Pointe shoe Pointe shoe A pointe shoe is a type of shoe worn by ballet dancers when performing pointe work. Pointe shoes were conceived in response to the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-like and have evolved to enable dancers to dance "en pointe" (on the tips of their toes) for extended periods of time. They are manufactured in a variety of colors, most commonly in shades of light pink. Women began to dance ballet in 1681, twenty years after King Louis XIV of France ordered the founding of the Académie Royale de Danse. At that time, the standard women's
Pointe-Noire has a taxi-bus network that runs throughout the entire city. On 22 June 2010 a train departing from Pointe-Noire derailed resulting in the deaths of at least 50 passengers. The railway was built by the French between 1921 and 1934 during the French colonial rule in Congo, thousands of people died while building the railway. In the Mercer (consulting firm) Quality of Living Survey of 215 cities; Pointe Noire is ranked 209 in 2009. The rank for 2008 was 210. Football teams include Association Sportive des Cheminots and Jeunesse Sportive les Bougainvillées. Pointe-Noire is twinned with: Pointe-Noire Pointe-Noire () is