We all know that any pair of pointe shoes must come to an end. Every ballet dancer would love to find a foolproof way to make their pointe shoes last longer. Knowing that a single pair of pointe shoes costs around $70-$120 dollars. They are really expensive and do not last very long. Professional dancers use up to 5 pair of shoes per week which is not that uncommon. But for normal dancers you use 1 pair for every 7-8 months. It also depends on how much time you dance and the strengths of your feet. Pointe shoes are made from natural materials such as layers of fabric, ribbons, cardboard, chalk or paper hardened by glue. Many things happen inside the pointe shoe while you dance. Because of the movement that your foot is doing, your feet starts to sweat and the material from the shoe soaks it up. This causes the material to get more loose. The shoe softens by the heat and pressure produced by your feet.
Its important to recognize when your point shoes are dead or in need of replacing because if not the risk of getting an injury is bigger. Some of the signs to tell that your shoes are beginning to die are:
- Feeling pain in areas you don’t usually feel pain in
- Being unable to push over the box correctly
- Unable to stay on pointe when balancing or turning
- When you go up on pointe your feet starts to go forward
The shank and the box are two important shoe areas to take into consideration when you start to feel some of the symptoms above. The box and shank are important because they are a big part of the support for your feet. If one of them is broken you should definitely look for new shoes.
Some dancers use different techniques/products to reharden their pointe shoes. These are called polyurethane, jet glue and floor wax. Depending on the shoe brand, the rehardening process is different because they every point shoe is made differently but some tips to help save your point shoe are:
- Drying: After finishing dancing with your shoes, put them away in a separate bag and stuff it in with paper. This will help absorb the heat and sweat form the shoe.
- Rotating: After dancing with your shoe, leave them out to dry for a full day before you dance agian. This strategy could extend the lifetime of your point shoe by 50%.
Knowing when your shoe is dead is really important. That is why we should always be on the lookout for any pain, weird movements etc.
Victoria Morales 