Am I Too Old to Start Ballet?
Kylie asks: What age is too old to start ballet? My answer: First of all, let’s be clear what you’re asking. If you want to take up dancing as a hobby, you’re never too old! I’ve known people who’ve started...
Category: General
Nicholas Johnson, Ballet Dancer – A Tribute
OK, so I know no one has heard of Nicholas Johnson – but he was one of my favourite dancers in my youth, and I recently learned that he died back in 2007, at the age of only 59. In...
Your First Dance Performance
If you’re a typical ballet student, then you’ve been appearing in your school concerts since you were a tot – but there comes a point where the audience isn’t thinking “isn’t she cute?”any more, and you really have to start...
Lesser Known Pointe Shoe Brands
As well as the big players like Bloch, Capezio and Grishko, there are many smaller point shoe makers around the world. Here are just a few of them. Aloart is a beautifully-made Italian brand of pointe shoe. They have four...
Freed Pointe Shoes
I loved my Freed pointe shoes! So I hate to say anything negative about them, but I have to be honest. For many professional dancers, Freed is the Rolls Royce of the pointe shoe – properly fitted, there’s nothing...
Male en pointe
This is the third year of taking ballet in my school and this year my dance teacher had given me the option to go en pointe.
My Favorite Pointe Shoes
It may come as a surprise, but my favorite pointe shoes aren’t shoes I would ever dance in. They’re a very precious pair of old pointe shoes, given to me when I was a child by Royal Ballet principal Brenda...
Buying Pointe Shoes Online
Is it a good idea to buy pointe shoes online? The answer is a resounding yes, if: you’ve already been professionally fitted for pointe shoes; you’re happy with the brand you chose at the fitting; your feet haven’t grown since...
How Pointe Shoes are Made
Let’s start at the very beginning… The clip below was filmed at the Freed factory: