ABOUT POINTE SHOES (TOE SHOES):

The Basics:

SIZE: Refers to the length of the shoe. English Pointe Shoes sizes are about 2 sizes smaller than street shoe sizes. Most USA made shoes follow this rule. Gaynor Minden attempted to match street shoes sizes and is often a size large than street shoe size.

WIDTH: For traditional shoes, "width" refers to the width of the shoe with X being narrow, XXXX being wide. For Gaynor Minden, "width" refers to the width at back of shoe - the amount of fabric, not the width of the entire shoe, and is N (narrow) M(medium} or W(wide). The width at the front of the shoe is reflected in box sizes that are 2(narrow) 3(medium) or 4(wide). There is also variation in box shapes between 2, 3, and 4.

BOX: The part of the shoe that surrounds the toes and knuckles. A snug fit around the knuckles distributes body weight to the entire shoe rather than crushing down on the end of the toes. The shape of the box varies. Many pointe shoes have a "square" box, that works well when all toes are approximately the same length. Many other pointe shoes have a "V" shape, that works great when toes vary in length. Grishko offers a "U" shape.

VAMP: The front of the box, often referred as having a "short" or "deep" vamp. A short vamp works for short toes, while a deep vamp is best for long toes.

SHANK: The support inside the shoe, under the arch / bottom of foot. Some shoes have shanks that run almost the entire length of the from toe to heel. Others have a 3/4 shank that extends from toes thru the instep only.

ARCH: The center bottom of the shoe that should hug the instep of the foot. Most USA made shoes are "pre-arched." They arrive new with the shoe sole arch shaped. English made shoes are not pre-ached. Beginners may find the pre-arched shoe easier to use at first. Dancers who are shank snappers, who strong or over developed arches will find the English flat style offers better results. The Gaynor Minden pointe shoe arrives pre-arched but can be adjusted to flat or any shape by heating the shank's arch area with a hair blow dryer.

PLATFORM: The part of the shoe that makes contact with the floor when a dancer is up on pointe. It's the toe nail end of the box. A square box shoe has a "wider" platform than a "V" shaped box. Beginners find more stability in a wider platform shoe. Advanced dancers have developed their awareness of body alignment and balance to the point that they could dance on a platform the size of a quarter. The smaller the platform the less resistance offered by the floor so it is easier to turn, but the small the platform the harder to control balance.

"GET OVER YOUR POINTES": These words echo thru every beginning pointe class in every studio. It means that if one drew dots on the supporting leg's toes, ankle, knee, hip, and then connected those dots, it would produce a straight line. The pointe shoe platform would be flat on the floor. (Some people have an extra bone in their feet, located between heel and ankle. For such persons, it is physically impossible to get over their pointes, no matter how hard they try.)

It may be old fashion but it still works great! Use to pad entire box area, or just a wad makes a great toe spacer, or protection for a pressure point. Only drawback is that it takes time for beginners to learn how to use it properly.

Firm Thin pouch works great.

Similar to Ouch Pouch works great.

Used by some advanced dancers. Just one layer over the toes and into the box it goes.

Used to adjust size of shoe and are glued inside of the shoe. No other padding should be used when these are used.

Dr. Alan Woodle DPN invented Toe Caps. They benefit dancers who have one or more toes longer than the others. Toe caps distribute the weight of the body as if all toes were even length. The dancer takes her feet and pointe shoes to Dr. Woodle and he makes them to fit the dancer’s unique feet. Since toes tend to grow in proportion, many dancers can get years of use out of a set of toe caps even tho feet are still growing.

moisture absorbing lining , drawstring exit at instep ends dangling ties and gouging knots

space age isometric plastic one piece box and shank means no more box separation, no more going soft from humidity,

laboratory tested, Gaynor Minden shanks out-last many other brands. While not all brands were tested, Gaynor Minded out lasted the others tested 3 to 28 times.

All time is good time. Almost no break-in required. Buy today & perform in them tonight without a single thud, thunk, or clunk!

shock absorbers in pointe and heel help cushion joints on landings

research indicates that Ganyor Minden can reduce "cycling" on pointe, a condition which has contributed to many a ankle strains & sprains.

Gaynor Minden's custom cushions & over 1,700 combinations of sizes & options sharply increase the chances of shaping a shoe to your unique feet rather than forcing your feet to shape to an average shoe.

Lengths:	Sizes 4 to 12 (street shoe sizing or slightly larger)
Widths:	N(narrow), M(medium) W(wide) (think of width as the amount of fabric at the arch)
Box:	2 (narrow), 3 (medium), 4 (widest),
Shank strengths:	Several from very light to very strong. All more resistant to breaking than traditional pointe shoe shanks. All more flexible than traditional pointe shoe shanks so don't confuse flexibility with strength. To do so would be to assume that a dancer who can do the splits can't jump. And any dancer who can do both has both strength & flexibility and should have a shoe that has both.
Vamp:	Regular (shorter), Deep (longer)
Heel heights:	Low, Medium, High,

The code inside the heel gives the shoe size. First Size, then Width, then Box, Shank, Vamp, and finally heal. Example: 8.5N2 121 22 would be size 8.5, width Narrow,Box 2, Shank strength 121, Vamp 2 (deep), Heal 2 (high)

Combinations of the above produce 2000+ pointe shoe sizes/shapes, ans still there are some feet that can't be fit.

Gaynor Minden remains the best shoe and best buy, but does not fit all feet. Because they last so long it is very important to get a good fit.

"Out of The West ...Advanced Theatrical Shoe..." Earliest ad found to date: The Dance Lovers Magazine, Sep. 1925
This ad explains that some dancers have feet with high arches while others have low. "Leo Harris solved this age-old difficulty of support by designing two shoes. He saw the error in turning out ballets in sizes only like street shoes."

"Pavlowa wears them" earliest ad found to date: The Dance Lovers Magazine, Oct. 1925 (Gamba claims to be the first to make pointe shoes for Pavlova.

""International Reputation" earliest ad found to date: The Dance Lovers Magazine, June, 1924

Barney seems to have been quite the inventor, with a deep understand of a ballet dancer's foot.

Barney's Strong Arch devise (of unknown shape) is my favorite. The full page ad in Dance Lover's Magazine, 1925, insists that "Anyone can toe dance in just 5 minutes; even amateurs toe dance for hours without tiring..." by just inserting a Barney into the shoe. Of course I can't help but wonder, if they worked so well, how come Barney had to take out a full page ad to unload them at half price?

In 1929, Barney was back in The Dance Magazine, with no mention of his Strong Arch, so he must have unloaded all of them. This time his "Newest Creation" was the Toe Shield that amazingly resembles several modern day toe pads. Yet Barney's "achievement" is no longer on the market.

What distinguishes today's innovations from those of 70 years past? Are the Toe Floe's & Ouch Pouches of today, the Barnes of tomorrow?

Sports Medicine, Biomechanics Research,Computers, Space Age Materials. Today, when someone decides to do something about removing the torture from the chamber, he/she usually consults with a Specialist. Computerized simulations & other research has helped us to see inside movement and better understand the problem before we set out to fix it. Once the prototype is developed, laboratories are available to test the product to see if it really does what it is designed to do.

The biggest difference is in the materials. I wonder what marvel Barney might have created if he had access to an ounce of that oozie jelly stuff inside a Toe Floe or the more rigid yet squeezable stuff inside an Ouch Pouch?

The recognition of the need to remove the harmful side effects of pointe work has been around for decades. Over the years, many have tried to "Do something about these things." Today, those efforts can be successful as a result of the new materials.

"The Perfect Toe" Earliest ad found to date: The Dance Lovers Magazine, June, 1924

"Noiseless" Earliest ad found to date: The Dance Lovers Magazine, April, 1925

"Noi-Z-Less" Earliest ad found to date: The Dance Lovers Magazine, Aug. 1925

You could purchase a pr. of Ben and Sally in Satin for $5.25, in Linen or Black kid leather for $4.50. If you wanted soft toe shoes in black with krome sole (whatever that is) it cost $3.50.

The Ben and Sally "Noi-z-less" Pointe Shoe had a rubber cushion in the pointe, patetented Dec. 30, 1924. (And I called the Gaynor Minden ahead of their time for doing basically the same thing.) They also manufactured a pointe shoe callled the "Perfect Toe". The company was based in New York.

Earliest ad found to date: The Dance Lovers Magazine, Oct. 1925

In 2007, Capezio celebrated 120 years of operation, having had a number of challengers over the years. In the past, none have been able to dominate the market like Capezio. Today there are a host of new challengers and "all new" pointe shoe concepts.

And where was Mr.Capezio in 1925?

Capezio was advertising in The Dance Magazine, before there was a The Dance Magazine! In 1925, Capezio was celebrating 38 years of operation.

It is a tradition to name a pointe shoe after it’s maker so I always assumed that somewhere, once upon a time there was a Mr. Capezio. Recently someone informed me that there was no Santa Claus and someone else told me there was no Mr. Capezio! Could that be why capezio shoes have names such as Capezio Nicolini (Capezio being the company and Nicolini being the creator?) If you ever met Mr. Capezio, or have information about how the company started and by whom, please fill me in.

UPDATE:

While I'm still in the dark about Santa, a reader living in New York, NY emailed zandance to fill in the blanks. After checking sources such as Wikipedia, she found that Capezio was started by a 17 year old man named Salvatore Capezio. In 1887 he opened a shop named The Theatrical & Historical Shoemaker across from the old Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. In the 1950's - 1980's Capezio Company head was "Ben Sommers, a non-family member whom the childless Salvatore Capezio thought of as a son." Sommers eventually sold the Capezio name to U.S. Shoe Corporation. Then U.S. Shoe Corp was purchased by Nine West. Nine West was sold to Jones Apparel. Jones Apparel still owns the Capezio name and Ballet Makers, Inc. of Totowa, NJ,"currently licenses the use of this name on its dance products." Ballet Makers, Inc. was a company created in the wake of the sale of the Capezio name.

So it would seem that Capezio was once a man who came from Italy to New York. Capezio is now a trademark "used by a privately held United States company, Ballet Makers, Inc., which specializes in dance apparel and dance shoes, including ballet pointe shoes." Capezio products are marketed worldwide but mainly found in USA and Europe.

Thanks Virginia for bringing the above info to light.

From Capezio Site History. Salvatore Capezio, was born April 13, 1871 in Muro Lucano, Italy. His father was a construction engineer, but Salvatore became an artist and a cobbler.

"Theatrical Shoes, Clogs Sandals, Etc. Chicago Theatrical .." Earliest ad found to date: The Dance Lovers Magazine, June, 1924

Ad from London publication "The Dancing Times." No early ads found for Gamba in USA publications The Dance Magazine or The Dance Lovers Magazine.

Luigi Gamba, was making Pointe Shoes in London by 1912. Prior to this English dancers imported thier shoes from Italy. The first Enshishman to make pointe shoes for Anna Pavlova was Gamba's shoemaker, Alfred Furse for more visit http://www.the-perfect-pointe.com/Gamba.html

Ad left above from Dance Magazine 1929 when one could purchase a Landi in pink, white or black satin for a whopping $5.25 plus 0.20 postage. Ribbons cost 20 cents per yard.

Earliest ad found for "E. Landi, Dancecraft Slippers, Hand Built" in Dance Lovers Magazine April 1924

Landi's pointe shoes, made in New York,

Excellent craftsmanship.

While term "V" shape vamp has survived, the Landi's Toe Shoe has not for reasons unknown at this time.

Note Landi's "V" narrows along top & bottom of toes. This would seem to keep toes flat, distribute weight evenly & reduce tendency for toe drift.

"Dancecraft Toe Slippers" Earliest ad found to date: The Dance Lovers Magazine, Aug. 1925

Ad left:
"Helen Brown Premiere Danseuse of the Ziegfeld Follies wears Tu-Toe, Patented Nov. 30, 1927."

A most interesting shoe, "Sandaltoe ... featured elastic heel grip" had a grecian sandal strap over arch rather than ribbons. "Bernoff and Josephine, Featured Dancers in George M. Cohan's Merry Malones wear them." As of Feb. 1928 issue of Dance Magazine, the patent was pending.

It is unknown if the Selvas in Maria Dare Collection are Tu-Toes or just Selva's. They are of the highest quality and show no seams of any kind on the tips.

Selva appears to have been an inventor as well as a skilled craftsman.

The Selva Tu-Toe offers two layers of fabric over the pointe so that it would last twice as long. Perhaps this was the predecessor of the "Duro-Toe." While the suede tipped Duro-Toe's fabric lasted, the underlying box collapsed forming a ridge, making it difficult to get over pointes. The double satin would have been thinner and may not have caused a ridge, plus the stitching on the Selva was quite small and fine.

"Selva Exquisite Toe" Earliest ad found to date: The Dance Lovers Magazine, Oct. 1925

Correspondence with Anna Selva Koppinger, has shared interesting information. Anna’s dad was “the Son” and her grandfather was the “Selva” of Selva & Son. “Son” was Samuel Selva, sole designer. Samuel also designed the Fred Astaire Tap. Originally the finest Italian shoemakers were employed to make the shoes.

Tempo Toe Shoes offered a “V” instep to grip the foot, “like a friendly hand.” Was this a predecessor to most of today's USA made pointe shoes that have a concave arch? Or did USA pointe shoes always have concave arches and Tempo just thought to advertise the fact?

All I know is that today, most non-USA made pointes do not have concave arches and most USA made one do. Maria Dare’s pointe shoes of 1930’s-40’s vintage include Concave Arched shoes by Capezio, Nicoline by Capezio, and Landi. A Nicolini Romeo made in Italy has no arch.

What’s best?
Depends on the foot. The strong high arch foot works better in a non-concave shoe while the foot needing help to get over the pointe works better in a concave shoe.

Haney’s was in Indiana.

Designed to BREAK FEET

The slick slippery metal was attached to the point permitting tap dancers to tap on pointe. I got a sample from a reputable dance supply manufacturer and distributor who refuses to sell them because they are so dangerous.

A new version of this product that looked almost exactly like the old one had revived popularity in the Mid-West during the 1990’s. It was the rage to attach them to the Gaynor Minden pointe shoe. Hearing of this Liza Minden gasped, “After all the work to make the Gaynor Minden a quiet shoe!!!” Wise Dance Suppliers discontinued sales of this toe taping product due to liability concerns. They are a product that invites injury.