Professional ballerinas spend $100 for each pair of pointe shoes, and they only last 3 days — why can’t they be made to last longer?
In: Engineering
Durability is not the priority for the shoes, especially when professional ballet dancers can afford all the shoes they need for the performances.
EDIT: Explaining why durability is not a priority.
The shape and direction of a ballerina’s feet are an important part of the artistry in ballet. Therefore thick long lasting footwear that might be seen in other dance styles are just not acceptable.
If you want to preserve the accepted shape of a dancer’s feet that is custom in ballet, the shoes have to be very thin. Durability has to come second to safety and treating the shoes as disposable is how most dancers trained and therefore feel safest.
The shoes are sacrificial. They are destroyed so the ballerinas destroy their body less. A more robust shoe would either support less/support incorrectly/ weigh more/ destabilize the dancer, harm the dancer more, or would look different and not be acceptable for that difference. Think about the baseball caps for pitchers that were huge and weighed too much, so it messed up their pitching… even if it can save their life, they can’t wear it and perform correctly. Same thing, different athlete.
If you have ever held a pointe shoe you would understand why. They are extremely light weight, have flex in certain directions, rigidity in others, and are covered in satin.
Lets say you made the shoe out of something like light weight carbon fiber and managed to acheive the support and performance of a standard pointe shoe. It’s still going to be covered in satin and look like complete and utter shit after a couple of performances.
” Edit: my daughter’s pointe shoe after 1 performance – [https://imgur.com/a/Fpr986o](https://imgur.com/a/Fpr986o)
After 3 performances they are still ok for practice, but not for being on stage”
The ballerinas or the shoes?
It’s worth noting that most ballerinas have “show” shoes and “practice” shoes.
The practice shoes typically last longer than the show shoes. Some dancers prefer slightly different shoes when performing because they look better, even if they don’t provide the best support. Many dancers prefer shoes that are “almost dead” to perform in (because they’ll have the least support, but they’ll be most molded to the dancer’s foot at that time.)
It’s also worth noting that the practice shoes typically last more than 3 days. Probably ~3 weeks (if they’re lucky. I’ve heard anywhere from 1 week to 2 months depending on the type of shoe. (some brands last longer than others.))
As for the actual reason, it’s literally because “that’s the way it’s been done forever and that’s what’s accepted.” Dancers are expected to look a certain way, ESPECIALLY their feet. That’s quite literally one of the main focal points in ballet dancing. Plus, as someone else said “The shoes are destroyed so the dancer’s feet are destroyed less.” The fact that the shoes are covered in satin means that they’re ALWAYS going to wear very quickly, so why build a super long lasting shoe if the satin on the outside is just going to wear away/get dirty anyway? You can’t wash point shoes. So once they get dirty they’re pretty much done.
For what it’s worth, this “longevity” of shoe isn’t far off from what professional runners go through.
Running shoes last ~400 miles. Many professional runners run 80-100 miles a week. So they go through a pair of shoes a month.
Tradition. When the brand Gaynor came out my studio refused to let us wear them because they were “fake” (have durable plastic inside) but now I’m seeing many professionals wear them for classes.
On the topic of tradition, the shoe hasn’t been changed in hundreds of years and we teach ballet/pointe based on the shoe. It would take every teacher in the world having a symposium of “how feet should look in these new durable shoes” and “how to train dancers to use these shoes” which is obviously not feasible.
Not ELI5, but if you have want to go deeper on the topic in an accessible way, Articles of Interest has a great episode on pointe shoes.
https://articlesofinterest.substack.com/p/on-pointe
This made me think of another situation: The tires on a Formula 1 racecar are extremely expensive but only last for a few laps – why can’t the tires be made to last longer?
Unpopular opinion:
Look at a ballerina’s feet and tell me there’s anything sane about their foot choices.
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