Pointe shoe choice and fitting at vocational schools

[Balletmumfor2]

At an RBS associates pointe workshop they were told it was so they could feel the floor better when they are dancing. My daughter doesn't like the wool so uses toe tape and an odd jelly toe instead rather than the toe pads she used to wear when she first started pointe.

[hfbrew]

Thank you Tulip.

 

I suppose we just have to hope that the Freed fitters and teaching staff are expert enough to recognise an ill fitting shoe!

I assure you they are. And although pointe work is started in year 7, a student who is not yet considered ready will not be allowed pointe shoes although this is rare because of the rigorous selection process the girls went through in the first place to get in.

 

Great emphasis is placed on body conditioning and pilates exercises so at least half an hour of morning class is done in bare feet which are carefully watched. Those who were previously jas will have also done a lot of foot strengthening exercises (boys as well.)

 

Incidently boys get fitted for shoes too. And sometimes a fitter will be able to tell straight away if a shoe is correct. Others take longer.

[hfbrew]

At an RBS associates pointe workshop they were told it was so they could feel the floor better when they are dancing. My daughter doesn't like the wool so uses toe tape and an odd jelly toe instead rather than the toe pads she used to wear when she first started pointe.

Absolutely right. You should be able to feel the floor and be aware of what the feer are doing inside the shoe. Now I do allow ouch pouches etc if a student wishes because I don't believe in making students, especially new comers to pointe, suffer more discomfort than necessary. However Ive found that students who have complained about cramped feet invariably have had too much stuffed inside their shoes and they've usually been better off without so much!

[Anna C]

My daughter finds that the Ouch Pouch pro pads are an ideal compromise between relative comfort and being able to feel the floor. She started out with the thicker Ouch Pouches, which were fine as a beginner, but now just having the thinner gel top layer is fine.

 

 

[All4dancers]

Both my dds started off wearing ouch pouches, but when my youngest had her first fitting at Freed they said she would be far better off with either wool or wool pouches. She chose the latter and says she now feels much more in control of her feet when en pointe. Older dd now just uses a tiny amount of wool and tape if she gets a blister. She even says the thickness of her tights makes a difference! Her bloch b-morphs have got a bit of padding at the end though.

[celb]

My DD uses lambswool "pillows for pointe" which are thin wool pouches - much finer than any brands we have been able to source in this country.I know "just ballet" was going to try to source these!

[taxi4ballet]

I've always thought the wool pouches look really fat and bulky...

[Legseleven]

Do Tring and Hammond allow their pupils to wear various pointe shoe makes?

[primrose]

Do Tring and Hammond allow their pupils to wear various pointe shoe makes?

 

Yes they do.

[Legseleven]

Thanks Primrose.

[Pas de Quatre]

That "the pain of pointe work" is necessary is a commonly held view. This has always puzzled me, if the dancer is strong enough, the shoes are a correct fit and she is being taught properly, it simply shouldn't be painful!

 

Edited to add, the post I was replying to seems to have disappeared.

Edited November 16, 2012 by Pas de Quatre

[Anna C]

My dd has only found pointework painful three times - once from a blister where the shoes were too wide, once when the shoes were completely wrong for her, and her feet were sore after intensive pointework rehearsals during EYB. Not a bad record! :-)

[Sheila Beelam]

Thanks for the reminder Celb! When I contacted the company a few months ago they wouldn't entertain supplying us until the website was up and running - now it is, I'll get back on to them!