Ballet Toe Shoes
The Crucial Components!

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Every ballet dancer has individual feet, this includes the length, width, arch flexibility and strength.

With all these elements to take into consideration, it is crucial to get your pointe shoes correctly fitted to your unique shape.

Luckily, shoe makers are very adaptable and produce more than one type of shoe.

Sometimes, a dancer will have their own maker so when she is happy with a particular shoe, she uses that maker for the rest of her career.

I have been fortunate enough to visit a pointe shoe factory and I was fascinated by the individual work each maker had to do. It was full of manufacturers with each person on a different agenda to make the pointe shoe.

Manufacturers are aware to offer different fits of shoe by adapting the different components. So, first, it is useful to become familiar with these different parts of a ballet toe shoe.

After all, without these structural features, we wouldn't be able to dance on the tips of our toes!

Now then, there are three main parts of a pointe shoe - the toe box, shank and sole.

Toe Box: Situated at the front of the shoe. It acts as a platform when up on pointe.

Shank: Located inside the shoe and provides support for the arch of the foot.

Sole: Attached to the bottom part of the shoe and is made from a thin piece of leather.

The toe box, also known as box, covers and supports the dancer's toes. The flat end on the box gives a surface for the dancer to balance on. You should always check that the block contains all the toe joints.

The shank is the most rigid part of the shoe. The flexibility of the shank depends on the thickness and type of material used. It is generally made from burlap and hardened by glue, leather, cardboard, or plastic.

Standard pointe shoes tend to have a full shank, so that the shank covers the full length of the sole. However, shoe makers can vary the shank by customizing the length and altering the stiffness.

Dancers will need a different strength of shank depending on the choreography. For example, a dancer may want lots of support if they are doing lots of balances or releves, therefore a harder and stiffer shoe will be required.

Be aware when fitting a pointe shoe that if the outer sole of the shoe extends beyond the heel, the shoe is too long. Also, if the sole twists away from the foot, then this is a sign that the shoe is too narrow.

With knowledge of these vital components, you will have no problem finding the perfectly fitted shoes.

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