The Grace of Ballet Shoes
The elegance of ballet does not happen overnight. The grace of the dance and the presentation is a product of hard work in training. It is a passion and a vocation. And to ballet dancers, ballet slippers are an integral part of their costume.
It is not a trivial task to dance on one’s toes, but years of rehearsals have trained ballerinas to do so. In some schools, to dance en pointe is not taught until after five years of study and hard work. Though the slippers look flimsy, these are the only equipment a ballet dancer wears on stage, everything else is a accoutrement.
Designed to be light, the shoes allow the dancers to fly and jump as high as they can. Unfortunately the very same design which allows the dancers to take flight may not last too long due to their slight soles and the large amount of damage.
Ballet shoes are typically made from soft leather, canvas or satin. Leather shoes are tough and last long. These also keep the feet warm. Not as durable as leather, canvas shoes are are typically worn by men. Satin ballet shoes are are usually worn by women and can be easily dyed to change the shoe color.
Ballet shoes have elastic bands to tie the shoes to the feet. Ballet shoes may be strapped with a single band across the foot, or with two crossing bands in an “x” shape.
Very pretty and graceful looking, bridal ballet slippers mirror ballet dancers. Looking like thin objects when dancing, dancers are some of the most agile artists, spending hours daily to keep flexible and in shape. The same is true of their shoes. These may look like small and slight objects but have to be very tough to keep up with the dancers wearing them.
