The Art and Craft of Pointe Shoes
Few symbols are as closely tied to ballet as the pointe shoe. Its satin exterior conceals a surprising amount of engineering, evolution, and ritual, reflecting ballet’s unique intersection of artistry, innovation, and discipline.
Pointe shoes allow dancers to appear ethereal, almost weightless. Yet behind that illusion lies a remarkable history of craftsmanship and adaptation.
The Origins of Dancing on Pointe
The story of the pointe shoe begins in the Romantic era. In 1832, Marie Taglioni became the first ballerina to perform an entire ballet on pointe when she premiered the title role in La Sylphide.
Her delicate rise onto the tips of her toes transformed ballet’s visual language. Dancing on pointe became synonymous with transcendence, an image of grace that suggested the supernatural.
But Taglioni’s shoes were not the structured instruments we know today. They were little more than reinforced ballet slippers, providing minimal support.
By the late 19th century, Italian ballerinas were performing increasingly complex movements en pointe, and the need for sturdier shoes became clear. Early shoemakers experimented with layers of paper, fabric, and glue (not wood, as often imagined) to create a more durable box.
Then came Anna Pavlova, whose innovation in the early 1900s shaped the modern pointe shoe. Pavlova reinforced her shoes with a leather sole (the shank) for support and hardened the toe area into a box made of burlap, canvas, and paste. Her design became the foundation of pointe shoe construction as we know it.
Inside the Modern Pointe Shoe
While the silhouette of the pointe shoe has remained remarkably consistent, today’s dancers have access to a much broader range of options.
A dancer’s shoe is chosen not only by size, but also by:
Width: Adjusted for narrow, medium, or wide feet
Box shape: From tapered to square, to accommodate toe width
Shank strength: Varying degrees of rigidity to support the arch
Vamp length: The portion of the shoe that covers the tops of the toes
Professional dancers often have their shoes custom-made. In companies like Madison Ballet, a well-fitted shoe isn’t a luxury; it’s essential equipment for both performance and safety.
The Ritual of Preparation
When pointe shoes arrive from the factory, they are incomplete: no ribbons, no elastic, no personal adjustments. Each dancer transforms their shoes according to individual preference, creating a ritual that blends practicality and superstition.
Common preparations include:
Sewing ribbons and elastic (pro tip: ballerinas often use dental floss for durability)
Cutting the shank to three-quarters length for flexibility
Removing the heel nail
Darning the tip for traction and longevity
Shaving the sole for grip or trimming the satin from the platform
Breaking in a pair of pointe shoes can look almost destructive - stepping on the box, spraying the vamp with water, even banging them on concrete. Yet this process softens the shoe in precisely the right places, molding it to the dancer’s foot.
Pancaking and Personalization
While pointe shoes arrive in a soft pink satin that has become iconic to classical ballet, that “ballet pink” was never neutral - it was a standard created for a Eurocentric vision of the art form. In reality, dancers come in many shades and the satin can either complement or interrupt the line of the leg.
“Pancaking” refers to the process of applying foundation, powder, or dye to the satin exterior of the shoe to achieve a matte finish and, more importantly, to blend the shoe seamlessly with the dancer’s tights or skin tone. The name comes from pancake makeup, a heavy foundation used in theater to even out skin tone under stage lights.
For dancers of color, pancaking has taken on deeper significance. For decades, ballet’s pink shoes and tights did not match their natural skin tones, visually breaking the line from hip to toe and reinforcing exclusionary norms about who “belonged” onstage.
In recent years, major dancewear companies have begun to offer pointe shoes and tights in a range of skin tones - a long-overdue step toward inclusion and authenticity. Still, the choices are limited and many dancers still find themselves having to pancake every pair of shoes themselves.
The True Cost of Pointe Work
Pointe shoes are both beautiful and ephemeral. A single pair costs between $90 and $150, but lasts only 10–20 hours of dancing.
For students who train a few hours each week, that might mean a new pair every few months. For professional dancers, who spend six or more hours a day rehearsing, shoes may last only a few rehearsals or even a single performance.
Because of their short lifespan, dancers develop techniques to prolong the usability of their shoes:
Jet glue or wood hardener to reinforce soft areas
Rotating multiple pairs to allow shoes to dry fully between rehearsals
Careful storage in a breathable mesh bag
Even so, pointe shoes are ultimately perishable - s0 much so that when they are no longer usable we say that our shoes have “died”. Every pair of pointe shoes will someday see their end and dancing on dead shoes can cause severe injuries to dancers.
At Madison Ballet, the annual pointe shoe budget exceeds $25,000 - a significant but essential investment. These shoes are not accessories; they are tools of the trade, integral to the dancer’s craft.
Support the Artistry
You can help keep our dancers on their toes! Your support ensures our professional dancers have the tools, they need to bring ballet to life for our community.
Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to Madison Ballet
(Be sure to mention that Madison Ballet Special Projects sent you in the “Additional Information” section.)
Every pair of pointe shoes tells a story. Thank you for helping us continue to write it.