Toe shoes cost dancers big bucks

When you go to the ballet, you might think of the many different aspects of the spectacle, including the costumes, music, lighting and, of course, the graceful dancers themselves. \nWhat you might not consider is that in order to balance on the tips of their toes, using a technique developed over 170 years ago, ballerinas depend heavily on expensive and delicate handmade toe shoes, or pointe shoes. Made of a stiff sole, or shank, a toe box, on which the dancer places her weight when en pointe, and a satin upper portion and ribbons, a pair of toe shoes might only last a day or two.\nAccording to www.dancer.com, the first woman to go en pointe was probably the famous French ballerina Marie Taglioni in 1832.\nTaglioni's innovations helped to shape the technique and helped ballet to evolve into the art form it is today, according to the Web site. \nFormer prima ballerina and IU ballet professor Violette Verdy explained that the use of toe shoes helped to create the ethereal, otherworldly aspect of the spectacle of ballet.\n"It was about a very idealized, very platonic, almost unreachable creature. It had all the guiles of the woman but it was not as attainable as the ordinary woman. (They are like) sprites, nyads, dryads," Verdy said. "You know they are women but they are women of another realm. They were idealized. They were elevated by their toe shoe as a symbol of their elevation."\nIn order to reach this elevated, goddess-like status, ballerinas have to spend several hours per week and thousands of dollars per year on purchasing and perfecting their toe shoes, Verdy said.\nVerdy said dancers in professional ballet companies can go through up to a pair of toe shoes per day. Students at IU often go through between one and two pairs per week, although they wear out more shoes when they are preparing for a performance, Verdy said.\nSenior ballet student Lauren Menger said she uses around a pair of toe shoes per week, although sometimes a pair might last up to two weeks. She explained that it is necessary to purchase new shoes often because it is dangerous to dance on shoes that are worn out.\n"Once your shoes get too soft you have to wear new shoes because you won't be able to dance correctly, or you can get hurt. It won't give you enough support," Menger said.\nBoth Menger and Verdy said most dancers are very particular about what kind of toe shoes they buy. Often they are adamantly loyal to one particular brand of toe shoes, which are handmade, and sometimes they even stick to one particular shoemaker at that company, Menger said.\nAfter purchasing the toe shoes, dancers cannot simply put them on and dance. They often have very specific breaking-in rituals for their shoes.\n"Cohabiting with a toe shoe, it's more than a roommate. It's a magnificent obsession. It's like a lover. It's like a glove on a hand. The ballet foot, with its proud little arch, like a horse's hoof, and the shoe are one," Verdy said.\nMenger said she bends a new pair of shoes with her hands and then puts water on the toe to soften it. Verdy said she used to put some elastic in the ribbons behind her Achilles tendons for more flexibility.\nSome dancers have more drastic rituals, which include shutting them in doors to break them in, Verdy said.\n"Dancers spend so much time with their shoes, like a violinist tuning his instrument. Our body is our instrument, and we tune up our body, and the shoe is an extension of the body ... You have to impart your knowledge to your shoe so your shoe doesn't betray you," Verdy said.\nWhile toe shoes are so necessary to ballerinas, purchasing all those pairs is not cheap. Menger said her toe shoes cost around $60 per pair.\nDoricha Sales, public relations coordinator for the ballet department, said students can spend thousands of dollars per academic year on toe shoes. To combat this expense, Sales said people can donate money to a fund called On Your Toes, which helps to reimburse ballet students for part of the cost of their toe shoes. Sales said the amount that students receive is "not even a drop in the bucket" compared to what they spend, but it is a help.\nTo donate to On Your Toes, send a check made out to the IU School of Music to 1201 E. Third St.\n-- Contact staff writer Melissa Harrold at mejharro@indiana.edu.