Video:How to Buy Ballet Shoes

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Transcript:How to Buy Ballet Shoes

Hi, I'm Jennifer Peterson for About.com. Today, we're going to discuss how to buy ballet shoes.

Types of Ballet Shoes

The first thing you should do is find out what kind of shoes the studio you're dancing at prefers. There are pointe shoes and there are also ballet shoes. Ballet shoes can come in either leather or canvas. Leather is a little bit thicker material; canvas is softer.

There are two types of ballet slippers. There is full-sole here, which covers everywhere from the toe to the heel, and then there's also a split sole. The full sole is a little bit harder, so it's going to be a little bit harder to point, but this could be good because it'll also strengthen your foot. The split sole - there's some space here between the ball of the foot and the heel. The split sole, you can really feel your foot working and you're doing all the work yourself.

Fitting Ballet Shoes

As far as fitting your shoe, you want to make sure that it's not too small - your toes shouldn't be crinkled up, they should be nice and flat and reaching the top of your shoe. For younger students, I usually say to buy a little bit bigger because their feet grow so quickly. So you can put some tissue paper or Kleenex in front of the toes if the shoes are a little bit big at that point.

Buying Pointe Ballet Shoes

As far as pointe shoes go, there are so many different brands and styles, so you really want to buy your pointe shoes from someone who is an expert in fitting shoes. You want to go to a dance store where they've actually gone through training on how to fit shoes, so they find a pointe shoe that has the right box for you, and the right shank for you. Each foot is different, so you want to make sure you talk to someone who is knowledgeable about pointe shoes.

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