Why can’t my daughter go en’ pointe with her pre-pointe shoes?
Though only a select schools offer pre-pointe ballet classes, pre-pointe shoes really do provide the student with a comfortable adjustment from ballet flats to pointe shoes. Pre-pointe shoes were designed to help the student learn what pointe shoes are supposed to feel like on their feet. While wearing pre-pointe shoes, the dancer can take ballet class in them without going en’ pointe and they will learn to get used to the snugness of the box along the feeling of having a thicker sole to stand on. The construction of the pre-pointe shoe is very much like a pointe shoe except that it does not have a shank (the thick innersole of the pointe shoe that offers the foot its support while en’ pointe) and the box is not quite as hard as the pointe shoe’s box. To replace the shank of the shoe, the pre-pointe shoe has layers of cushioning as the innersole, and it offers a unique way of helping the student learn to balance in the pointe shoes while standing flat. Even though it may be tempting, b
