Get to the Pointe — ballerina

Sofia Angelov, 13, is trained by her dad, Pavel Dega, who was an Olympic gymnastics coach! When his daughter decided to take on ballet, he was happy to be dragged into that world with her. He also has been an inspiration to her when it comes to pursuing her passions! When it comes to fitting Sofia for pointe shoes, her foot type can be particularly tricky. Sofia has extremely flexible feet and ankles and incredibly high arches, which can make them very difficult to control. Dancers with these types of feet are very prone to rolling their ankles over and...

  Los Angeles Ballet Soloist, Laura Chachich, shares a few tips on how she customizes her pointe shoes! Like many professional ballerinas, Laura wear custom Freed pointe shoes. She begins with a wineglass maker, who leaves out the nail in the back of the sole and adds extra glue to the tip of the box. Laura also adds her own customizations! She cuts off the satin on the platform, all the way to the front of the sole, then darns only the front edge of her platform.  Finally, Laura prefers to wear paper towels instead of toe pads, as it...

Pointe shoes are still a mystery to most. As a professional pointe shoe fitter, I found there are a lot of myths that float around in the dance world. Here are 5 of the most common pointe shoe myths: Stronger feet need harder shoes: The strength of the shoe is not always determined by the strength of the feet. If that were true, professionals wouldn’t wear super soft shoes, yet a lot of them do. The hardness of the shank can be determined by many different reasons: flexibility, stability, skill level, strength and longevity. It all depends on the individual...

You should get professionally fitted for every pair for your first few years en pointe. (You can find what to do before a pointe shoe fitting in this article) This is the time when you need to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Even after you find your “perfect pair,” you should still get fitted fairly regularly. Even professional ballerinas have to get refitted every 6 months or so because their feet change. So, here are 5 reasons why you should get a professional pointe shoe fitting: You avoid injuries: This is the biggie. Ill-fitting shoes can lead to...

In this world of mass production, owning a pair of hand-made pointe shoes is an absolute privilege. It is a privilege that is earned through years of diligent training. But dancing in the wrong shoes can not only lea d to a lot of pain, it can lead to dangerous injuries. Just a few decades ago, there were only a few brands of pointe shoes to choose from, but now there are dozens of brands and hundreds of models to fit just about any dancer. There are also many different accessories to help prevent injuries and discomfort (but that's for...