Ballet dancers beat their new pointe shoes, they tear the inner sole partially away from the outer sole, they bend them in half. On top of that, my understanding is that professional dancer are basically getting a new pair daily. So why can’t the shoe be manufactured in a way that doesn’t require this, or does it before the shoe is sold?
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Every dancer is different, and has different ways of customizing their shoes to their specific preferences. Unfortunately it would be impossible to make shoes “just right” for every single dancer.
They’re not destroying them, they’re customizing them to fit their unique feet and dancing styles. To sell custom-made shoes for every single dancer isn’t cost-effective for the manufacturer or the consumer, especially at the rate at which dancers replace their shoes.
They are, there’s a company in New York(?) that makes shoes that last forever and twice as comfortable, but ballet is about “tradition” so many still prefer the old fashioned way of shoemaking.
The shoes should fit the dancer like a glove so they have to be broken in, sort of like how you have to break in a baseball glove. When you first get them they’re stiff and uncomfortable and hard to use. Pointe shoes don’t come with ribbons or elastics sewn on, and they don’t even have a designated left and right shoe. The dancer takes this stiff, hard, blank canvas of a shoe and designates a left and right shoe, sews on ribbons and elastics, and molds the shoe to make it perfect for them. When a dancer goes on their toes (on pointe), their shoe is helping to support their toes, feet, and ankles in holding the weight of their entire body. If the shoe doesn’t fit properly it may make being on Pointe more difficult or painful, and even cause injury.
Once the shoe is broken in, they don’t stay that way for long. As they’re danced in and sweated in, they start to break down. For a recreational student this might take weeks or months, but professional dancers are in these shoes doing very complicated choreography for hours a day. Sort of like how baseballs in an MLB game are replaced multiple times a game because once they’re hit up a bit they’re not going to behave the same way as a fresh ball.
Pointe shoes are still made with pretty traditional materials. I think a lot of that is an ode to the artform. There are some companies that use more modern materials, like a brand called Gaynor Minden uses a plastic polymer in their shank (sole) rather than the traditional burlap and paste. Gaynors also come “pre-arched”, so instead of a flat sole they already have a bit of an arch built in. There is some push back on using more modern shoes for various reasons, and they do tend to be a bit more expensive.
>Ballet dancers beat their new pointe shoes, they tear the inner sole partially away from the outer sole, they bend them in half. On top of that, my understanding is that professional dancer are basically getting a new pair daily. So why can’t the shoe be manufactured in a way that doesn’t require this, or does it before the shoe is sold?
They’re doing that to conform to their own feet and comfort. Some ppl don’t pull the insert, some ppl use a shit ton of wool, some ppl use a bit of paper, some ppl have a longer big toe and will crack part of the side, some ppl have bunions one side…. some ppl pronate more than others.,,,