I received a package from Sansha a couple of days ago. My new pointe shoes have arrived. I am in a great mood, so I will write this post ... in three parts :) The girls, God forgive me Vumn.Ru, and my best friend, who said she didn’t understand anything about it, made me think. “But she's not alone,” I thought. Therefore, today I will tell you about pointe shoes.
The historical digression rests on a major innovator - the ballerina Maria Thiollni. Nothing particularly interesting, just a significant figure in the ballet. More interesting about pointe itself. These are shoes. Dance. How many characteristics of ordinary shoes do you know? At pointe shoes, I’ll give you at least 10 offhand. So, get acquainted, pointe shoes.
Let's start with a penny.
It is on these approximately 5 square centimeters that the ballerina stands. It differs mainly in size. For example, Grishko (a very large Russian manufacturer popular all over the world) has models with a large nickel (Foutte and Triumph) - they are more stable, and there are models with a very small one (Vaganiva and Maya, in honor of the great ballerinas) - they create the feeling that the ballerina does not stand on the stage, but hovers above it.
The listed models of Grishko's pointe shoes, which seem almost the same to a normal person
Next comes the box.
This is a hard sock. It is not wooden - it is a lot of glued layers of cardboard and / or textiles. It is the box, and not the penny, that allows you to stand on your fingers. The box sits tightly on the leg and holds the foot. Thus, the ballerina does not rely on the tips of her fingers, but on half of the foot, rigidly fixed in pointe shoes (in fact, on the metatarsal bones).
The boxes are also different. The first difference is called closeness - this is the height of the box in front (usually 3 degrees are distinguished). The fact is that everyone's fingers are different in length - someone is short, someone is too long, and if we talk about professional dancers, someone has a very well-inflated lifting muscle - I want to demonstrate it in all its glory, opening the foot more strongly . The strength of the fingers also affects the choice of closeness: with weak fingers, with minimal closeness, the leg will simply fall out of the box.
The second parameter is a cutout (V- or U-shaped). This is a matter of taste, but it also affects the closeness.
And the third characteristic is fullness, oriented to the volume of the leg (for a thin person it is less, for a full person it is more). There are from three volumes (for the Chinese Sansha) to five (for Grishko). Sometimes there is also such a parameter as the amount of rise in addition to fullness.
If the nickel, closeness and cutout are the nuances of the model, then the fullness is a full-fledged characteristic on a par with the size. That is, you need to tell the seller not only the size of your leg, but also its volume. 
Next comes the upper soft part of the pointe. It differs in the degree of closeness on the side, and the heel in depth (sometimes it is deep, more characteristic of Russian ballet, sometimes it is shallow).
The entire pointe shoe is textile on the outside. Usually it is made from flesh-colored satin (although everyone has their own concept of “flesh” :) and changes from light yellow to pig-pink). The atlas differs in its quality (and it even happens that it does not glare under the spotlight). In addition, the top of the pointe shoes can be made of tarpaulin (matte dense fabric), and almost any color. But ballerinas traditionally dance in flesh-colored satin, since the pointe shoe is an extension of the leg. And, although costumes of amazing complexity are sewn for ballets, both technically and in terms of finishing, only the shade of pointe shoes can change: from almost white on the swan Odette, to red-brown on the Spaniard Kitri.
As for the lining, different materials are used inside, for example, a bike, but coarse calico is the traditional and most hygienic.
The second important thing in pointe shoes after the box is the insole. The insole is stiffer than the box. There are several degrees of rigidity, which is achieved by the area of reinforcement of the insole and materials - beginners wear the least rigid insole, professionals, judging by the description of the models, prefer a stiffer insole. There are three to seven degrees of hardness.
The second characteristic of the insole is its type - with a jump and without a jump. You can jump on your fingers (on a nickel) or climb through your half-fingers (that is, stand on tiptoe, and then on your fingers).
In addition, the insole is not full, but 3/4, and sometimes it is generally separate.
In the picture 1 - lace in the drawstring, 2 - insole, 3 - hard insert and 4 - outsole.
The sole is also different - it is made from different materials. Good pointe shoes are genuine leather, cheap ones are artificial leather or cardboard.
Against the background of almost a dozen parameters listed, the size no longer seems to be such an important detail :) But, as in any shoe, it is paramount: expensive manufacturers produce many half sizes so that the pointe shoe fits like a glove.
And finally: pointe shoes are attached to the leg at the ankle with the help of ribbons according to a simple and recognizable pattern at first glance. I think every adult at least once in his life saw how ribbons are tied.
But many people have their own opinion on this :) So tied shoes can cause a serious fracture.
In addition, for reliable fixation of the heel, sometimes an invisible elastic band is sewn to it, and around the perimeter, in most models, a lace is missing, which allows you to tighten it more tightly along the foot. Pointe shoes are sewn (and glued) both manually and automatically - in different ways, using different technologies: from cheap ones - attaching the sole with a construction stapler, to expensive ones - making a personal last for the customer, often this is completely manual work. There's a lot on YouTube about it. rollers.
To be continued.
From theory to practice in the next post :)
Anastasia Volkova
Fashion is the most powerful of the arts. It is movement, style and architecture in one.
Content
It is difficult to imagine a ballerina on stage without pointe shoes. These special shoes help to achieve perfection in finger technique - the main section of the study of classical female dance. Ballet shoes have become an indispensable attribute that allows the viewer to perceive the action on stage as something unearthly, sublime, unusual for an ordinary person.
What are pointe shoes
Pointe shoes are highly specialized professional shoes that have made life easier for ballerinas. Translated from French, this term means “point”, “fingertips”. Other product names are pegs, helmets, toe shoes. Ballet slippers should fit perfectly on the foot, as dancers spend most of their professional lives in them. Beginning prims can use chamois or ballerinas made of cotton fabric with a reinforced insole and heel counter. These are inexpensive shoe options for daily workouts.
Story
The French expression sur les pointes means "to dance with your fingertips". At one time, ballerinas went on stage barefoot or performed a dance, standing on the tops of their fingers. As a result, the foot was subjected to excessive stress, which led to injuries, sprains, and dislocations. This method was replaced by the idea of creating special support shoes.
The first ballerina to appear on stage in pointe shoes was Maria Taglioni. Trial copies of products were invented by her father Philip Taglioni at the beginning of the 19th century in Italy. Then dance shoes began to be modified, modified, experimenting with the material. For rigidity, a cork was placed in the toe of ordinary shoes, but this method injured the legs even more. Then they began to use nested soft fabric or wool, which reduced the load on the foot. Such shoes did not keep their shape, quickly fell into disrepair, but helped the ballerina to get on pointe shoes more easily.
Manufacturers continued to come up with new designs, inserts, additional insoles. We tried to use plaster instead of glue, but it was difficult to knead such shoes. Then leather sandals with straps attached to the foot came into use. Now pointe shoes for ballerinas are made manually or mechanically. Well-known manufacturers: Grishko (Russian company) and Gaynor Minden (American company).
What do they consist of
Making pointe shoes is an art. Ballet shoes are made up of 54 elements, connected and perfectly fitted to the foot. The upper is made of calico or flesh-colored satin, which creates the illusion of unity of the foot and shoe. Atlas does not form glare from spotlights. The calico preserves the health of the ballerina's legs, absorbing moisture and preventing the formation of fungus: after performances and training, the dancers' legs become completely wet.
The structure of ballet shoes:
- box (glass) - a hard case inside the shoe, consisting of 6 layers of textiles and burlap, glued together according to the papier-mâché principle;
- wings;
- tie ribbons are an obligatory part of pointe shoes, which, according to tradition, the ballerina sews on herself;
- vamp - a V-shaped upper part, to which two backs are sewn;
- folds;
- sole made of genuine leather (suede), which helps the ballerina not to slip;
- back and middle seam;
- nickel - a rigid front part of ballet slippers, helping the dancer to stand on pointe shoes;
- insoles made of hard cardboard with the addition of plastic of varying degrees of hardness: S (soft), M (medium), H (hard), SS (super soft), SH (super hard).
How pointe shoes are made
Making ballet shoes is the most complex technology in shoe production. Here, everything should be thought out to the smallest detail and selected individually: the degree of openness, rigidity, fullness, rise. In Russia, ballerina shoes are made only by hand, in Europe - mechanically. Professionals collect up to 12 pairs of pointe shoes per shift. A plastic block is used in the work (it used to be wooden).
Production technology of ballet shoes:
- The top consists of 3 layers of satin cut with a mechanical punch.
- A lining is made from natural cotton for every detail, which protects the ballerina's legs from irritation.
- Two satin backs are sewn to the upper part (sleeve), reinforcing the seam with a ribbon made of artificial material.
- To get the edging, the tape is folded in half around the lace using a typewriter.
- It is sewn around the perimeter of the pointe, which helps to tightly tighten the shoes on the leg.
- To check the size, the satin top is put on a pre-prepared block (made individually for each ballerina). Vamp height deviation is allowed no more than 3 mm, otherwise the shoes will crash into the foot.
- A lining is glued to the inner insole.
- A piece of resin-coated cloth is soaked and placed on top of the "glass" to form a box.
- Pieces of matting are glued and placed on a cotton layer. Glue is made on a rubber-plastic basis from water, flour, starch, resin. This composition provides the necessary flexibility.
- Another layer of natural cotton is glued onto the resulting box.
- The structure is wrapped in cellophane, pressed against the marble (so that the penny becomes even and flat) and left to dry.
- The lining is glued to the "glass", cut off the excess.
- Satin is glued onto the lining, creating small folds.
- The inner insole on the back and the sole are covered with vinyl glue, left to dry for a day.
- The parts are heated in the oven to a certain temperature, as a result of which the dried glue is activated.
- The sole is fixed and the shoe is placed under the press for 15 seconds (for strong gluing).
Use of pointe shoes
How long the ballet slippers will be used depends on the intensity of the load. During one performance, a dancer can change several pairs, while a certain performance technique requires the use of different shoes. Before the performance, the ballerina does all sorts of manipulations to prepare her ballet shoes:
- kneads a hard box with a hammer;
- cuts off a patch and overcasts it with threads, crocheting it or lining it with a piece of fabric;
- inside, from the side of the heel, it makes a constriction loop that tightly presses the shoes to the leg;
- breaks in shoes;
- cuts the insole with a knife or grater;
- sews elastic bands;
- rubs the snout and the sole of pointe shoes with rosin.
How much do pointe shoes cost
Ballerina shoes are selected individually. At the same time, the beauty and originality of the design are not the most important parameters. First, pay attention to the rigidity of the insole, box, closeness, fullness, heel size, cutout. The most popular models are produced by Sansha, Grishko, Russian Ballet, R-class, Bloch. If you are interested in where to buy pointe shoes, contact the official stores of manufacturers or order online from dealers. The cost of some models in Moscow.
He literally "hacked" the then European system of ballet values. Noverre himself stated that
"smashed ugly masks, set fire to ridiculous wigs, called for elegant taste in place of routine."
It was the date of his birth that UNESCO took into account when, in the 80s of the last century, April 29 was declared International Dance Day.
It is invited to celebrate it to everyone who wishes. The method can be chosen at your discretion. You can, for example, study the history of the birth of one of the symbols of ballet - pointe shoes. Let's do that.
This satin slipper is over 200 years old. And although pointe shoes owe their name to the French language, they appeared in Italy.
Fingertip dancing has changed ballet. And Maria Taglioni, who was the first to dance in them, went down in history forever.
About 100 years ago, sylphs, goddesses and fairies danced in pointe shoes. Now - any parties. The round cork at the base of the sock has been replaced with starch glue, which soaks into the inner layers of the shoe, which is shaped like a glass. The rigid sock fixes a foot of the ballerina. The dance on the patch, 4 to 7 centimeters long, is the most elegant ballet trick.
It seems that dancing on the fingers is easy, but grace comes at a cost. Broken fingers in the blood, worn calluses, injuries, exhausting many hours of exercises. For pointe shoes, a special technique has been developed that forms the foot.
It is impossible to look away from the legs of French ballerinas. The most elegant and sensual. Etoile "Opera Garnier" Elisabeth Platel studied in French and danced in English pointe shoes. It does not count as treason, c'est la vie.
“Pointe shoes impress the viewer, and they give the ballerina a chance to grow, add ten centimeters and become weightless. We all grew up on engravings of Maria Taglioni and Charlotte Grisi standing with their fingertips on a flower.”
- says the director of the ballet school of the Paris Opera, Elisabeth Platel.
Pointe shoes are not the most durable shoes. Oksana Kardash, prima ballerina of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater, leaves thirty pairs a year. At the performance takes at least four. It is impossible to predict how capricious shoes will lead on stage.
The manufacturing process is long and laborious. In pointe shoes - 54 elements. Satin upper, lined with interlining fabric. Rigid sole made of genuine leather.
Place for fingers in the form of a glass. This is the most important detail, which is located above the heel. It is made from six layers of glued burlap. Glued into the toe of a pointe shoe, which consists of several layers of satin.
The main thing here is not to stain the satin top of the shoe with glue. With a special hammer, put on the block, they give the shape of a sock. Dry for 15 hours at a temperature of 55 degrees. The top is covered with a shiny or matte satin.
Pointe shoes make the ballerina's leg graceful and strong. They make you keep your balance and dance all these incredible attitudes, arabesques, and fouettes. It is clear that in ballet everything depends on the skill and talent of the dancer.
But she herself largely depends on weightless shoes - pointe shoes. Translated from French, it is also a period. In which the tension, fragility and precision of the dance converge.
I love it when some specific things are told in an accessible language, and vice versa, I can’t digest people who talk about their specialized knowledge from the point of view that they are not available to anyone else. The vumn.ru forum became a disturber of my calmness: I wandered there by chance in search of what a “jump” is. I did not find the answer, but the dialogue was amusing. The girl asks there if it is possible to stand on pointe shoes at the age of 25+ (what to ask - take it and do it!). Women immediately ran up (not to be confused with women), those who always know everything and a couple of ballerinas. The latter began to discuss that they had been pulling climbs since childhood, and in general, this lady cannot raise this leg higher than 90 degrees ...
Firstly, who told you that a dancer understands something in teaching ballet or is he familiar with the technology he was taught with? But who ever said that actors, athletes or singers are such smart people that it is worth listening to their opinion? Secondly, I don’t understand, I like it - study, try, work, achieve. Unfortunately, in our country we don’t have such a mania for different hobbies: in the states, in Europe, in China there are many amateur schools where people seriously (otherwise it’s impossible in the classics) do ballet for themselves (and not in order to perform). Why not? There are far slingo mothers (you know those with small children who wear them in a special scarf), who are right with the sling and the child and stand by the stick. Thirdly, buy pointe shoes, and then we'll see...
How to choose?
Of the 15 last parameters, the majority (nickle, closeness, insole type, cutout and lace) is what distinguishes pointe models from one another (for example, Capezio has more than 10 of them, Grishko and R-Class have about 15, Bloch has 20 models ). But for each of them, you can choose the size, fullness, and stiffness of the insole (and, sometimes, the material and color).
Most manufacturers have visual ways to choose a model, and brand stores have a pointe fitter specialist.
How much to buy?
A ballet soloist spends 3 pairs of pointe shoes per performance (according to rumors, I don’t know how it really is, but one definitely won’t be enough). They are not durable: the rigidity of the box and the insole begins to decrease under load, which means that it becomes more difficult to stand on your toes. Sometimes the insole just breaks. Professionals change pointe shoes and ballet flats often, this does not threaten an amateur. Although durable Gaynor Minden pointe shoes have appeared today (and not only they are mastering this technology), manufacturers write that they are high-tech, but there is another problem: they don’t break, they don’t wear out, it’s just that the outer material becomes completely unusable (they cost 2-3 times more shoes from Grishko, R-Class or Bloch).
It all depends on the intensity of the classes, but the first pair will last you for a year, no less. Another thing is that there is a desire to try more and more new models :)
Can you wear?
When new pointe shoes are bought, unlike sneakers, you can’t put them on right away. They need to be prepared. With sneakers, in general, everything is too easy: there are even laces and they are already inserted! And to begin with, ribbons are sewn to pointe shoes, and not just anywhere, but at the top of the instep, in the place where support is needed - it is individual for each, so the ribbons go separately. Although there is another simple way: the place is selected by a bent heel.
Of course, they are sewn by hand, with a thread and a needle, then they are cut to length and melted (sometimes the cut is treated with varnish or glue) so that they do not stick out and crumble. An elastic band is optionally sewn on, which holds the heel and the lace is tightened.
Now they can be fixed on the leg. But that's not all: if we talk about professionals and experienced amateurs, they prepare pointe shoes more carefully.
The upper fabric is sometimes cut off from the penny, sewn with threads around the perimeter or a leather overlay is glued, beaten with a hammer to remove the corners.
The box is kneaded (the manufacturer says that this is not necessary, and these are relics of the past, but here, as they say, all felt-tip pens are different in taste and color - it is important to bring the box to the desired degree of softness so that it is comfortable), for this they knock on it with a hammer , get up with their heels on top, clamp the door ... in general, they scoff as they want.
The insole is bent, especially in the heel area, sometimes it is torn off in the upper part from the sole (as I understand it for a more aesthetic appearance on the half-toes), give it a shape and simply soften it by itself.
Some professionals soak pointe shoes in a special way, or rosin inside, or ... in general, everyone has their own ritual, but an amateur is up to them, like to Zakharova ...
And now it's possible?
Now it's too early to put on pointe shoes. It will look like this, although it should be different.
And the point here is not that the sides are ridiculous and unaesthetic. You simply cannot dance with such legs: there will be either a fracture or a serious deformity in the ankle area. This is about how to climb a steep hill, put on skis and push off - hypothetically, you can completely reach the foot, but an adequate person without minimal training will not do this.
In order to en pointe you with your foot, which is usually in the L position, you need to do I, that is, straighten it from a position of 90 'to 180+. Adult stubborn lovers use such a thing for this, and in childhood it stretches easier.
In addition to stretching the lift, it also needs to be pumped. This muscle is developed in an ordinary person sooooo weakly. There are dance exercises Plie and Releve.
What it is? Grab something, stand sooo straight, as much as you can, connect your heels, and spread your toes apart (something like V), and now squat, without turning off your ass, as if you swallowed a crowbar, without lifting a single millimeter of your feet off the floor . Squat as low as you can - that's Plie.
And now, without lifting your fingers from the floor and without filling up your foot, climb onto your tiptoes (half-toes). Now you just lift your heel off the floor, go higher, higher, and more, now push your heel into your leg - this is Releve.
Repeat 1000 times.
And here it is also important not to forget to pump up your fingers. Yes, yes, those very toes that a healthy sane person does nothing with, but football players, for example, train them. They don’t do anything for this: they do push-ups on them, move loads, walk up the stairs, swing with an expander.
As with any activity, 10,000 hours will make you an expert. Swing and pull, pull and swing ... Good ballet legs for a normal uninitiated person look, to put it mildly, ugly.
These are beautiful ballet legs: there is a pumped-up instep, which makes the foot huge (but strong, and it looks beautiful in pointe shoes), as well as X-legs (what is called hyperextension) - especially appreciated by ballerinas: in the photo below on the right the legs of a normal person, on the left - the legs of a human dancer.
And these are the feet of the world-famous ballerina Svetlana Zakharova, who is idolized by almost all ballerinas (she really is beautiful, beautifully built and artistic) it would be great if she were not an ardent supporter of PZh&V.
But this, of course, does not threaten mere meters :)
And is it safe at all?
Every dancer has worn these marshmallow shoes at least once. Ballet shoes did not take on such a look immediately - starting from the 19th century, their appearance was transformed and today we can see pointe shoes that are made for the virtuoso dance technique “on the fingers”.
The outer layer of the pointe shoe is sewn from three layers of satin. Each piece of fabric is cut with a metal stamp. In one move, such a stamp cuts out parts for 4 pairs of shoes. For every detail, a pure cotton lining is made to protect the dancer's feet from irritation. The V-shaped top piece is called vamp. Two other satin details are sewn to it - this is the back of the pointe. Then the resulting part is sewn together, reinforcing the seam with a tape made of artificial material. The same tape is passed through the machine, which folds it in half around the lace. The resulting edging is sewn around the perimeter of the shoe. This ribbon-wrapped lace helps the dancer to tighten the shoe tightly on her foot. Then, the satin top is put on a special pre-prepared wooden block to check the dimensions. In workshops at large theaters (Bolshoi, Mariinsky), such blocks are made specifically for each ballerina. Moreover, a master is assigned to each individually, who knows all the nuances of making a pair of pointe shoes specifically for this dancer.
The height of the vamp should not differ from the specified one by more than 3 millimeters. Even a small deviation will lead to the fact that the shoe will crash into the foot.
The shoemaker nails the cotton lining to the insole. The insole is made of hard cardboard (for support), with the addition of plastic, which increases flexibility. Then cut off the excess and glue the lining to the insole, laying neat folds. When the glue dries, the master removes the nails and cuts off excess folds to avoid bumps that can irritate the foot. Then he forms box- a hard case inside the pointe. box (or cup”) are made from papier-mâché, but fabric is used instead of paper. After that, a piece of resin-coated cotton fabric is soaked in water and laid on top. Then two pieces of matting (usually made of sisal) are glued and placed one by one on a cotton layer. The glue is made from flour, water, starch and resin on a rubber-plastic basis, which provides the necessary elasticity, which is very important - the box must be rigid enough to support the weight of the ballerina, but at the same time elastic enough so that the dancer can move freely. The last layer of fabric is pure cotton. The box is wrapped in cellophane so as not to get dirty during the processing of the sock, to form " penny"- the front of the shoe, thanks to which ballerinas stand on their toes.
Then the box is pressed against a piece of marble so that the penny becomes completely flat. The penny must be perfectly even, otherwise the ballerina will fall. The box is set to dry for a day, then the lining is glued to it with contact glue, the excess is cut off and the satin is glued onto the lining, laying small folds. This time, a lighter adhesive is used, because the contact one can leave stains. The back side of the inner insole is lined with foam filler, covered with a super strong vinyl adhesive. The same glue is applied to the sole and left to dry. After 24 hours, the parts are heated in an oven to 93°C and after half a minute the dried glue is activated. Then the sole is attached and the shoe is placed under the press for 15 seconds for a stronger bond. The sole is made of suede - a material that provides optimal grip - it does not slip, but also helps the dancer move across the floor without any problems. A white suede insole supports the ballerina's foot and prevents the foot from slipping when the ballerina dances on her toes.
