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.
Mule (shoe) Mule (shoe) Mule is a style of shoe that has no back or constraint around the foot's heel. Mules have a history going as back as Ancient Rome, even though they were not popularly worn until sixteenth century Europe. There, mules were bedroom slippers and not worn out in public. Throughout the centuries mules have changed in style and purpose. They are no longer just boudoir shoes and are now worn any day and any occasion. In addition to Western examples, mules come from additional cultures like Turkey and Egypt. Across cultures and time frames, mules appear in popular culture