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 shoe may shorten a pointe shoe's usable lifetime. A dancer may experience discomfort while wearing a pointe shoe even after the shoe has been broken in. Several devices are commonly used to mitigate the discomfort: In the course of normal use, there are three predominant types of wear on a pointe shoe that will determine its useful lifetime. The most important of these is shank wear. As the body of the shoe is repetitively flexed, the shank gradually weakens and loses its ability to provide support. A pointe shoe is no longer serviceable when the shank breaks or becomes too soft