The Ballet Bible
Discover the Secrets to Conquering Some of The Most Common Pitfalls You Face When Learning Ballet
Choose the Right Ballet Shoes - You Owe it to Your Feet!
Buying quality ballet shoes is very important as the aesthetic dance of ballet is an interesting combination of form and physical attraction. The very movements themselves of the ballet art form require a long, tapered line of the leg, which is enhanced by the almost conical shape of the shoe. The feet of a ballerina are trained and formed with practice and need protecting with correctly fitted footwear. Although ballet shoes are often described as athletic shoes made from crude paper and glue, there are actually very few reported injuries found in modern ballerinas who wear the correct footwear. Knowing how to select the best ballet shoe for your feet is not quiet as easy as it sounds as there are many different types of ballet shoes to choose from. Choosing your shoes wisely can be somewhat overwhelming which is why it’s necessary to seek advice from those in the know. Ballet shoes help dancers to practice swift movements, and perform more beautifully without hurting their feet and endangering themselves while dancing, so you can understand the importance of getting the right shoes on the right feet. Ballet shoes are beautiful in the eyes of the ballerina and almost become an extension to their feet once they master the art of this most graceful dance. If the eager student gets passionate about ballet dancing, they will soon be looking forward to the day when they will advance to ballet Pointe shoes. Ballet Pointe shoes have an odd shape, but they allow ballet dancers to dance on the very tips of their toes, and it’s probably this type of dance that got the young learner interested in the first place. When looking for ballet flat shoes, there are really just two choices which are leather and canvas. Purchasing a pair of ballet shoes may sound simple, but there is really fair amount of knowledge required when selecting the perfect fit. So although the new student may want to go running to the stores and grabbing the first pair of shoes that look good and feel comfy, please heed the advice above and get professional assistance before making your first purchase. Assuming the budding ballerina is taking lessons or about to, the instructors will probably ask them to purchase a specific type of ballet shoes, and possibly even a specific brand and color. At this stage all they need to know is that the teacher knows more than they do, so it’s important to follow his or her suggestions until the dancer acquires the knowledge to shop for their own footwear with confidence. Parents beware, because ballet shoes can wear out pretty quickly, and most dancers will go through half a dozen or more pairs of ballet shoes every year. June 21, 2007 | In Ballet Shoes |1 Comment »RSS feed for comments on this post. Leave a comment |
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When kids show an interest in ballet for the first time, some of the first questions parents ask is where can I buy ballet shoes from, how much do they cost, and how can I differentiate the good from the not so good? Well, don’t worry, because if your child is taking up ballet for the first time then they’ll surely be joining a class, and their teacher and peers will be able to give you all the advice you need on purchasing beginners ballet shoes.
I’m surprised you say that you only have two basic choices (leather or canvas) for ballet flats. These days there are a lot more choices!
For the rank beginners leather shoes are the prime choice and I’ve been taught that you should have full-sole shoes for the early years at least, as they teach you to work your foot better than split soles.
So you can choose leather or canvas (sometimes satin ballet flats are available too)
You can choose full or split sole or even elasto-split shoes which consist of a toe, a heel and elastic in between.
You can choose shoes that fit tightly, or shoes that are a bit loose with a bit of growing room (not recommended in ballet flats, but sometimes acceptable in tap or jazz shoes).
Then there’s the question of elastic or ribbons, beginners usually start with elastic and graduate to ribbons after a few years (when they’re old enough to learn how to tie the ribbons) but many shoes come with these unattached, so parents need to know how to attach them. With elastics, you can have a single elastic across the arch of the foot, or two elastics criss-crossed over (as in the photo here).
When you move up to Pointe shoes the options are even greater!
Comment by Jen — June 21, 2007 #