A Ballet Lesson

A couple of weeks ago, I posted that I have started doing pre-pointe work and bought my first pair of  pre-pointe shoes. A few of you may be wondering "What in the world is a pre-pointe shoe?". I am here to enlighten you.

There are three types of shoe that ballet dancers use: a soft ballet shoe, a pre-pointe shoe, and the coveted pointe shoe. Each is built differently with different fabrics and are used at different levels.

The Soft Ballet Shoe:

This shoe is the first shoe that a dancer will wear. They are made of either canvas or leather and are either full-soled or split soled. The full-soled shoe will have the sole running all the way down the bottom of the shoe. The split soled shoe only has the sole on the ball of the foot and the heel of the foot. There is no sole on the arch of the shoe. Split-soled shoes are more flexible and are preferred over full-soled shoes. They will usually come in pink, black, tan, or white. My soft shoes are pink and split-soled

 

 

 

The Pre-Pointe Shoe:

 

This shoe is the next step to the coveted point shoe. Pre-pointe shoes are also known as half-toe shoes or demi-pointe shoes. They are harder and less flexible than the soft shoe. The main difference between a pointe shoe and a pre-pointe shoe is that pre-pointe shoes is that pre-point shoes don't have a shank. The shank makes the sole of the foot more rigid, which provides more support to the arch. This is why pre-pointe dancers are still able to rise up to the ball of the foot, but not fully onto the toes. These shoes are covered in pink satin and come with ribbons which help support the arch.

 

 

The Pointe Shoe

 

 

Pointe shoes are what every little ballerina wants to end up wearing on their feet. Pointe shoes are also called toe shoes. Pointe shoes, though highly coveted and beautiful are also very hard on the feet because of how inflexible they are. Point shoes have all of the same components as pre-pointe shoes, except they have a shank. They also are covered with satin and have ribbons. Both pointe and pre-pointe shoes have a full-sole.