How to choose the right ballet shoes for beginners

A pair of comfortable Ballet shoes and dancing shoes

The best “dance partner” for dancers

Let you dance the most graceful dance

So how do you choose dance shoes as a beginner?

·01 What are the types of ballet shoes·

Girls’ ballet shoes are divided into three categories. The first is soft-soled shoes (soft shoe), which are also divided into two categories, full-sole and split-sole, as shown in the picture above.

It is recommended that beginners wear one-piece soles, which can have a better training effect on the instep. After the instep becomes stronger, you can wear soft shoes with separate soles, which can also show the beautiful instep lines.

The elastic band on the upper is either a single strap (one strap) or a cross-stripe (criss-cross), which depends on personal preference.

·02 How to choose the material of ballet shoes·

There are many kinds of materials for soft shoes, mainly leather, satin and canvas . Leather is relatively strong, satin looks better but is not durable, and canvas is comfortable and breathable, and is also the most mainstream soft shoe. So you might as well try a few and then choose the most practical pair.

·03 How to choose the size of dance shoes·

Many people choose a pair of dance shoes that are appropriately tight and comfortable to wear, and usually buy the same size they usually wear when shopping. This is very wrong.

When dancing, we need to press the instep. When we press the instep, the foot will shrink inward, so the shoes will feel bigger. On the contrary, if you choose a smaller shoe size , you will feel very comfortable when you press the instep.

Everyone’s feet are different, so dance shoes need to fit the feet very well (this is jargon, meaning that when dancing, the shoe and foot need to work together as a whole).

So we need to buy shoes that are one size smaller (some girls even go 2-4 sizes smaller). The first two times you wear them, you may feel a little uncomfortable, but by the third time you wear them, the shoes will be stretched and fit your feet perfectly.

·04 Professional dancers’ shoes·

Professional dancers don’t need to do this because they already have a lot of experience. No matter how good-looking the new shoes are, they are not as comfortable as the old ones.

Soft pointe shoes are relatively rare in adult ballet learning. They are mainly transitional shoes for professional dance students before wearing pointe shoes. From the outside, they are no different from pointe shoes, but because soft pointe shoes do not have a hard sole (shank), you cannot stand on tiptoe, otherwise you will easily get hurt. So when buying pointe shoes, you must distinguish between demi-pointe shoes and pointe shoes.

The shoes that dancers wear in ballet performances are pointe shoes . After a period of ballet training, female students can try pointe shoes if they have strong enough ankle strength and thigh muscles. Pointe shoes require strong ankle strength, control of thigh muscles, the lines of the instep and some natural leg shape. Every student who practices pointe must get permission from the teacher and train under the supervision of the teacher, otherwise it is very easy to cause serious injuries. Boys generally do not wear pointe shoes, of course, except for some alternative choreography.