By TurnedOutPointeOfView on Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Thank you for the question, Solveig.
Breaking in pointe shoes… oooh every dancer that you meet, will do it differently. Pointe shoes are as individual as your own feet. It will take some trial and error but it will be an interesting journey and before you know it, you will have developed some of your very own odd, ballerina pointe shoe tricks.
I do customize my shoes which is a blessing because it cuts down on the time that I need to spend breaking them in. Although, I still do a few things to my shoes after I’ve sewn on my elastic and ribbons and have darned my them. Here are the four things I do to prepare my shoes:
1- Glue
I lightly glue the bottom of the toe and up either side about 3 inches with HotStuff glue. (Jet Glue in the States)
When I am glueing my shoes I have the shoe stand up on pointe as I move it in a circular motion until it dries, which is for only about 10 seconds. I do this thinking that it is evenly spreading out the glue on the toe but I cannot prove that. Just something that I do. Then I let my shoes remain standing on pointe for several minutes after I’ve glued them.
2- Shave the outside down.
I do shave the outside of my shoe. PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND HAVE AN ADULT HELP YOU. This is no joke. I’ve seen girls do some very painful things by accident while shaving their shoes down. The hobby knife that I use is really, really sharp. I shave the shoe from the point of where my foot bends and downward. The heel still has full support. I do this so it takes less effort for me to be able to bend the shoes when I pointe my feet.
3- Chair Trick.
Always, always, always. I will not wear my pointe shoes until I’ve done this trick. I take a chair and place it on my bent pointe shoes OVERNIGHT.
4- Water the Bunions.
The final thing that I do to my pointe shoes is once I’ve put them on for class, I will run to the bathroom to splash a small amount of water on the bunion area. Nobody got time for blisters and water softens the material where I know it will be rubbing my feet.
These are the four things that I do. Some people stand on them and make them pop, some people press them in to doors, some people bang the shoes on the ground…. there are many options to try to find your best break-in routine. I hope this helps!
xoxo
-Hol