Breaking In Shoes
My Pointe Shoes – By Shannon Bynum
Our focus this month is on pointe shoes and today we have Shannon Bynum from Ballet San Jose with us to share her thoughts on what type of shoe she wears–and why she chose them…
Shannon Bynum
At first when I was asked to describe how I break in my pointe shoes and prepare them for the stage I was perplexed. The reality is not much at all! Most ballerinas (including myself up until last year) have a very religious routine to what they do to make the shoe fit perfectly. Each individual dancer’s foot is so unique that no two dancers use the exact same process. Some glue the box and use shellac to make the shoe last longer. Others may darn the tip of the shoe for better balance, break the shank, sew the sides down… the list goes on and on.
I was one of those dancers until I was in New York one summer finding myself at a standstill with my shoes. I just couldn’t seem to find the right pointe shoe for my foot. I was discouraged and unable to find the perfect match. Many shoes may have looked beautiful yet I wasn’t able to perform in them, or they were great to dance in and just didn’t look right. Some died more quickly than I could sew a new pair, had me preparing them daily, hurt my feet, didn’t look as beautiful, or were just the wrong fit.
While in NYC a teacher had told me that I should wear either Freed or Bloch. The only problem with that was every pair of Freeds or Blochs I had ever tried just didn’t do me any justice. Nothing against Freed or Bloch as some of my favorite dancers bring so much life to the stage wearing them. They just did not work for me.
I needed a shoe that not only looked beautiful on my foot aesthetically, but was also comfortable enough to dance in forty hours a week and without dying after one class! I finally came across my match in Gaynor Minden. Some dancers don’t believe that this pointe shoe is any good. In fact, the topic between ballerinas, teachers, and coaches is very controversial.
I agree to disagree; this shoe has changed my career. Gaynor Minden pointe shoes are far from traditional. They are like Mac and PC. They do the same thing in the end but are just different technology. Both are computers and some people prefer one to the other. I happen to be a modern day American ballerina and I feel very proud to have the opportunity to grow in these particular pointe shoes.
Shannon in her Gaynor Minden Pointe Shoes
The pointe shoe is a ballerina’s tool, and are most important item in my dance bag. I came back from FHL and ATFL surgery on my left ankle in 2010 and needed a shoe that was extremely supportive yet supple enough to help me gain back my flexibility and line. I have fallen in love with wearing Gaynor Minden’s. They offer me everything I need as a ballet dancer. They are consistent and last a long time so I can spend more time perfecting my work and artistry while spending less time worrying about my pointe shoe.
I first started out wearing a stock Gaynor Minden shoe then a few months later they started making me a custom shoe made specifically for my feet and the specs that I needed to have the best line. All I have to do now is un-wrap them, sew on my ribbons, elastic, and I am all set.
Gaynor Minden pointe shoes are not like the traditional pointe shoe. They are a completely new technology and generation of the pointe shoe. If dancers are evolving like they are, then why not the pointe shoe? That’s exactly what Gaynor Minden has done. They were tired of how painful all the pointe shoes were and how they would die so fast. On an average pointe shoe, you get to a place where it is broken in perfectly and that moment lasts for such a short time. With Gaynor Minden, it is always the same. I know what I am getting when I put that shoe on. I love that my shoe has a consistency I can rely on, especially in a career where the rep demands are so diverse.
Gaynor Minden pointe shoes are made of an elastomeric shank and box, cushioned moisture control lining, and a flat free of pleats bottom. They are also made to be extremely quiet with Poron, “an impact shock absorption system”. I cannot say enough amazing things about this shoe. What I love most about the way I prepare my pointe shoes is that it is so minimal which creates less anxiety and more time for fine tuning what matters the most, which is what we bring the the stage.
Thanks to this innovative pointe shoe, few stitches with a needle and thread and I am good to go! Simple, clean and a new take on tradition.
Emily Starling: On Breaking In Pointe Shoes
Emily Starling's Pointe Shoes
by Emily Starling
Pointe shoes are a type of shoe used by ballerinas across the world and they enable the dancer to dance ‘on their toes’. There are many different makes, some of the most popular being Bloch, Freed and Gaynor Minden. A ballerina chooses the shoe which best suits their foot shape and range of movement of the foot itself.
Like many other types of shoe, pointe shoes must be broken in before they are worn but, rather than for comfort, this is a must for dancers in order for them to be able to perform at their best.
There are many ways of doing this some working better for certain dancers than others but in my opinion there are two stages to this process:
Making the sole flexible.
Manipulation of the toe section.
The sole must be flexible so the ballet dancer can perform all her moves to the best of her ability as well as being aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The toe section must be manipulated so the whole foot can be used with ease.
I personally use my hands to make the sole supple, having had years of experiencing different types of shoe and how the shoe feels on my foot I know to which degree I can bend them in order for me to execute all my movements with precision. This for me is the quickest and easiest method.
Manipulating the toe section is more time consuming and requires the shoe to actually be on the foot. Normally a couple of nights before I will wear them I place them in a warm place such as the airing cupboard. Then the night before I put them on and walk around my house for 15 – 20 minutes on demi pointe and do slow rises until I am happy that I can get from demi pointe to full pointe and back again with ease. The enables my feet to move freely–as close to how they would feel in flat shoes as possible. Finally, I place them back in the airing cupboard overnight so as not to undo the work I have done with them.
About the dancer: Emily Starling is 20 years old from Essex, England. She has recently graduated from Bird College in Kent, with a Diploma in Musical Theatre. Predominantly ballet-trained, Emily has been a member of Chelmsford Ballet Company for 9 years, and has recently become an Associate of the Royal Academy of Dance in London.
Stay tuned for more dancers talking about how they break in their pointe shoes as we continue our “focus on pointe” this month!
The Break-In Saga In Three Chapters – Emily Kate Long
Throughout the month we’ll be hearing a variety of things about pointe shoes–from what they do to the feet, to how they are made. Today we have Emily Kate Long with us to talk about how she breaks in her pointe shoes…
Emily Kate's Pointe Shoes
I wear Freed Classic Pro, “Anchor” maker. Since I’m unable to get special order shoes, I do a lot to mine to make them just right.
First things first: ribbons and crisscross elastic go on. I sew the heel ends of the elastics slightly towards the outside of the heel seam so the shoe won’t twist in and sickle. Then the back nail comes out, I bend the shanks and step on each shoe, and they are ready to break in with some releves.
Once the box is a little more pliable, I take a cotton drawstring (stockpiled from when I wore Chacott or borrowed from other dancers; Classic Pro have elastic drawstrings) and twist it into a little rope to sew around the platform of each shoe. I use the wear pattern on the satin to inform the placement of the darning–usually I make it so the stitching pushes me a little farther over the shoe and a little to the inside.
Darning also helps correct any lumps or imperfections on the pleats or platform and quiets the shoes down. I also sew the sides of the shoes down so my foot doesn’t look like it has a turtleneck sweater on. I think pointe shoes should look like a beautiful evening gown, complete with plunging neckline!
Step three: noise control! Loud shoes are my worst nightmare, so I mush up the box more and do lots of changements before I glue them. Then a light coating of glue on the inside, mainly on the pleats and along the shank. Once the glue cures they are ready to go. I usually keep three or four pairs ready: harder for class and classical rehearsals, softer for contemporary work, and one really dead comfy pair for rehearsals that involve a lot of standing around.
About the dancer:
Emily Kate Long began her dance education in South Bend, Indiana, with Kimmary Williams and Jacob Rice and graduated in 2007 from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s Schenley Program. Ms Long attended Milwaukee Ballet School’s Summer Intensive on scholarship before being invited to join Milwaukee Ballet II in 2007. She also has spent summers studying at Saratoga Summer Dance Intensive, Miami City Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, and Ballet Chicago.
Ms Long has been a member of Ballet Quad Cities since 2009. She has danced featured roles in Deanna Carter’s Ash to Glass and Dracula, participated in the company’s 2010 tour to New York City, and most recently performed the title role in Courtney Lyon’s Cinderella and the role of Clara in The Nutcracker. Prior to joining Ballet Quad Cities Ms Long performed with Milwaukee Ballet and MBII in Michael Pink’s The Nutcracker and Candide Overture, Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty and La Bayadére, Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Bournonville’s Flower Festival in Genzano and Napoli, and original contemporary and neoclassical works by Tom Teague, Denis Malinkine, Rolando Yanes, and Petr Zaharadnicek. She also collaborated extensively with the Milwaukee Ballet Education Department on the children’s ballet Maria and the Magic Doll Shoppe, which toured to over 20 venues throughout southeastern Wisconsin.
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