Pointe Shoes - Ballet Slippers

Pointe Shoes ~ Ballet Slippers
Pointe shoes, also referred to as toe shoes, are a special type of shoe used by ballet dancers for pointwork. They developed from the desire to appear weightless onstage and have evolved to allow extended periods of movement on the tips of the toes (en pointe). Pointe shoes are normally worn only by female dancers, though male dancers may wear them for certain roles, such as the ugly stepsisters in Cinderella, Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, or men performing as women in dance companies such as Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.

In 1661, King Louis XIV of France founded the Royal Academy of Dance; however, women did not appear onstage until 1681. The standard women's ballet shoes at this time were heeled. Marie Camargo of the Paris Opéra Ballet was the first to wear a non-heeled shoe, to allow her the ability to do more complicated jumps. After the French Revolution, the standard ballet shoe no longer had a heel. It was flat and tied with ribbons to secure the foot. It had pleats under the toes and allowed dancers to fully extend their feet, jump, and turn. Dancers now use satin or canvas pointe shoes with a hard but pliable shank and a box made up of layers of canvas, burlap, paper and glue.

'Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body'

Martha Graham - American dancer, teacher and choreographer of modern dance, 1894-1991

If you would like to purchase this 6" x 6" oil painting on stretched canvas, please email me. This painting is priced at $100.00 plus s/h.

info@annelizabethschlegel.com

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