More Thoughts on Pointe Shoes

Truth be told, I thought it was going to be a while before that title showed up, but I’ve run into a little trouble with the Bloch European Balances…

• First of all, the shoes are beautiful. So shiny and lovely. But style isn’t a real factor in pointe shoes. If it were, they’d change with pop culture. But they don’t. They’re still stiff and painful and totally awesome.
• Thanks to the gel in the box, I was spared the hassle of both toe tape and nylon socks this time around. Due to carpeted performances, however, I watched that pretty, pink satin slowly fall apart. At this point, I have virtually no material left on my platform at all. My work here is done.
• A few months in to fall semester, Miss Sara interrogated my shoes and I. I was disappointed to report that they still felt new. She replied, “Here’s the thing: you don’t weigh anything, and you don’t have super bendy feet, but that’s okay! That just means that your shoes are going to last freaking forever!” And she was right.
• No, my shoes are nowhere near dead. But the fact of the matter is, they never will be. My teacher and I have made the executive decision to go ahead and buy a pair with a softer shank and trash our previous attempts. Sad, but necessary.

Now, let’s just make sure we’re clear: I LOVE my pointe shoes. And I SO wish that they had worked out. But they’re just so stiff. I feel I’d have to have the world’s most flexible arches in order to move them in any significant manner.

So, when am I getting this “soft shank” anyway? Introducing February 23rd, the day on which I will be purchasing my third pair of pointe shoes. <3