Maria on pointe
This is Maria's first year of going "up on pointe" in ballet, meaning she now gets to wear the shoes with very hard toes that basically allow the dancers to stand on the ends of their toes. It's a technically demanding style of dance, and the girls are not allowed to try until after they've turned 10 and have enough mastery of the supporting skills required.
Pointe shoes are expensive and get worn out quickly - professional dancers sometimes wear out a pair with a single performance. We do expect Maria to get a little more time out of hers. Even so, we were enormously grateful when my mom, who has become Maria's patroness of the arts, volunteered to take her pointe shoe shopping.
For starters, you don't find these shoes at Payless. You have to go to a special store in the city. And they don't have price tags on anything - always a sure sign that you're in trouble.
This is what a pointe shoe looks like from the top - notice the very straight and sturdy surface at the toe, which makes it look like the front of the shoe was sheared off:
Before you put these shoes on, you have to put lamb's wool over your toes as a cushion:
Maria has only been waiting for this day since the first time she danced. And I'm sure she enjoyed having Chels, my mom, and the store's staff all fussing over her:
Then it was time for the moment of truth:
How about at a barre with a mirror?
Fortunately for us, the teacher sternly warned Maria and the other girls that they must not go on pointe anywhere except the shoe store and their classes. Otherwise Maria would be wearing these shoes out the door to school every morning, turning the walk to the bus stop into Act II of The Nutcracker. (Nicholas would probably make a very reluctant cavalier.)
Pointe shoes are expensive and get worn out quickly - professional dancers sometimes wear out a pair with a single performance. We do expect Maria to get a little more time out of hers. Even so, we were enormously grateful when my mom, who has become Maria's patroness of the arts, volunteered to take her pointe shoe shopping.
For starters, you don't find these shoes at Payless. You have to go to a special store in the city. And they don't have price tags on anything - always a sure sign that you're in trouble.
This is what a pointe shoe looks like from the top - notice the very straight and sturdy surface at the toe, which makes it look like the front of the shoe was sheared off:
Before you put these shoes on, you have to put lamb's wool over your toes as a cushion:
Maria has only been waiting for this day since the first time she danced. And I'm sure she enjoyed having Chels, my mom, and the store's staff all fussing over her:
Then it was time for the moment of truth:
How about at a barre with a mirror?
Fortunately for us, the teacher sternly warned Maria and the other girls that they must not go on pointe anywhere except the shoe store and their classes. Otherwise Maria would be wearing these shoes out the door to school every morning, turning the walk to the bus stop into Act II of The Nutcracker. (Nicholas would probably make a very reluctant cavalier.)
