Comments on: The Point Shoe Makers Of Hackney

By: LH

LH — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 19:01:25 +0000

Wonderful! – what a lovely read 🙂

By: Walter Braun

Walter Braun — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 08:46:47 +0000

One fascinating story after the other – without a doubt the best blog I’ve ever come across!

By: Bill Cahill

Bill Cahill — Sun, 11 Jul 2021 22:53:23 +0000

That was very absorbing, Gentle Author. Very enjoyable! Are there other shops in the world that make ballet shoes? I noticed one order from the Cincinnati Ballet! Most be hard for dancers from Ohio to skip over to London for a fitting.

Really an interesting look at an interesting world. And six days a week, ten hours a day, and they all look so happy! That’s really finding your place in the world.

One pair for one performance. Fascinating.

Thanks!

By: paul loften

paul loften — Sun, 11 Jul 2021 11:17:40 +0000

Some years ago I was journeying on the underground and at one stop an old man got on an sat opposite me . There was nothing extraordinary about him except that i noticed his hands . They were the most powerful , gnarled and muscular pair I have ever seen . I thought of every sort of rough hard grinding work that a over a lifetime , could produce such an extraordinary pair of hands and still to this day my question remained unanswered .
He must have been a point shoe maker .
Thank you GA , Patricia Niven and Sarah Winman

By: mlaiuppa

mlaiuppa — Sun, 11 Jul 2021 08:36:15 +0000

That was fascinating.

I used to teach general music appreciation and included a unit on ballet. I had a friend who danced and gave me one of her “dead” shoes. I cut it in half lengthwise so my students could see what the inside looked like. Then I bought a pair of pointe shoes and the lambswool padding inside and I used to pass both around the room so the students could see and feel and new shoe and one that had been danced “to death.” I told them that a shoe only lasts for one performance. Then it is used for practice.

I remember the scene in Hans Christian Andersen when Danny Kaye brings a bouquet of shoes to his ballerina crush. Pointe shoes every color of the rainbow.

I love “The Red Shoes.”

Thank you so much for revealing the hidden magic of ballet and those that provide the magic.