The ballerina's shoes, in which she practices and dances, are divided into soft and hard. Each type has its own requirements, nuances of choice and wearing methods. They can sometimes differ from school to school.
Soft ballet slippers
The main training shoes of a ballerina are ballet flats or gym shoes, soft slippers fixed on the leg with elastic bands. The ballerinas are made of cotton, but have a reinforced heel counter and an insole that supports the arch of the foot. The sole is made of non-slip material. These shoes are used for daily lessons-classes in ballet schools. In them, girls do exercises at the bench and in the middle of the hall. Ballerinas come in a variety of colors, but white is more commonly used in classical dances. These shoes differ in finishing - there are gym shoes with a leather-reinforced toe, one-piece or split soles.
As a rule, students choose shoes based on their feelings. ballet flats are quite cheap and are a kind of consumable - with intensive training they wear out and become unusable in just a couple of weeks. An experienced teacher can tell how well a ballerina is doing just by looking at her gym shoes. For example, with a strong blockage of the foot, the inner part of the shoe is worn out, and the correct positioning of the feet involves wear only in the toe area. Novice ballerinas are sometimes advised to use special soft pointe shoes in training, a cross between ballet shoes and ordinary pointe shoes.
Ballet shoes should be chosen strictly according to the leg, they should not be free.
Pointe shoes - professional ballerinas shoes
The name of this shoe comes from the expression "to stand on pointe", which means - on the tips of the toes. Later, the name of the position was transferred to shoes. Not all ballerinas are engaged in pointe, but only professionals. In ballet schools, girls stand on their fingers only after 10-11 years, when the skeleton is more or less formed. Pointe shoes are quite expensive because each pair is made by hand. However, such shoes also require frequent replacement, especially from leading ballerinas. They change several pairs of pointe shoes in one performance.
In addition to size, pointe shoes vary in fullness, height, and stiffness.
Pointe shoes hold the foot due to a rigid insole and a nickle - the toe on which the ballerina stands. Before wearing, the shoes are prepared in a special way - they sew on ribbons and break the plaster toe of the pointe. Each performer has her own secrets for preparing shoes - someone breaks off the insole, someone cuts the sole, and someone sheathes the satin toe with leather. Performing ballerinas have their own pointe shoes for each part of the performance in which they dance.
