INTRODUCTION

I still remember the thrill, at age 11, of being allowed to get my first pair of pointe shoes...of seeing and feeling their shiny pink satin encasing my feet.

Alas, those first shoes were misfit. I did not know the right way to care for them. I was allowed to stand incorrectly in them. As a result, there followed eight years of needless pain and tears while trying endless rounds of padding, fads, and home remedies.

Finally, at age 19, I began studying with teachers who really understood pointe shoes and pointe work. These teachers taught me how to correctly fit and prepare my shoes, and how to stand and dance properly in them, so that virtually all my blisters, bunions, and tendon problems were eliminated. Dancing on pointe then became the joyful experience I had dreamed it would be.

Most ballet dancers learn about pointe shoes and pointe work from a variety of sources. They rely on advice from a more experienced dancer or teacher, trial and error, and often painful experience.

In an effort to lessen my students' frustrations, I have compiled, condensed, and organized in this book the wealth of information I have gathered through the years.

Beginning pointe students who carefully follow the guidelines in this book for selecting, fitting, preparing, breaking in, and wearing of pointe shoes will spare themselves the pain of bunions, bruised toenails, tendinitis, and countless blisters which are often caused by ill-fitting and misused pointe shoes.

Special thanks to . . .

-- Dorothy Gunther Pugh for her consultation
-- student models Jennifer Breazeale, Louisa Koeppel, Christy Seawright, and Jennifer Towson
-- Shannon Paavola for the line drawings
-- Mary Louise Parke for transcribing my hand written notes
-- Royden W. Parke for the editing and photography
-- Jeannie Beene for typing the WWW manuscript