pointe shoes

On The Other Side – Thoughts From A Recently Retired Ballerina

November 27, 2016 by 4dancers

Jessica Anspach — **Me, taking off in Europe after my retirement for the solo part of my trip!**

by Jessika Anspach McEliece

The early autumn light flooded through my window as if to smile “Hello”, warming my toes as I sat on the couch scrolling through my Facebook feed. And the babble of the river rushing underneath our flat (because that’s what they call them over here in England), at first sounding almost fake like one of those sleep machines, had a soothing, hypnotic effect.

How in the world did I get here?

Life couldn’t have looked more different than it did four months ago… [Read more…]

On The Marley Floor…

October 1, 2015 by 4dancers

Maria Chapman of Pacific Northwest Ballet. Photo by Angela Sterling Photography.

by Jessika Anspach McEliece

Her deafening scream reverberated through the studio.

Remembering it and my stomach still curdles. One moment she was doing petit allegro, the next writhing on the Marley floor in animalistic agony.

There are just some moments you never forget.

Moments you wish you could.

And yet these terrifying incidents are ones rarely thought of, let alone mentioned. It must be human nature to sweep the scary under the rug. Like those cheesy ceramic monkeys I often see in vintage shops, we choose to “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” superstitiously (and aren’t we dancers the worst?) believing that if we don’t speak it, acknowledge it, then it doesn’t exist. Injury won’t happen to us. We keep the lights on and those monsters “safely” under the bed.

But sometimes, no matter our diligence – how often we ice, how much we stretch or see the P.T., no matter how many “Zzz’s” we get, the monsters rear their frightening faces. And sometimes we end up on the Marley floor.

My “Marley moment” came May 15^th, 2015. And I actually was on the floor. [Read more…]

Ribbons, Ice, Everything Painful and Nice: A Pro Dancer Talks Pointe Shoes

February 17, 2015 by Rachel Hellwig

Alabama Ballet company member Nadine Barton on pointe shoes and foot care.

1. What brand and model of pointe shoe do you wear?

Capezio Aria.

2. How long have you worn this model?

For about five years.

3. Why does this model work best for your feet?

I like the way the model shapes to my feet as well as provides support in the right ways. I never liked having space from the floor when I am up on pointe, and, with these, I can always feel the floor.

4. Does anything about the structure of your feet create challenges for pointe work? [Read more…]

Pointe Shoes: Tools Of The Trade

February 10, 2015 by 4dancers

IMG_0442 (1) — Cara Marie Gary, “Esmeralda”, USA IBC 2010, Photo by: Richard Finkelstein

by Cara Marie Gary

I began taking pointe classes when I was eight years old. I still have my first pair of Leo’s pointe shoes. They’re so small and narrow I don’t think I could fit my first toe and bunion inside them now! One of my ballet instructors, Anita Pacylowski-Justo, helped me transition to the shoe she wore as a dancer. Every since trying on her Bloch Serenade, my foot “fell in love” with this shoe.

Big pile of pointe shoes — My pointe shoes. Photo by Mahallia Ward.

I’ve tried to experiment with other brands like Chacott, Russian Pointe, Gaynor Minden, Sansha, Freed, and Capezio, but I always keep coming back to Bloch Serenade (Style: SO131L Width:D Size:2). I like this shoe because it has a wide, square platform which is good for my peasant foot (meaning that my toes are similar in length). I also like that the shank is strong enough to prevent my foot from going too far over pointe. [Read more…]

My Pretty Feet

January 30, 2015 by 4dancers

Pointe shoe “gear” – photo by Jessika Anspach McEliece

He looks over at me with that twinkle in his eyes, and I see the mischievous 7-year-old boy gleam through my husband’s 32-year-old self.

“Come on babe… just do it. Just show them your feet… please?” and turning toward his friends – okay more like acquaintances… practical strangers to me – he proudly says, “You guys have gotta see these things…”

I shoot a half glance-half glare back at him and he knows exactly my train of thought. But how can I be mad at him when he’s looking at me like that? When he’s so proud of them for me? How can I really be that embarrassed by my “worker tools,” as he puts it? After all, that is what they are, callouses and all… And it could be worse… He could ask me to put my leg over my head, or have them guess my weight.

I meekly slip off my loafers and hesitantly raise my gaze to meet their slightly horrified faces.

“Um…. Wow. Aghh… Yeah. So do they hurt? Because they look like they hurt.”

That’s the typical reaction I get whenever pedestrians (non-dancers, that is) see my very ugly ballerina feet – and they are very ugly. Our physical therapist, Boyd Bender, actually keeps a photo of them on his iPhone to show any of his clients who might feel self-conscious about their own toes…

And ever since Center Stage and that scene where Jody Sawyer takes off her pointe shoes to show a very bloody blister (you know the one…), it has been a point of fascination – pun slightly intended.

The funny thing, I find, is what we consider “pretty feet” in the dance world has nothing to do with how pristine they look in flip-flops… That’s relatively easy to accomplish: buff down those callouses and shellac a bit of red nail polish and voila! You’re good to go… ish.

There’s only so much you can do for those bunions…

The hard part is getting those feet to look pretty in pointe shoes… harder still to get the pointe shoe to cooperate with you. To conjure the effect of weightless, effortless floating; balancing or turning on a dime – these are hallmarks of ballet and yet not easy feats by any means. I can’t always blame every problem I have on the shoes, but sometimes they really do have a mind of their own!

Well after 19 years of wearing these mini instruments of torture I’ve learned a few tricks to making them work for me, instead of the other way around… [Read more…]

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