"I think living my truth is more important than the fear of not having a dance career" - Lennon Torres
This week Josephine fit Lennon Torres, a transgender dancer, for her first pair of pointe shoes!
For a first pair, Josephine likes to look for a shoe that will be very stable, while still giving the dancer something soft enough to roll through and build strength with.
A couple of things that Josephine noticed with Lennon's feet were that she has a tendency to sickle, she has a nail bed that would likely be sensitive, and that she would likely sink in her pointe shoes.
In order to keep the stability, Josephine kept Lennon in a wider platform, but gave her a big toe sleeve and a longer toe pad, in order to keep her from sinking and to address the sensitivity on her big toe.
Josephine also had the opportunity to hear Lennon's story and how she initially came out as non-binary in her sophomore year at USC. Lennon said that she had a great community at school that helped to educate her on the idea of identifying outside of the binary and helped her to feel comfortable in her own skin.
Although she initially continued to dance and identify as a male body, once she had the chance to take a step back from all of the expectations during distance learning, she decided it was time to live her full truth and came out as transgender!
Watch the video to hear Lennon's full story!