Tuesday, March 16

The Worst Fitting Pointe Shoes

It Happens!

Sometimes, the shoes are way too small, or way too large, and yet they have to be worn. All things credible seem to go out the window, and the wonders of, "what have I done wrong lately to deserve this" starts to question in your mind.

The large shoes can be tamed somewhat

If it's only a bunch of material in the heel area, you're in luck.
As long as you have the time and patience to sew them with a needle and thread.
The heel area can be gathered and folded over, just above the middle,
and from there just sew the fold together.
If the shoe is too wide, you can diligently sew; either an elastic to pull the vamp region together or simply pull heavy thread across many times. Make sure the thread or the elastic is not too tight, otherwise an ugly dent or even blisters could occur.
The shank itself can be cut with a small saw. Cut the shank shorter by only an inch or two, and the extra will not hang out the back of your arch area. As well, the extra satin can be added into the heels folded gather.
The interior of large pointe shoes can be filled with more padding, up to a point. The elastics themselves could be cris-crossed which brings the sides up higher and snugger.
However, that really would be the limit to literally condensing a pair of larger pointe shoes.

The pointe shoes are way too small!

Well, this is the worst scenario and if they are not for performance, you can cut the satin on the sides and create slits then, re-sew the edges so they don't fray.
The actual string region may too tight an hurt your achilles, so you may have to cut the string around the heel out entirely. The box itself, if you can fit into them, may only need to be given lots of water to stretch the glue and canvas material.
Oddly with the smaller pointe shoes, you will need an even tighter elastic to be worn, so they stay on your feet.

Keeping them On

I wouldn't recommend dancing in either for performance though, because they'll have a higher tendency to slip off your heels. Not to mention they are distracting to dance in, meaning you will have to carefully tend to yours staying on, all the while your concentrating upon your choreography.

Sometimes, the fit is merely an aesthetic reason of just looking too small, or too big. That's another issue of course, that also contributes to the shoes causing a distraction. If you're not comfortable in them and yet have to dance in them anyway, it becomes a feeling of true grit being required, which ruins the basic joy of dance. This hurts, that hurts, these shoes are too big, & these shoes are too small, trip trip, and the dance experience itself becomes a chore you'll have to tend to and not feel relaxed.

My Sage Advice

Try to find a pointe shoe brand and size you like, and stick with it. I've ending up with the worst extremes from A's to XXX and entire shoe sizes too small, and yet I've had too perform. The pointe shoes themselves can be very pricey and sometimes, we can only rely upon the dance company to provide the shoes.
However, it's often the case that the shoes do not arrive on time, or a mistake in sizes has been made. So, even professional dancers have to perform with the wrong size of shoes for performances.
The wrong sizes assist in tripping you up, one overly small pair ruined a Sylphides rehearsal for me, later forcing me during performances to avoid sweeping the ground, as I prefer.
When the shoes force you to change the way you prefer to dance, it's just awful.
So tough as it is; in finding the right shoes, once your feet have stopped growing, find correct shoes that fit, and somehow keep a few pair in a safe place, somewhere.
ballerina