or model, however, all pointe shoes share two important structural features that enable dancers to dance on the tips of their toes:
A box within the front end of the shoe that encases and supports the dancer's toes. A shank, which is a piece of rigid material that serves to stiffen the sole so as to provide support for the arch of the en pointe foot.
The exterior of a pointe shoe is covered with fabric, thus concealing the box and other internal structural elements and lending an aesthetically pleasing look to the shoe. Most pointe shoes are covered with satin, but some are available with canvas exteriors.
The vamp refers to the shoe's upper piece, measured from the platform to the drawstring; normally, longer toes call for a longer vamp. The throat is the edge of the vamp above the arch of the foot; it is usually either v-shaped or round, which tend to suit feet with higher or lower arches, respectively. The drawstring is located within the binding on the throat; this may be made from either elastic or lace and usually ends at the bottom of the throat.
Box and wings
The box is a rigid enclosure within the front end of the shoe that encases and supports the dancer's toes. The front end of the box is flattened so as to form a platform upon which the dancer can balance, and fabric covers the exterior of the box for aesthetics. Some manufacturers insert a suede patch over the platform to provide a longer lasting surface over the high-wear part of the shoe. There are pros and cons to this approach, and whether a suede tip is preferred is usually down to the dancer's own preference in how they prepare their shoes. The wings of the shoe refer to the sides of the box, which typically extend up slightly past the throat of the shoe and offer lateral support.
In conventional pointe shoes, the box is typically made from tightly packed layers of paper, paste and fabric that have been glued together and then shaped into an enclosure. When the glue dries, it becomes hard and provides the required stiffness. In some newer pointe shoes, the box may be made from plastic and rubber, with rigidity provided by the plastic.
Box shapes vary widely among shoe models and manufacturers. A number of shape attributes, including box length, height (sometimes called the profile), taper angle and platform area, determine the suitability of a shoe for any particular foot.
Sole
For most pointe shoes, the sole is constructed from a piece of leather that is attached to the shoe with adhesive and reinforced by stitching along its edges. The sole overlaps and secures the unfinished edges of the shoe's exterior fabric. Pointe shoes may be manufactured with either scraped soles, which provide superior traction, or buffed soles, which have a smoother surface for reduced traction.
Aesthetic appearance is of paramount importance for modern pointe shoes. To achieve an elegant appearance, the shoe's more decorative outer fabric is prominently featured, covering the maximum possible area of the shoe's visible surfaces. To this end, the sole is made of thin material to give it a minimal profile, and a margin of satin is artfully pleated around it so that the sole covers only part of the bottom of the shoe. Some manufacturers offer pleatless designs, which may give a cleaner appearance and a flatter area to balance on between the end of the sole and the platform. However, such differences are usually not visible from the audience in a traditional theatre performance setting.
Shank
Shanks are typically made from leather, plastic, cardstock, or layers of glue-hardened burlap. The flexibility of a shank is determined by its thickness and the type of material used, and how it is attached to the rest of the shoe. A shank's thickness may be consistent throughout or it may vary along its length to produce different strengths at select points. For example, slits may be cut across a shank at demi-pointe to enhance roll through. Also, a shank's thickness may transition at some point along its length in order to implement differing strengths above and below the transition. Standard pointe shoes typically have a full shank, in which the shank runs the full length of the sole, or fractional (e.g., half or three-quarter) length shanks, which may be entirely absent further back in the shoe or have a decreased stiffness. Many pointe shoe manufacturers offer a choice of shank materials, and some will build shoes with customized shanks of varying stiffness and length.
Different pointe shoe makers offer different strengths of shank. For example, Grishko, a Russian pointe shoe company, offers various shank strengths such as super soft, soft, medium, hard, and super hard. Shank strength is not standardised across brands or even models, so a 'soft' shank in one shoe may be closely equivalent to a 'hard' in another style. The strength of the shank mostly depends on the arch and strength of the dancer’s foot, but is a nuanced issue which depends also on the use of the shoe and the specific points of flexibility and strength of the dancer. If the dancer has a strong and flexible arch, they may need a hard or super hard shank to support the foot while en pointe properly, or they may prefer a softer shoe which allows greater control if they are strong enough to control their own flexibility. If the dancer is starting pointe and has weaker feet, a super soft or soft shank may be more suitable, allowing the dancer to point their foot more easily. However, if the dancer is very flexible a harder shoe may help them to control their movements better and reduce risk of overstretching.