The Ballet Companion by Eliza Gaynor Minden

Author:Eliza Gaynor Minden
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2008-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

All About Pointe

Pointework’s possibilities have intrigued and inspired choreographers since its beginnings. The pointe shoe transforms the dancer and her dancing. It elongates: its conical shape extends and tapers the line of the leg. It elevates: dancers are about four to five inches taller on pointe. It creates an illusion of effortless grace and lightness as the dancer skims the floor, spins, and sustains balances. Dancers are athletes and pointe shoes are athletic shoes. But dancers are artists first, and no other athletic shoe looks like elegant lingerie, or alters its wearer’s appearance so beautifully.

Pointe shoes also have a certain mystique. They are a universal symbol of ballet, a logo seen on everything from key chains to mouse pads to coffee mugs. One might think they had been around forever. Actually, dancing “sur les pointes” or “en pointe” has been part of ballet’s aesthetic only since the 1830s. For two centuries before that, ballerinas wore flat slippers or low heels. Pointe dancing is a relatively new development, and the hard pointe shoes used today are newer still.

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