Pointe shoes are what every young ballerina dreams of wearing. But once you have them you dream of taking them off ! Pointe shoes are made almost entirely by hand. They help dancers to stand on the very tips of their toes. The box at the end of the shoe surrounds dancers toes and helps them balance. This box is made out fabric, paper, and strong glue, which makes them very uncomfortable. Pointe shoes are also very expensive. They can range from 30-70 dollars a pair depending on what brand of shoe you wear. And unfortunately these shoes don't last very long if you wear them often. Professionals may go through 3 pairs of shoes in one show!
Pointe shoes also cause many problems for dancers, from blisters to abnormal toenail alignment. Blisters are very common in ballet dancers. When you are rehearsing for hours with only a small amount of padding between your toes and a hard box, you tend to get a numerous amount of blisters. There is not much you can do to prevent this. Abnormal toenail alignment may also occur. Bunions are when the first joint in your big toe becomes swollen, it is also know as "lateral displacement of the toe." This is extremely painful and very common among ballerinas.
Though there are many problems that come along with wearing pointe shoes, if you want to be a balllerina you have to deal with them. Most dancer's have a passion for dance and these problems do not even faze them.
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Ouch! Those ballerina shoes sound painful. If dancing was manly enough, I would be dancing too. But with all of those blisters and bunions, that just encourages me not to dance. I think ballet is cool though, with all the kicks and twist. I hope they improve on the Pointe shoes.
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to the pain. I did pointe for three years and I can still remember the pain it brought me over the first year. Unfortunately, I did Pointe when I was 5 up until I was 8, when your bones are still growing. Now my big toes are crooked, the tips of all my toes are a bit flat, and I had muscle strains in my feet from those terrible shoes! I hope someone comes along and makes them better because they are truly awful.
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