Pointe shoe New York City Ballet orders about 8,500 pairs of pointe shoes each year for 180 dancers, while the Royal Ballet dancers use about 12,000 pairs of shoes for each season. 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.
Pointe shoe internal structural elements and lending an aesthetically pleasing look to the shoe. Most pointe shoes are covered with satin, but some are available with canvas exteriors. Pointe shoes are most often available in light pink colors and less commonly in black and white. When other colors are desired (e.g., to match a costume), pointe shoes may be dyed or, if available, ordered in custom colors. The "vamp" refers to the shoe's upper piece, measured from the platform to the drawstring; normally, longer toes call for a longer vamp. The "throat" is the edge of the vamp above the arch of